We had a fantastic week in Stockholm this summer! We decided to rent an apartment instead of a hotelroom. That turned out to be a great choice.

Christian at StockholmCityRental took care of everything. He waited for us outside the flat when we arrived and explained everything. The apartment had everything and was even better than we expected. It felt immediately as ”ours”. The beds were made so we could just relax and be tourists.          Thank you ”Krippa” and Biggles! We´ll be back…….

PS Stockholm is a fantastic summercity!

Egil Nordsjo with family from Rome, Italy.

Thanks Mark & Jack for visiting us.

The perfect start to any day? Try breakfast tennis by the water. The Haga tennis court are a fantastic little gem in a stunning beautiful setting, and has been in the Larsson family care since the 1960´s. The place still retains a small scale familar atmosphere. Haga Tennis consists of 8 courts located at the Brunnsviken bay in the vast Haga park. I particulary prefer one of the 5 clay courts closest to the water and the moored boats. When I slide across the ruby red clay surface and try to find a killer shot, I picture myself as a young Mats Wilander in the 1982 French Open final against Guillermo Vilas….I usually go for the ”brekfast package” (Wednesday and Fridays between 07.00 and 10.00) which consists of 1 hour of tennis, and a baguette with ham or cheese and a cup of coffee in the equally modest club house. You´ll meet the world feeling like a champion!

Rikard Lind

publisher, Creative Director and a Editor in Chief of magazine Plaza Deco.

Please spread our site and the tip to your visiting friends. It will make their stay more wonderful and watch out for A tip from a local 

StockholmCityRental is very happy and proud that our favorite bar in Stockholm, Erlands , today has been nominated to win a ”Golden Dragon” in the category ”Best Bar” by Sweden´s largest newspaper Dagens Nyheter. Gustaf, Rebecca and Max are well worth it!! Go and try their cocktails yourself. You won´t be disappointed. We promise!

Erlands, Gästrikegatan 1, http://www.erlands.nu

This link is from our first experience of Erlands. http://www.stockholmcityrental.se/yesterday-gustaf-and-emmie-opened-erlands

” Our stay was pretty much perfect. We have tried to think of some way that it could have been better but we can´t. For us this was a 10/10 experince on all counts. We particulary  appreciated your honesty about the flat (the fact it was compact and the size of the bed) and that you were willing to share some of your own special and hidden gems. We will share our experience with friends, family and acquaintances and we will definitely use StockholmCityRental again and looking forward to doing so. ”

With kind regards,

Hazel and Birger.

A dear friend of StockholmCtyRental, super talented silversmith and artist, David Taylor says:

-” in the basement of The Police Station in Kungsholmen, right below the cells, is an distincly unglamorous swimming pool, Kronobergsbadet. It´s open daily to the public so it´s not only detectives and policemen doing laps. The bath itself is a wonderful example of Swedish functionalism from an early 70´s perspective. This place is mostly very quiet and peaceful and perfect for a relaxing swim in the 25 m pool, except on fridays of course when the local geezers and retired coppers gather in the sauna with their smuggled beer. They share tall stories about a street life in Stockholm that has long since disappeared. You  should go there and check yourself !! ” David Taylor, Craftsman Extraordinaire http://www.superdave.se/

Please spread our site and the tip to your visiting friends. It will make their stay more wonderful and watch out for A tip from a local next week.

A dear friend of StockholmCityRental, designer and artist Ann Wåhlström, says:

Since I was a little girl, growing up in Stockholm, I like to take Djurgårdsfärjan – the ferry to ”Djurgården”, the park island of Stockholm also referred to as the Royal hunting grounds. To be on the water in a city is wonderful and gives you a very different view. The good thing with Djurgårdsfärjan is that it runs all year and it is as good in the winter when  it sometimes has to battle with big pieces of ice in the water, as in summer. It is also quite cheap. Enjoy that or one of the other ferries trafficking the Stockholm waters!

Djurgårdsfärjan runs every 15-20 minutes between Slussen in Old Town to Almänna Gränd at Djurgården, sometimes with a stop at Skeppsholmen.

Ann Wåhlström, designer and artist working mostly in glass. http://www.annwahlstrom.com/

Please spread our site and the tip to your visiting friends. It will make their stay more wonderful and watch out for A tip from a local next week.

