Sunny Stockholm

Above and below ground with John Towner.

By Peak Design

Getting a great deal on travel usually means visiting a place in the low season or shoulder season. It also means seeing a slightly different side of that place than you normally get on travel blogs and social media.

Still, sometimes you see a deal on a flight that’s too good to pass up–and sometimes that deal takes you to Sweden in the dead of winter.

If you Google “Stockholm in winter,” you’ll see white-capped skylines, icy waterways, and twinkling Christmas lights. People are out and about, shopping at outdoor markets and skating on any frozen surface they can find. What we found when we landed in mid-February were quiet gray streets, sunny blue skies, and not a snowflake in sight.

So we walked. And walked. And what we ended up finding was a city subdued and understated at first glance, with unexpected depth and vibrance once you dig a little deeper.

It’s true that the best way to see Stockholm is on foot. We covered miles of cobbled streets and steep hills every day, looking for the classic sights and finding hidden gems in the process. The cold and gray were offset with these brief bursts of color and warmth that were, at times, surreal – and always exactly the kick we needed to keep exploring and digging further.

Following those ups and downs, it’s easy to feel like this is a place full of extremes that exist to be experienced and explored. Somewhere in the middle, though, are the quiet, in-between moments: the lulls between subway trains after the platforms clear, the chats with the bartender between rounds, the walks home after dinners out. In those moments, you get a glimpse of everyday life – a reminder that real people really live here, and for us at least, a reminder of why we travel in the first place.