This is a nice job, and the individual choices seem pretty good. However, I disagree on the final judgment for Copenhagen over stockholm. Stockholm's Old Town is much much better than anything in Copenhagen. More importantly, for those of us interested in public administration, the various 1960 Swedish planned suburbs, each with different personalities and reachable by Subway, are a highlight of any trip. I don't believe there is anything in Copenhagen like the Stockholm area around Sergels torg, with Sixties modernist skyscrapers and a real sixties vibe. I may be wrong about this, because I don't know copenhagen as well, but Stockholm has a great hipster area in the South of the city where the girl with the dragon tattoo novels took place.
You clearly know more about Sweden/Stockholm than I do! No real claim that this is anything other than a subjective assessment, colored by more time in Copenhagen. Did not know about the 1960s PA connection!!
Stockholm as a city is the preppy to Copehagen's hipster. Sodernmalm (and, more specifically, the western edge of it in Hornstull) may be "Stockholm's Brooklyn," but Copehagen has Vesterbro (and its gentrified Kødbyen/Meatpacking District).
Copehagen is just a much more "hipster-friendly" city since it has a more vibrant nightlife and restaurant scene (which come with the much more permissive alcohol, music, and dancing regulations). Stockholm suffers from being really uptight about such things, both policy-wise and culturally. And the rising unaffordability (and extreme ethnic residential segregation) of Stockholm's city-center makes for an urban core that is genteel but rather lifeless. Copenhagen still has a little of that gritty weirdness and isn't as expensive or segregated.
In terms of Modernist and Mid-Century urbanism, I think you can find much to love in both cities. I live in one of those 1960s planned urbanist suburbs in Stockholm (Högdalen), and I really enjoy it, though other similar communities have become rather neglected and crime-ridden, unfortunately. The Modernist optimism of the Miljonprogrammet for public housing and urban planning was both a high-water-mark of the 20th Century Swedish Social Democracy and some sad evidence of its limitations. I wish both cities would show a refreshed version of that Post-War progressive optimism to do a version that works for the housing, inclusion, and inequality crisis today!
Having done both cities twice and not being a nightlife kind of guy at all, I gotta say that Stockholm is my favorite city by far between the two. It is as a matter of fact my favorite city in all of Europe with the cities I’ve been to as of today. 😀
May 30, 2023·edited May 30, 2023Liked by Don Moynihan
It’s been a while since my last visit, but I cannot recommend more the Vasa museum, climbing to the top of city hall for the view, a cruise to the islands like you mentioned, touring some of the metro stations (don’t remember the names though, but most stations are impressive), the Moderna museum and of course walking in the old centre (Gamla Stan). Just to name a few. It’s all subjective of course, but I preferred the vibe in Stockholm.
I live in Stockholm and agree with your assessment from an American-abroad perspective--including that Copenhagen is slightly cooler.
However, one critique: why the throwaway both-sides-ism of granting both cities supremacy on their hometown food thing? Meatballs are very Swedish and smørrebrød is very Danish, obvs, and it would have been VERY spicy to find a superior version of on or the other on the wrong side of the Öresundsbron/Øresundsforbindelsen. But why not try for a everyman culinary crown that both countries vie for? No Swede is going to argue that they do stegt flæsk better. But they will fight you about sausages. Maybe you could whether Danes do kiosk hot dogs better? I don't feel as qualified to deliver a definitive statement about the relative merits of baked treats in Denmark vs. the Swedish goodies, but I must say that the latter are very very good.
Another battle round could be a Tivoli standoff. Denmark's pleasure parks are the OG version. So, this is hard to beat for Sweden.
Lastly, you could introduce another variable that matters a lot for life in both cities: weather! Neither of them is a tropical paradise, but they do have quite different weather. Do the slightly longer hours of sunlight in the depth of winter in Copenhagen counteract its generally "meh" weather, otherwise? I personally prefer more snow (even at the expense of a little lower temperature) to make things cozy in the winter and the unremitting grey, rainy weather of the southern flatland gets me more. Despite the shorter winter days, Stockholm is the sunniest Nordic capital, overall.
Appreciate your comments on the different ethos of Stockholm, which did with my experiences, but not in a way I could articulate.
Doing the best food from other places is a great idea for column that would have required more research on my part. Going to Netherlands next month, so maybe I will find the best Belgian beer in the world there.
Thought about parks but based on passing the one in Stockholm, did not seem to compete with Tivoli, which is hard to top.