A dear friend of StockholmCityRental, fine artist Mats Bigert, says:

– ” In November 1893, the Biological Museum at Djurgården in Stockholm was inaugurated. It was the brainchild of the Swedish taxidermist Gustav Kolthoff, who developed the museum together with the well known natural painter Bruno Liljefors and architect Agi Lindgren. It was one of the first 360-degree panoramas to be constructed in the world where animals were placed in their natural surroundings. Today the building has very few visitors. Its interiors are dusty and embedded in a historical haze that, amplified by the dusty air, creates the nauseous feeling of being inside a time machine. In a way, it stands as a mausoleum for museums. It is a must visit!! During the Stockholm Art week ( April 1-6 ) the museum will house an exhibition called Biotope, inviting the contemporary art inside the historical dioramas.”

Mats Bigert is one half of the Swedish artist duo Bigert & Bergström.  www.bigertbergstrom.com

Please spread our site and the tip to your visiting friends. It will make their stay more wonderful and watch out for A tip from a local next week.

A dear friend of StockholmCityRental, top stylist Sasa Antic´, says:

– ” I would highly recomend the café Pom & Flora at Bondegatan 64,  http://www.pomochflora.se  The interior is clean and simple and spot on. They have the most wonderful breakfast and lunches and I always start my day here with a good cappuccino. The owners Anna and Rasmus are the sweetest and will always meet you with a smile on their faces – no matter how stressful it is. ”

Sasa Antic´, Interior stylist, set and props, HiddenForms. The fantastic photo of Sasa is taken by  photografer Heidi Lerkenfeldt. http://www.sasaantic.com

Please spread our site and the tip to your visiting friends. It will make their stay more wonderful and watch out for A tip from a local next week.

A dear friend of StockholmCityRental, violinist and artistic leader, Anders Lagerqvist says:

–  ” if  you choose to visit Stockholm, a must for a music connoisseur is to go to the small and secret museum Musikkulturens främjande at Riddargatan 37. It´s hard to find and open only 2 hours per week, tuesdays and thursdays 11.00 – 12.00. Here you can see original scores, music manuscripts, letters etc by Bethoveen, Mozart, Chopin, Rossini, Shubert and over 500 old instruments. Rudolf Nydahl ( 1882-1973 ), the founder of the museum, was a music loving swede who studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris and became rich when the Swedish state in 1919 monopolized the trade with alcohol and expropriated the Nydahl family wine shop. He used his fortune to build up a fantastic collection of priceless objects for us to enjoy. Absolutely worth a visit! ” http://www.nydahlcoll.se

Anders Lagerqvist:  http://www.kammarmusiker.se

Please spred our site and tip to your visiting friends. It will make their stay more wonderful! And watch out for A tip from a local next week.

This is the right place for men that know the difference between a hand-made button hole and a machine-made one. All garments here are vintage, sometimes not even used, and of highest quality. For example suits by brands like A.W Bauer, Aquascutum, Turnbull & Asser and many more. Hand-made brogue shoes and a wide selection of hats, silk scarfs, waistcoats and accessories made between 1920 and 1950 makes this shop quite unique in the world. There is no shop like this in New York, London or Paris that we know of. Do you? The only competitor that we have heard of is Rudolf Beaufay´s clothing store in Hamburg. So next time you visit Stockholm we suggest that you stop by here to have a chat about style with the friendly owner Alexander or maybe buy your own fez and smoking gown before you check in to one of our beautiful homes.

A.Marchesan, Odengatan 74

www.amarchesan.se ,   www.facebook.com/amarchesanstockholm

If you want to make an impression and to make your beloved really, really happy….then we suggest you a visit at Platina to buy your x-mas gift. Here you will find top quality contemporary art jewellery with an attitude. Most pieces is one of a kind and unique. If you search for a wearable piece of art made of wood, gold, silver, porcelain or maybe iron, this is the place to go. At Platina you will find georgeous jewellery that fascinates, annoys, tickles and protest!! This is as far as you can get from mass-produced crap found at most chain stores.

