What should I avoid in Stockholm?

Västerlånggatan in Gamla Stan is the worst street to eat on in Stockholm. Every 10 meters, another restaurant has staff on the cobblestones waving laminated menus in five languages. The meatballs taste like they came from a microwave, and the bill runs 280-350 SEK ($30-37). Walk 90 seconds south to Prästgatan or east to Tyska Brinken, and the prices drop by a third for food that someone actually cooked to order. Worth noting, Gamla Stan itself is still worth your time for Stockholm Palace, which dates to 1760, and the Nobel Prize Museum on Stortorget. You'll catch the smell of roasted almonds from the cart on the square in summer. Kryp In on Prästgatan 17 does a proper Swedish lunch for around 180 SEK ($19).

The ride from Arlanda airport into the city is where most first-timers lose money. Unlicensed drivers wait in the arrivals hall and quote "flat fares" of 600-800 SEK ($64-86). The metered Taxi Stockholm and Sverige Taxi cars, identified by yellow plates, run 450-550 SEK ($48-59) to Centralstationen. But the Arlanda Express train costs 299 SEK ($32) and takes 20 minutes. Flygbussarna coaches run 119 SEK ($13) and reach Cityterminalen in about 45 minutes. Once in the city, tap a contactless card on the SL metro and bus readers. Stockholm runs almost entirely on cards now. Most cafes on Södermalm will wave your cash away. The Forex exchange counters at Centralstationen take 5-7% in commissions, so you'd lose 50-70 SEK on every thousand you convert for currency you likely won't need.

The Icebar Stockholm near Vasaplan charges 230 SEK ($25) for 45 minutes in a freezer while you drink one vodka cocktail from an ice glass. The novelty wears off in about 10 minutes. You'll stand around in a borrowed silver parka that smells like the 50 people who wore it that day, wondering why the line was 30 minutes long. If you want a cold drink with an actual view, Mälarpaviljongen on Norr Mälarstrand floats on Riddarfjärden and serves a lager for 85 SEK ($9) at sunset. Djurgården gets overrun on cruise ship days, typically Tuesday through Thursday from May to September. The Vasa Museum, which opened in 1990, sees lines of 45-60 minutes on those mornings. Go before 10am or after 3pm, when the ship passengers have moved on to Gamla Stan.

Stockholm's weather tends to surprise visitors. Mid-June temperatures sit around 15-20°C, but the wind off Saltsjön cuts straight through a cotton shirt. That light jacket you packed for "summer in Europe" won't hold up at 9pm on the Djurgården ferry dock, where the spray off the water chills exposed skin fast. The rain in October and November arrives sideways on Baltic gusts that bend cheap umbrellas inside out. A wind-resistant shell outperforms a rain jacket here. Winter is a different problem. From late November through January, the sun doesn't clear the rooftops until nearly 9am and drops below the horizon before 3pm. Skogskyrkogården, the forest cemetery that opened in 1915, looks striking in December snow, but you'll need waterproof boots and wool base layers to last more than 20 minutes outside.