Image by Papercut Shop

On a quiet street, parallel to the busy traffic on Hornsgatan lies a few hip boutiques, one of them being Papercut. What you notice straight away is how spacious and open the place is and the wall covered with fashion magazines of all kinds and from all over the world from floor to ceiling.

It’s an awesome place to come browse and flip through books that aren’t sold in the huge book stores like Akademi Bokhandlen. At Papercut it’s not niched to a particular kind of genre, the books here range from cook books, to autobiographies, novels, fashion and art.

In addition to books and magazines, they have have a selection of music CD’s, DVD’s and movies. It’s definitely worth a swing by to check out what you can find. If you come out empty handed, walk a few meters along the street and you’ll find three small fashion boutiques catering to both men and women. Make sure to check out Nitty Gritty, a mens boutique/salon where you can find sportswear brands, indie labels and Swedish designers.

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Papercut | Art & culture, Music, Shopping
Krukmakargatan 24 | Södermalm | +468133574
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 18:30, Sat 11:00 – 17:00, Sun 12:00 – 16:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Aaron L

In each major area or hub of Stockholm city, you’ll be able to find different indoor ‘markets’ where you can go to buy high quality meats. fresh produce, dried herbs and etc. Perhaps the most famous of them and quite popular for the tourists and locals alike is Ostermalmshallen. However, in this post I’ll be talking about the lesser known, ever-busy Hotorgshallen located right in the city center.

Everytime my sister and I shop on Drottningatan we make it a point to stop here (like many of the other shoppers) to recharge and get our dose of vitamins and minerals with the huge variety of dried fruits, nuts and berries which are free to sample and try. We used to be quite shy but now its a fight with the other curious and hungry shoppers to get the last dried Incaberry.

Along with the meat and seafood vendors you can find different restaurants, fine chocolates as well as a Finnish food store all in Hotorgshallen. It’s definitely one of the most diverse halls in Stockholm city. What’s special about Hotorgshallen and all other ‘halls’ in Stockholm is that every vendor has very high standards for the freshness and quality of what they sell or serve, so you are sure to be getting the very best without having to pay a very high price!

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Hötorgshallen | Art & culture, Coffee & tea, Shopping, Restaurants (Fresh)
Hötorgshallen, 11157 | City/Norrmalm
Mon – Thu 10:00 – 18:00, Fri 10:00 – 18:30, Sat 10:00 – 16:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Natalia Urbanska

You feel like doing something, seeing something, feel a bit cultural? Kulturhuset is the place to get inspired or just to wander around. There’s always something going on for everyone!

The bottom floor welcomes you with a café and nice library with lots of comfy sofas, here you can hang for hours.

This place really makes me happy, the exhibitions are cheap or for free and they always have interesting activities going on. They have several exhibitions, theatres, a cinema, cafés, music performances, an impressive library with lots of art-books and newspapers from all over the world, an unique library for comics, a large imaginative place for children, a creative place for teenagers called LAVA, they arrange meetings with writers and much more…

This is a big bubbling place that wants everyone to get inspired, to think for themselves and to share their big and small thoughts with each other; or just to sit down, play some chess and drink coffee.

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Kulturhuset | Art & culture, Cinemas, Coffee & tea, Music, Theaters
Sergels torg | City/Norrmalm | +46850831508
Check the website for opening times

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Natalia Urbanska

This museum is pure joy for photo lovers. Opened in may 2010 with the top name Annie Leibovitz. It was a big success, no doubt about it. They have lots of different exhibitions every year, so far I haven’t been disappointed.

Fotografiska is beautifully situated in Slussen, just by the water with a nice view over Skeppsholmen and Djurgården. It has really generous opening hours – everyday from 10:00 to 21:00! More museums should have these kind of opening hours! Perfect for some inspiring exhibitions before going out…

I loved the premiere exhibitions. Lennart Nilsson’s “A child is born” was really impressive and made me all nostalgic remembering his photos from my old school books. Leibovitz’s “A photographer’s life” was also impressive, beautiful, startstruck, melancholic and very personal. Speer’s “The birthday party” was beautiful (my favorite!) and Joel-Peter Witkin’s “Bodies” was uncomfortable, disgusting and absolutely beautiful.

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Fotografiska | Art & culture, Bars, Shopping, Snacks | Adult entrance SEK 110
Stora Tullhuset Stadsgårdshamnen 22 | Södermalm | +46850900500
10:00 – 21:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Natalia Urbanska

Stockholm’s House of Dance is the place if you enjoy contemporary art forms and want to see something live. You can enjoy it (or hate it) without knowing a word of Swedish.

Dansens Hus has a bunch of interesting performances every season; at least 35 every year.

I guess I really started going to Dansens Hus after seeing Virpi Pahkinen dancing for free at Parkteatern a couple of years ago. She totally blew me away. I looked her up and discovered that she usually presented her work at Dansens Hus. I’ve been going there regularly since then.

Other performances at Dansens Hus that I’ve really enjoyed are by Dorte Olesen, Cullbergbaletten; and DV8. DV8 was truly outstanding a couple of years ago, got standing ovations and left the audience clapping for 10 minutes.

Dansens Hus was founded in 1991 and has two stages, the prices are low; especially if you’re a student or below 26. They also arrange lectures, workshops and show movies; often for free.

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Dansens Hus | Art & culture, Music, Theaters | Entrance student SEK 130.00
Barnhusgatan 14 | City/Norrmalm | +46850899090
Mon – Fri 14:00 – 18:00, Sat 14:00 – 19:00 (only in conjunction with performances)

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Natalia Urbanska

The best way to experience a city is by walking!

