We left our house at stupid o’clock to get an early coach from Victoria to Stansted. The quickest option is to take a taxi, but the coach saves you a lot of money. A taxi ride would cost me £50+ to get to Stansted from our home both ways, while a return coach ticket only cost me £33.10.
Transfer time: 1 hour and 45 minutes.
How did I get cheap flights to Sweden?
Skyscanner is my best friend. I’m on that website at least once a day. I found flights to Västerås for just £45.40 back in August and immediately booked. I told my best friend, and she booked the same flights.
I bought these bags from decathalon, and they are just the right size for Ryanair’s hand luggage requirements, which means I don’t have to pay any extra and my flights stay cheap.
I booked our hotel on hotels.com because of their rewards system. I wanted a hotel close to the airport and came across the Comfort Hotel Västerås. For 3 nights, it cost us £349, which I split with my bestie.
Our room was very basic. We had a double bed, a sofa bed, a TV, a desk, and a lovely bathroom. I was quite surprised to see no tea or coffee making facilities, but it wasn’t a huge deal. Breakfast, wifi, and the use of the gym are also included in the price.
The hotel is only 20 minutes away from the airport and it’s right next to the train station, which is great as we only used public transport during our stay. We also had a supermarket and a McDonald’s nearby, which is always helpful when you have kids.
Day 1
When we arrived at the hotel, they kindly kept our luggage in a room that only staff with a key card could access. They keep an eye on you the entire time, which is fantastic! It made me feel that my belongings would be safe with them.
We then took an hour-long train ride to Stockholm Central. Little miss was free, and a single ticket for us adults cost around £12. We walked around for a few hours, found an Ikea, and had some delicious meatballs and mashed potatoes. We didn’t do much, but we still had a good time.
We returned to the hotel, and I was impressed by how simple check-in was. You do everything yourself. You can even make your own keycard. I thought it was pretty cool.
Day 2
We ate breakfast at the hotel (which appeared to be free for all guests) and then took the bus to Leo’s Lekland. It’s a massive soft play centre that’s quite pricey! Entry for little miss cost nearly £19 to me. I thought it was worthwhile, but I probably wouldn’t say that if I had multiple children. More info can be found on our Instagram reel.
We then took the bus to another IKEA to get some more meatballs and mash. Little Miss can be picky, so it’s best to go somewhere I know she’ll enjoy the food. It’s also very cheap, which is always a bonus.
The plan for the day was to go into central Stockholm, but we waited too long to buy train tickets, and the times we wanted were all sold out. I made sure that we reserved our tickets for the following day.
Top tip: buy your train tickets at the ticket machine to avoid paying a service fee. It is possible to have the screen translated into English.
Day 3
Started the day off with some yummy breakfast at the hotel again.
We bought our return train tickets to Stockholm Central the night before for around £25. This adds up if you’re taking multiple girls into the city so you might want to look into booking a hotel in central Stockholm.
Our first stop was Junibacken, which was probably one of the best days out we’ve ever had. There are many magical activities based on the stories of Astrid Lindgren and other children’s authors available here. You don’t need to know much about Swedish children’s literature to enjoy this experience. It’s completely interactive, and I think kids 12 and under would enjoy it. Make sure you check out our Instagram reel.
We then took a bus to Tekniska Museet (The Swedish National Museum of Science), which was by far the best museum we’d ever visited. I wish we could have stayed all day, but we were exhausted and hungry! The exhibitions are all interactive, which is ideal when travelling with children. Almost all of the exhibitions had English translations, but it appeared that all of the audio portions were in Swedish, which wasn’t a big deal. More about our visit can be found on our Instagram reel.
Day 4
Time to go home! We began the day with breakfast and then returned to our room to relax. Check out was at 12pm, and our flight was at 4:05pm. Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t do much.
There were numerous other things we could have done, but time was of the essence. It simply means that we will be back. You can find a great list of fun things to do with your kids in Stockholm on the Visit Stockholm website. Here’s a fantastic list of things to do in Västerås.
You also might want to look into a gocity Stockholm pass to save money on attractions.
A big thank you to Visit Stockholm for providing us with entry to Junibracken and Tekniska Museet – AD
We had a great time in Sweden and are looking forward to our next visit. Next stop, Belgium!
