TRAVEL / December
The restaurant at Hotel Skeppsholmen
Dehlin
Boxen, the exhibition room for experimental architecture
and design at ArkDes, designed by Dehlin Brattgård
Moderna Museet
airBaltic f lies to
Stockholm
four times per day
from Riga
starting from
29
€
one way
twice per day
from Tallinn
starting from
25
€
one way
Look for prices with
cherries on airbaltic.com
88
/ airBaltic.com
LAGOM EMBODIED
For a physical embodiment of lagom, look no further
than Stockholm’s Royal Palace (Slottsbacken 1), which
might be one of the largest in Europe but is certainly
more ordered than ornate. Many of the reception
and state rooms are open to the public, and the
building also contains museums featuring specific
collections, including the royal costumes and ar-
moury and the collection of horse-drawn carriages.
While the palace demonstrates that a certain
amount of restraint reaches all the way to the top
of Swedish society, in reality, lagom reflects the
egalitarianism and consensus that lies at its heart.
For most Swedes, working yourself to the bone is
nothing to be proud of; nor is splashing the cash on
lavish designer luxuries or signalling your wealth
and success. For a taste of this ‘real’ Stockholm, head
to laid-back Södermalm, an island south of the Old
Town that is affluent without being ostentatious and
trendy without wanting to show off about it.
Södermalm is home to dozens of kooky second-
hand shops, vintage stores, and, in the summer,
loppis (flea markets) that encourage you to spend
moderate amounts of money on previously-loved
goods. The district’s main street, Hornsgatan, is lined
with cafés, bars, and restaurants and even includes
Södermalm’s own little down-to-earth opera house,
the Folkoperan, established as an alternative to the
well-heeled Royal Swedish Opera across the water
(see folkoperan.se for listings).
For a shopping experience that prides itself on
quality over instant gratification, head to Grandpa
(Södermannagatan 21, with additional branches at
Fridhemsgatan 43 and Gamla Brogatan 32), which
is home to a charming mix of clothes, accessories,
jewellery, design, art, and live music on weekend
evenings. To see lagom manifested in colour, head to
the industrial-chic household store Granit (Göt-
gatan 31 with additional branches at Kungsgatan 42,
Sankt Eriksgatan 45, and elsewhere), where almost
everything you see shuns the excesses of the rainbow
and is white, black, or something greyish in between.
Contrary to some theories, lagom doesn’t preach
against material possessions; it simply warns that
the accumulation of possessions won’t necessarily
make you happier. There’s plenty at Granit that can
help you harmonise and de-clutter your life, while its
distinctive colour palette of greys and whites reveals
the Nordic love affair with understatement and func-
tionalism that is more about a respect for order than
Lutheran self-denial. There are plenty of galleries
and museums in Södermalm and beyond that reveal
how Scandinavian art has long embodied a principle
of less-is-more and embraced a sort of understated
beauty. Worth a visit is the functional Moderna Mu-
seet (Exercisplan 4, Skeppsholmen) housed in quiet,
low-rise buildings designed by architects Rafael Mo-
neo and Renzo Piano. There’s similar elegance and
education on offer at the nearby ArkDes, Stockholm’s
architecture museum (Exercisplan 4).
To truly embrace lagom during your visit to Stock-
holm, you need to ground yourself with the right
accommodation. There are hundreds of comfortable,
mid-priced, personalised apartments and houses
for rent through Airbnb – a good way to keep costs
down and find surroundings that are both human
and harmonious. Getting the same qualities from
a hotel isn’t always easy. But the plain, white walls
and touches of birch wood at Hotel Skeppsholmen
(Gröna gången 1), a former marine barracks in which
many rooms overlook the harbour, provide comfort
and realism in perfect balance. For something a little
less exclusive but with the same lack of needless
clutter and indulgent luxury, try No. 53 from the ever-
reliable Scandic chain. It has everything you need
and nothing you don’t – about as close to lagom as it’s
possible to get. bo