Skeppsholmen is a small, beautiful island between Gamla Stan (Old Town) and Djurgården. It has many touristy views, perfect if you fancy taking pictures.

Start by taking Djurgårdsfärjan, the ferry-boat, from Slussen. It goes every 15 or 20 minute. If you have a subway card you get on for free! Don’t forget to tell them that you’re jumping off at Skeppsholmen. If you forget you’ll end up at Djurgården, which is a beautiful island as well, so no worries!

In addition to beautiful views you can also visit interesting spots like the Museum of Modern Art, the Architectural Museum, the East-Asian Museum, theatre Galeasen & Af Chapman, which is a youth hostel on water. Also, in the small park which is situated in the middle of everything, you can enjoy Niki De Saint Phalle‘s and JeanTinguely‘s sculptures from 1966.

From Skeppsholmsbron, the bridge that connects the island to the rest of the city, you have a great view over Slussen, Gamla Stan with the Royal Court and the buildings at Strandvägen.

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Skeppsholmen | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Skeppsholmen | City/Norrmalm
24 hours daily

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Image by Natalia Urbanska

I don’t know what happened but my favourite café isn’t my favourite anymore. I still come here and enjoy the furnishing and cosy atmosphere but the sandwiches aren’t like they once used to be.. It’s still cheap though and definitely worth going to, it hasn’t lost it charm.

The atmosphere is warm, relaxed and creative. It was really hip a couple of years ago but people keep coming. Downstairs you find more seats and if it’s nice weather they have a couple of attractive tables outside.

It’s been serving us cheap sandwiches since 1992. Every sandwich comes with a tasty little salad as well. Their Soya-latte is one of the best in town and their carrot cake is excellent. They have music and theatre performances downstairs every Wednesday and the art hanging on the walls is for sale.

Oh, if you like the chair you’re sitting on you can buy it as well, all furniture is for sale.

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String | Art & culture, Coffee & tea, Music, Shopping, Snacks | Sandwich SEK 40.00
Nytorgsgatan 38 | Södermalm | +4687148514
Mon – Thu 09:00 – 20:00, Fri 09:00 – 19:00, Sat – Sun 10:30 – 19:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Natalia Urbanska

Moderna is situated on my favourite island and neighbor with the also very nice Museum of Architecture. Moderna is the most visited art museum in Sweden. It’s big, light and has one of the most creative and fun art shops in town. Their collection of artwork is really nice and their temporary exhibitions are usually excellent, they have a couple of large ones every season. Right now there’s a bunch of interesting exhibitions, go see!

One of my favourite exhibitions at Moderna Museet was Max Ernst’s “Dream and Revolution”. So many different techniques, I stared at his pencil frottage for a long time. Beautiful!

Moderna has something for everyone. All exhibitions have guided tours, which are included in the admission, check their website! For the art in the museum’s collection you can borrow audio-guides for free.

If you’re younger than 30 and are planning on staying in Stockholm for a while, I recommend you to buy the “Friends of Moderna Museet” card for 250kr/year. You get invited to previews, get 20% discount in the art shop and free admission to several other museums like the Museum of Architecture and Magasin 3. It’s a bargain!

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Moderna Museet | Art & culture, Shopping, Snacks | Entrance SEK 100.00
Skeppsholmen | City/Norrmalm | +46851955200
Tue 10:00 – 20:00, Wed – Sun 10:00 – 18:00

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Image by Natalia Urbanska

Magasin 3 opens again on the 3rd of February with an exhibition by Ai Weiwei. Don’t miss!

Just finding Magasin 3 is an adventure, hiding in a warehouse at the 1st floor. Standing in the large elevator you keep asking yourself if this really is the right address. It is! There are three new exhibitions this fall/winter.

…Yeah it’s a bit outside of town but easy to get here thanks to the direct buses to Frihamnen. It’s so worth going! Just their little café makes the trip worth going, their cafe latte is d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s.

It’s very cheap and your ticket lasts the whole season. They have free guided tours every Saturday at 14.00, which I really recommend.

My favourite exhibition here so far is “Gravity, be my friend” by Pippilotti Rist’s, which was shown here last year. Downstairs you could lie down on massive cushions and watch calm and melancholic video installations in the ceiling. One was of beautifully colored leaves falling straight on you. It was a very special feeling just laying there next to strangers, watching something simple yet so affecting.

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Magasin 3 | Art & culture, Coffee & tea | Ticket SEK 40.00
Frihamnen, Gärdet | Outside North/West | +46854568040
Thu 11:00 – 19:00, Fri – Sun 11:00 – 17:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Vasco Castro

If you are not Swedish, Russian, Norwegian or Finnish, chances are that you have no idea what bandy is about. It’s a sport just like hockey but without the violence and with the same number of players and rules as field hockey. Sounds fun? Yes, it is, but there is one catch: it is played outdoors during the winter.

So, how is it possible that Zinkensdamm is regularly full typically on Friday evenings (or Sunday afternoons)? Simply because the game is not everything! In fact most of the time the fans don’t (and can’t) follow the tiny orange ball. The reason lies in the fact that bandy is more of a social event. Fans are allowed to bring alcohol inside the stadium where everyone is hanging out with their friends or just talking with strangers, laughing and singing.

And when buying the ticket keep it in a safe place, because during the break everyone leaves the stadium into the nearest bar for drinking a beer, more singing and warming up for the second half!

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Bandy at Zinkensdamm | Art & culture, Relaxing | Ticket SEK 120.00
Ringvägen 16 | Södermalm
Fri 19:00 or Sun 13:15

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