October in Sweden - No boat tours?
 

Hi. It will be my first in Stockholm. I will be there for 3 days - arriving on a Sunday.

I thought it would be easy to book activities (boats esp)..but all of October is blocked out. I even checked a couple of walking tours.

I've been to a couple of sites - but is there something happening that I am not aware of.

I understand it's Oktoberfest but ...what's going on?

My last resort is the hop on hop off bus tour. :(

Not sure which sites you are checking and what boat tour you want, but check this one. The schedule is reduced but there are still tours, unfortunately only at the weekend so you might miss it.

http://www.stromma.se/en/Stockholm/T...hipelago-tour/

Also check the official Swedish tourist office webpage.

http://www.visitstockholm.com/en/

October is off season. Many of the tour boat trips available during the summer will not be operating.

The boat trips are operating in October, but to a reduced schedule. They operate thru the year with varying frequencies.

Thanks very much for the information. Does anyone know any good walking tours. I found some online - looking to book in advance on viator.com, but no availablity in October.

Otherwise I'm hoping the hotel will have some advertised?


One other question - I would love to go whale watching, being esp in this part of the world.

Does anyone have any recommendations - out of Sweden or Denmark?

I have been to Stockholm twice now on home exchanges and have never seen whale watching advertised.

Are there whales in the North Sea and Baltic?

Are you aware that the sun rises about 7:30 and sets about 5:45 in mid-October? It cuts into what you ca do in a day.

I dont know of any whale watching tours except from the Faroe Islands/Greenland or somewhere like that.

Daylight hours are about the same as anywhere in Northern Europe. It is not like the tropics where it gets dark immediately after sunset. I don't understand why it would cut short anyone's activities and why it has to be presented as a negative. Autumn can be beautiful in Scandinavia (as long as it is dry weather.) and Scandinavians are very good as making dark nights very cosy and welcoming.

Here is the official Swedish tourist office link for Stockholm which has the info requested.

http://www.visitstockholm.com/en/See...-riddarholmen/

http://www.stockholmourway.com/

The hop on/off boat runs until 31 October
http://www.redsightseeing.com/hop-on...oat-stockholm/

You can easily rent a bike as well.

There are no great whales in the Baltic and I think the only cetaceans are small harbour porpoise. The main issue is the lack of food due to the very low salinity of the water. We swam every day in Stockholm archipelago every day this August and it was difficult at times to differentiate the water from lake water. It was a real shock to return back to Scotland and swim in our sea water.

Try to get to Sandhamn from Stockholm. It is two hours by boat and has a real feel of the edge of the world, it was a old fishing community, is very picture postcard but is now the haunt of Sweden's elite yachting set.

If you want see sealife in Scandanavia head to the North Sea off Norway, the huge population of herring draw in astronomical numbers of Orca in Autumn, it is one of the great sights of the natural world.

Thank you everyone for the info. No I was not aware. It is my first time in Scandinavia and it's obvious I should have selected the activities before booking the trip.

Being a naive American - I was hoping the hotel desk would offer activities. hehehe

I think I am also interested in wildlife tours, and have been looking at the Hundspann / dog sledding visits.

Does anyone have any recommendations - nearest to Stockholm? I understand a majority of them are up North and require an extra flight or plane ride.

I very much appreciate any feedback.

If you are coming from the States then an extra flight is out with only 3 days to play with.

Do you love wildlife?

I can give you the exact spot 12 miles out of Stockholm where 18 White Tailed Sea Eagles nest, it is a spectacular sight. Lots of our wildlife also in this area.

I am. Thank you for the information. I guess my only issue is transport as I am not going to be renting a car. I found a couple of 1 to 2 hour visits - but I'd have to fly (55 min) or take a train up North.

I am just wondering if anyone has had any experiences they'd like to share.

There are a million things to see and do in Stockholm - but not wildlife - except in skansen - the zoo section.

October is off season so not surprised boat trips only on weekends. And for whale watching you will do much better out of US ports on either coast - exact places depending on time of year.

Boat trips for tourists are limited in off season but traffic around the archipelago is all year round. Try this link and if necessary email them to see if there are any ferries on your date.

http://www.waxholmsbolaget.se/visitor/

There are wildlife parks closer to Stockholm but you need to check what you can hope to see from the winter enclosures. This one is near Nyköping which is an hour south of central Stockholm.

http://jagareforbundet.se/en/oster-malma/wildlife-park/

Is there a reason you don't want to rent a car? Driving in Sweden is easy esp once out of central Stockholm and hardly any traffic (there are several confusing tunnels in Stockholm so GPS is very useful). At least you could tour the countryside a bit (e.g. Arkösund etc) and see the white tailed eagles that Dickie_Gr is referring to.

The tourist ferries do stop but there are still many ferries which service the island system.

There is an island just off the ferry terminal to Ljustero from the mainland on which the trees have all died for some reason. This provides birds with a huge array of "perches", when we were there in August there was a huge number of eagles, they seemed to be nesting there. You can get to the terminal very easily by a ferry from Stockholm, it is a beautiful cruise!

We also saw owls, marsh harriers and buzzards very close to the terminal.

None of the tourist information offices could tell me where to find them. It took me days to find the island.