i will be in stockholm early july. traveling w family, son 25,daughter 21. any must see/do ideas? is a week too long? other areas to visit in area? has any one stayed at nordic sea or lights?
thank you.

Stockholm is a beautiful city in July, but it is extremely expensive - especially the cabs, the food, and the drink. Do not miss Skansen or the Vasa Museum. it sounds like you will be there long enough to enjoy the archipelago. Vaxholm, Mariefred, and Drottningholm are all great places to visit by boat. Still, a week is a long time. Maybe you can combine the trip with a visit to the countryside or to another Scandinavian city (take a night ferry to avoid wasting most of a day traveling).

You must go to the Vasa Museum, it is fabulous. The Vasa is the only 17th century sailing ship that still exists. The King of Sweden was trying to regain dominance of the Baltic and commissioned several new ships and the Vasa was to be his flag ship. During construction he decided that he wanted two gun decks because Denmark had a ship with two gun decks. The addition of the extra gun deck made the ship very unstable and it sunk on it's maiden voyage..didn't even go a mile. The Baltic is very cold and brackish so the ship was very well preserved. It was under water for over 300 years, was discovered in the mid 50's, was raised in the early 60's and restored. It is really amazing. There is also a park called Skansen. It is a re-creation of buildings etc. that shows life in the early centuries, sort of like our depiction of Salem. The Stockholm Cathedral on the island of Gamel Stan is at the highest point in the city. It dates from the 1300's and is the official church of the Royal family and not far from that is the Nobel Museum, also very interesting. The palace is also right there. Gamel Stan is a fun place to walk around. I stayed there this past January. You also might want to try a smorgesbord at the Grand Hotel. My neice did that a few years ago and said it was fabulous. We tried to go but they were not doing it in January. I really don't think a week is too long in most major european cities. The time goes by quickly.

If you go to the destinations section of this website, you will find several different itineraries, based on how long you have in Stockholm.

It's a lovely city, and I agree about the Vasa, Skansen, and the expensive provisions. (Be particularly careful if the hotel sends out your laundry! Find a laudromat!)

Furthermore, I'd recommend a day trip to Uto (one of the islands, a pleasant boatride away with many locals off to their cottages for the weekend).

We had a week and had a great time.