We both slept well in the hostel Sunday night after all the fresh air the day before and woke up sad but ready to take on our final day in Stockholm. We had booked a later flight back to Malmo so that we could make the most of the day and so once we were all packed up and checked out we headed towards our final stop, the Vasa Museum.
The Vasa Museum is a maritime museum in Djurgarden and is home to the only almost fully intact 17th century ship which has been salvaged, the 64 gun warship Vasa. The Vasa sank during her maiden voyage in 1628 and lay in Stockholm harbour for 333 years before it was salvaged in 1961. The museum constantly came up in my searches of the top things to do in Stockholm and according to the website, is the most visited museum in Scandinavia (it has been seen by over 25 million people). Now, the lighting inside was quite dim (in order to preserve the wood) and my SLR decided to die just as we got in so the photos aren't amazing but if you want more information the official website is http://www.vasamuseet.se
When you walk in the first thing that hits you is the immense size of the ship, it is absolutely huge. It was really hard to get a sense of perspective in the photos but you couldn't fit the whole thing in one picture, which is unsurprising when you think it was built to carry a crew of 450 men. The ship wasn't even the largest built at the time but is still an impressive 69m long, 11.7m wide and up to 52.5 meters high. The whole ship has been reconstructed and is 98% original, it was preserved well in the brackish waters of Stockholm harbour and so did not rot away like many other shipwrecks.
Here you can kind of see its size in comparison to the people viewing it!
The museum was laid out really well and allowed you to view the ship from 6 levels - from high above on the viewing platform, to down below right at the bottom of the ship. There were lots of exhibits and films about the salvage and history of the Vasa which I think would be interesting to everyone, even those without an interest in maritime history. It was so interesting that we lost track of time and ended up spending over 2 hours wandering around the museum, only giving us a short period of time to have a final look around Gamla Stan and buy some souvenirs.
I bought a couple of postcards and this gorgeous print - it was only £20 (not bad for a tourist zone where people are trying to flog you tea towels for £15!) It is really great quality and captures Stockholm as it was when we were there, sunny and vibrant.
Overall I had a fantastic time in Stockholm, it is a stunning city and we had brilliant weather for our trip, Easter next year will have a lot to live up to! I would whole heartedly recommend it as a city to visit and I hope it wont be too long until I get to go back again.
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