PLATINA, Odengatan 68, www.platna.se

We usualy do not brag about what we do, but because we recently started StockholmCityRental, and we got these wonderful words from one of  our guests the other day, we like to boast of a little bit by showing this letter………

Christian & Biggles,  

 We wanted to thank you for helping make our Stockholm vacation memorable. From the beginning, your professional advice and insider´s knowledge helped us plan our visit and found us a great flat to stay in. The flat was fantastic and completely charming, perfect for a couple. The location was great too.We felt like locals! 

We can´t say enough about your personalized service; from picking us up and dropping us off at the airport, to finding us perfect restaurants and night spots. Your recommendations on places to visit were ”top notch”. You took care of everything for us, allowing us to relax and truly enjoy Stockholm. 

We look forward to you and Biggles helping us plan our next visit.We want everyone to know about your great service. Thank you so much, 

Marisol & Grieg, Loc Angeles, California.

We are happy to read this! Some of the reasons why Lonely Planet is ranking Sweden so high is:

• ”Visiting Sweden feels like walking right into a fashion or homedecor magazine”.
• ”Stockholm is one of the most beautiful major cities in the world”.
• ”The best thing about Sweden is its natural beauty”.
• ”Stockholm is also a vibrant and modern city, famous for producing sleek design, edgy fashion and world class nightclubs”.

All of this are off course true and StockholmCityRental want´s to take the opportunity to add some facts about our country that makes us proud:

In Sweden freedom of speech, democracy and peace have such a long history, that most Swedes takes it for granted. Equality between women and men, the right to marry someone of the same sex, freedom of religion, the right for woman to decide over her own body and to have an abortion are other fields where our country is in the front line. Sweden was also the first country in the world to forbid punishment of children. The list of good things can be even longer…come here and have a look yourself! We are sure you will find a modern and interesting country.

At Vio´s the charming owner Paulin and her staff serve delicious Italian coffee, sells beautiful plants and flowers like Equadorian roses and now also wonderful aromatic spices. Our favorite is their Chipotle that gives both heat and a distinctive smokey flavor to a slow-cooked dish like pulled pork or a Mexican chili con carne. Try it!!

Vio´s, Norrtullsgatan 10 / Odenplan.  http//www.viosblomsterhandel.se

Do you like to listen to cool music from the 30-, 40-, 50- and 60-s? Now it´s possible to do that, sitting in a true ”Mad men-style” home environment, while having an excellent cup of coffee at the same time.

Soon they will also start serving cold cuts, cheese plates, wine by the glass and cocktails in the evenings. Remember where you heard this first…because this charming place will certainly be a hot topic!

ERLANDS café, cocktailbar & vintage. Gästrikegatan 1 (Vasastan).

Stockholm City Rental is happy to announce that chef Susanne Torssell will start to collaborate with us. After a career at, chef Daniel Clifford´s  2 Michelin star restaurant, Midsummer House in Cambridge, Susanne went back home to work at 1 Michelin star restaurant Lux in Stockholm. After that she founded and ran Restaurant Gamla Orangeriet for four years.

Now Susanne is prepared to start cooking also for our guests. It can be a luxury five course dinner with bubbles or a swedish laid back evening with herring, mashed potatoes and craft beer. You might want to have an exclusive dinner party at home or a less formal private lunch with a chef that cooks just for you. Or why not let Susanne teach/show  you how to cook scandinavian food? What ever the reason is… Susanne will be happy to help you to create an unforgetable gastronomic experience.

Cities where food is good, people are beautiful, the sun is shining and urban swimming is possible. If you choose Stockholm – june is a perfect month!

We where asked by the British, multi-award winning,  travel magazine WANDERLUST to give their readers some ”Stockholm Insider Secrets”.
Read here what we wrote: www.wanderlust.co.uk

We can´t resist to show you the amazing places we occasionally run into while we hunt for StockholmCity homes. These unique objects we call Specials. Look at our website, clic specials and read about our first published object in this new category: Arctic Norway!

It´s with great pride that we announce the birth of the first Claes Göran shop in the world. A beautiful little place with an attitude, where they sell the most fantastic unisex sneakers of there own design and production. The staff, Sofia and Petter, are lovely and if you are lucky you can meet Claes Göran himself that might amuse you with one of his stories about anything from cowboys to food, or just an advice of what is important in life. So – go to Odengatan 62,  and become one of the first among your friends to own a pair of Claes Göran shoes.

http://claesgoran.com/en/

If you are searching for Santa Claus or want a white christmas feeling – Stockholm is,  right now, the best place to visit. But leave your car at home!!

