Sweden has been a seafaring nation for centuries, which is why it is no surprise that there are several museums in the capital dedicated to this history. Among them is the most popular museum in Scandinavia, the Vasa Museum, and a new museum exploring the ship wrecks in the Baltic, Vrak. Combine your visit to these two museums with a ticket to the hop-on hop-off bus to discover the best sights in Stockholm.
The Vasa is the only fully intact 17th-century ship that has ever been salvaged. This uniqueness is part of the reason why the Vasa Museum is a must-visit in Stockholm. The warship sunk in 1628, after sailing only about 1,300 metres, and was salvaged from the harbour floor in 1961.
The ship is the centrepiece of the museum, with the building having been designed around it. Exhibits at the museum cover the ship itself, its construction, sinking and recovery. But there are also exhibits which explore life on board, there would have been 145 sailors and 300 soldiers living on the ship.
The Vasa is not the only ship that sunk, the bottom of the Baltic Sea holds many other well-preserved wooden shipwrecks. With the help of technology and Virtual Reality, Vrak takes you underwater to explore the stories of these ships. But you will stay perfectly dry as you dive to the bottom of the sea.
A visit to Vrak will leave you with a completely new outlook on the Baltic Sea, as anytime afterwards you will be reminded what lies beneath. With the help of holograms, games and VR you will learn more about maritime archaeological investigations. With your own eyes you will see the tracks left behind by explorers of Swedish seas, lakes and streams.
Stockholm is full of great attractions and museums, many of them can easily be reached with the RED Sightseeing hop-on hop-off bus, including the Vasa Museum and Vrak – Museum of Wrecks. Other places to bus can take you include Gamla Stan, Södermalm and Östermalm. With your bus ticket you can make your way around the city at your own pace for 24 hours.
As you travel on the bus through Stockholm, you can use the free Wi-Fi and listen to the audio guide to learn more about the city. The easiest way to find the buses in Stockholm is to download the RED Sightseeing app, which shows you exactly where the bus stops are as well as the buses themselves. And the app even comes with a free walking tour through Gamla Stan, which tells the life story of Gustav III.
List of bus stops
You can hop on and off at any of the following stops:
Click here for the map or find the locations of the stops in the RED Sightseeing app.