SWEDEN - Europe by Eurail 2015: Touring Europe by Train - page 517

oldest existing bank (since 1656), the Royal Palace, and Parliament, you'll also
find unusual shops, art galleries, antiques stores, and more than 30 restaurants.
With the Stockholm Card in your pocket, you can expand your day-excursion it-
inerary to include places of interest in and near Stockholm. For example, you can
make a day excursion to Norrtalje, with its quaint port, and have lunch aboard a
vintage steamer permanently moored there. You can also ride one of the Stock-
holm Transit Authority (SL) buses to Furusund, a narrow passage for ships enter-
ing and leaving the city's harbor. You can have lunch in a quaint Inn at Furusund.
During high season, May through August, sightseeing boats can take you to the
outer archipelago.
Yet another alternative use for the card would be to take a bus ride to historic
Vaxholm for a great Swedish lunch at the waterfront hotel overlooking the old fort-
ress and shopping there at leisure. Stockholm has many museums to explore, so
it is difficult to single out but a few recommendations. There is one, however, that
we are sure you won't want to miss: the Vasa Museum. Tel: [phone]. Vis-
it www.vasamuseet.se ; Hours: June-August: 0830-1800 daily; September-May:
1000-1700 daily (until 2000 on Wednesday). Admission: SEK 130 adults; SEK 100
students; children up to age 18, free.
In 1628 Sweden proudly launched what was then the world's largest warship
and pride of the nation, the Vasa . Carrying the name of the royal family, along with
64 cannon, this ship was presumed to be unconquerable. But Sweden's joy was
short-lived. The Vasa capsized in the harbor during its maiden voyage. Raised in
1961, painstakingly restored, and now resting in a museum especially constructed
for its preservation, the warship is enthroned in the middle of a great hall, displayed
in all its grandeur. The cobblestone ground floor suggests a quay, and the restored
warship can be viewed from various perspectives from four levels.