Lagom Studios is the platform from where the musician and fashion designer Daniel Adams Ray launches his own music and fashion label.
In swedish the word lagom means something that is ”normal” or in moderate balance. Not too much or too little, ”just enough”. The swedish saying ”lagom är bäst” (lagom is best) expresses the wisdom of defining the best possible course of action between two extremes.
Check in the Lagom Studios latest collection and the shop interior yourself, to see if it’s ”lagom”. Maybe it is….. it sure is beautiful !! Address: Torsgatan 40 , Stockholm.

http://www.lagom-sthlm.com

Surströmming – (fermented herring) the swedish food that divides our population into lovers or haters. There is nothing in between! If you are neutral to this, it´s like being neutral to a rollercoaster ride. Surströmming also divides the country into two parts geographically: north of Stockholm people tend to like it, and south of….they don´t.

StockholmCityRental loves Surströmming !!!

Just like when you tried coffee, beer, gorgonzola cheese or anchovies for the first time, it wasn´t probably love at first sight, but after a period of exercise something happened and suddenly you might start longing for it. If you are an open minded person willing to challenge your gastronomic borders….you should definately try it when you come to Sweden. Restaurants don´t serve it, and it´s not polite to the neighbors to open a can indoors. But if you ask us, we will be happy to eat and arrange a Surströmming party together with you.               Read more: www.surstromming.se

Finally, after a long hunt to find mr or ms Right, we have now found the perfect ”Fashionista tour of Stockholm” responsible. Her name is Sofia Larsson.

Sofia is a well known journalist who writes about fashion, food and lifestyle for the most prestigious of papers and magazines in Sweden and abroad. Among them  DN, Damernas Värld, Icon, People and  Black Book Magazine. Most recently Sofia was involved in the start-up of the Swedish edition of  ”Project Runway”.

Sofia wants to take the opportunity to recommend Haberdash at Upplandsgatan 50,  for mens fashion and accessoires. Absolutely worth a visit if you are in Stockholm. www.haberdash.se

Since glowing skin is always in fashion, Sofia also recommend you to visit Oikos cosmetics at Hantverkargatan 18. Here the girls will help you to obtain just that! www.oikoscosmetics.se

Tomorrow  is the start of the Stockholm Pride Festival 2012. Around 50.000 participants from all over the world will listen to interesting seminars, mingel with friends, see a lot of famous artists perform live, and if lucky,…..maybe find love!

And if you want to eat delicious tapas and drink good wine, we suggest that you take a short walk to Skånegatan 79/Nytorget and try to get a table at Restaurang Sardin. We promise….you will not be disappointed!

http://www.restaurangsardin.se

Read about us and our boat in the latest issue of the SAS magazine, Scanorama. It´s about boating in Stockholm. Page 18. Maybe you would like to join us on a tour sometime…..?

http://www.scanorama.com

Let us present our new SCR collaborator Lång-Kalle. He is a well known profile in the Stockholm nightlife and our responsible to make your Stockholm nights magic and unforgettable by taking you to the coolest of clubs and most exciting live music sessions.

Lång-Kalle warms up by recommending Trädgården, Hammarby Slussväg 2, for clubbing and Aarts bar, Åsögatan 176, for cocktails and lovely staff.

http://www.facebook.com/Tradgarden

http://www.aartsmat.se/vinbar

Today when we took a walk in our closest park, Vasaparken, we saw that the city have installed a solar energy driven garbagecan, that compress the trash  (up to 600 litres) and sends an SMS message to the garbage collector when it is full and needs to be emptied. Isn´t that fantastic ?!

Some days ago, Economist Intelligence Units, published a list ranking the best cities in the world to live in. Stockholm is ranked as number 6. Ahead of cities like New York, Tokyo and Berlin but after Amsterdam, Paris and Sydney. HongKong was considered as number one.  Offcourse……lists like that are subjective, but we still love to be at the same list as such fantastic cities and feel flattered to be among the top 10.