Stockholm - Stromma steamboats

[dougnewmanatsea]

Do any of our Stockholm experts know anything about the Stromma steamboats in Stockholm? Now researching things to do ashore on our Baltic cruise on ROTTERDAM in August and a Swede suggested this to me, but didn't know much about them.

 

I am particularly thinking about the 2.5 hour "Archipelago Tour with Guide" or the trip to Drottningholm.

 

I imagine that we would be able to fit in the former - the latter sounds nice but I'm not sure how much time we will have. The trip itself is 1 hour each way; is Drottningholm worth visiting and if so how much time would we want to spend there?

 

We will be in Stockholm for only one day, so time is important, but these boats look rather interesting and I would rather like to try one of them.

[Al_Frescoe]

Doug,

 

 

 

It looks like the Rotterdam’s visit to Stockholm will be from 8:00 until 6:00 PM, which is more time than a lot of lines give to Stockholm, but still, time passes very quickly, as you well know. I have seen the Rotterdam a few times and you will get to see plenty of the fabulous Stockholm archipelago on the sail in/out, so perhaps you would not want to do the Strömma archipelago tour, this time anyway.

 

Drottningholm, is about an hour by boat from Stockholm (boats leave from the quay near the city hall) and it really is one of my favorite places. It is a shame that most cruisers don’t have the time to make it up there. The Swedish Royal family actually lives at Drottningholm in one half of the palace and the other half is open for tourists. I was just on Strömma’s website and I see that boats leave every hour, and that means both ways, so they must be running two boats. Drottningholm is located on Lake Mälaren (Stockholm separates the lake from the Baltic Sea). Bottom line is, if you wanted to spend the time going to Drottningholm it would be do-able if you plan correctly. Keep in mind, as I said before, time will fly.

 

For repeat visitors to Stockholm, those that have already seen the "must-see" sights, I would highly reccommend venturing out on one of the many regularly scheduled boats that ply these waters. For first timers coming in on cruise ships, well, you will have to really think about your timing.

 

 

 

As for the Strömma boats, well, I like them a lot. My wife and I took a 3 hour trip on one to the island of Dalarö to visit her mother, and this beauty (in the image) followed us up through the archipelago for most of the way.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

[Al_Frescoe]

A closer pic of a Strömmakanal boat.

 

[cadreamer]

Great info and pix. Could you please post the Stromma web site. Thanks.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Thanks Al for the advice, and lovely photos.

 

I think we will try to go to Drottningholm on one of the Stromma boats if possible.

 

Cadreamer - you can see the Stromma web site here. Oddly enough, if you click on "party arrangements", there is very good comprehensive information on the boats (geared towards people chartering whole boats, but still...).

[Gardendog]

Drottningholm Castle is a fabulous castle, one of the UN World Heritage sites. Close to that castle, which is like a small Versailles, is the China castle that used to be a summer castle for one of the queens. It's also on the UN World Heritage list. There is also a 1700 theatre where you can take a guided tour if you are there when it is open. Schedule that tour the first thing you do as you come to Drottningholm. They only admit a few people at at time.

 

If you have already been to Stockholm, Drottningholm is a great place to visit. My son and I took the steamboat tour there and back last August. We loved it. I think we got some kind of discount from the Stockholm Card, and then the castle was free as well. But you can check that on the Stockholm town website.