Blessed with exceptionally good weather in both places when I visited. Did notice the Danes just sort of stopped working and went sunbathing for the day.
This is a nice job, and the individual choices seem pretty good. However, I disagree on the final judgment for Copenhagen over stockholm. Stockholm's Old Town is much much better than anything in Copenhagen. More importantly, for those of us interested in public administration, the various 1960 Swedish planned suburbs, each with different personalities and reachable by Subway, are a highlight of any trip. I don't believe there is anything in Copenhagen like the Stockholm area around Sergels torg, with Sixties modernist skyscrapers and a real sixties vibe. I may be wrong about this, because I don't know copenhagen as well, but Stockholm has a great hipster area in the South of the city where the girl with the dragon tattoo novels took place.
You clearly know more about Sweden/Stockholm than I do! No real claim that this is anything other than a subjective assessment, colored by more time in Copenhagen. Did not know about the 1960s PA connection!!
Stockholm as a city is the preppy to Copehagen's hipster. Sodernmalm (and, more specifically, the western edge of it in Hornstull) may be "Stockholm's Brooklyn," but Copehagen has Vesterbro (and its gentrified Kødbyen/Meatpacking District).
Copehagen is just a much more "hipster-friendly" city since it has a more vibrant nightlife and restaurant scene (which come with the much more permissive alcohol, music, and dancing regulations). Stockholm suffers from being really uptight about such things, both policy-wise and culturally. And the rising unaffordability (and extreme ethnic residential segregation) of Stockholm's city-center makes for an urban core that is genteel but rather lifeless. Copenhagen still has a little of that gritty weirdness and isn't as expensive or segregated.
In terms of Modernist and Mid-Century urbanism, I think you can find much to love in both cities. I live in one of those 1960s planned urbanist suburbs in Stockholm (Högdalen), and I really enjoy it, though other similar communities have become rather neglected and crime-ridden, unfortunately. The Modernist optimism of the Miljonprogrammet for public housing and urban planning was both a high-water-mark of the 20th Century Swedish Social Democracy and some sad evidence of its limitations. I wish both cities would show a refreshed version of that Post-War progressive optimism to do a version that works for the housing, inclusion, and inequality crisis today!
Having done both cities twice and not being a nightlife kind of guy at all, I gotta say that Stockholm is my favorite city by far between the two. It is as a matter of fact my favorite city in all of Europe with the cities I’ve been to as of today. 😀
Please post your favorite things to do so future Stockhom visitors can get more insights!
It’s been a while since my last visit, but I cannot recommend more the Vasa museum, climbing to the top of city hall for the view, a cruise to the islands like you mentioned, touring some of the metro stations (don’t remember the names though, but most stations are impressive), the Moderna museum and of course walking in the old centre (Gamla Stan). Just to name a few. It’s all subjective of course, but I preferred the vibe in Stockholm.
Vasa museum undoubtedly great, was sorry I did not make it to the photography museum
That's because you didn't go on to Helsinki!
(The photography museum is right next to my preferred ferry terminal 😉)
I live in Stockholm and agree with your assessment from an American-abroad perspective--including that Copenhagen is slightly cooler.
However, one critique: why the throwaway both-sides-ism of granting both cities supremacy on their hometown food thing? Meatballs are very Swedish and smørrebrød is very Danish, obvs, and it would have been VERY spicy to find a superior version of on or the other on the wrong side of the Öresundsbron/Øresundsforbindelsen. But why not try for a everyman culinary crown that both countries vie for? No Swede is going to argue that they do stegt flæsk better. But they will fight you about sausages. Maybe you could whether Danes do kiosk hot dogs better? I don't feel as qualified to deliver a definitive statement about the relative merits of baked treats in Denmark vs. the Swedish goodies, but I must say that the latter are very very good.
Another battle round could be a Tivoli standoff. Denmark's pleasure parks are the OG version. So, this is hard to beat for Sweden.
Lastly, you could introduce another variable that matters a lot for life in both cities: weather! Neither of them is a tropical paradise, but they do have quite different weather. Do the slightly longer hours of sunlight in the depth of winter in Copenhagen counteract its generally "meh" weather, otherwise? I personally prefer more snow (even at the expense of a little lower temperature) to make things cozy in the winter and the unremitting grey, rainy weather of the southern flatland gets me more. Despite the shorter winter days, Stockholm is the sunniest Nordic capital, overall.
Appreciate your comments on the different ethos of Stockholm, which did with my experiences, but not in a way I could articulate.
Doing the best food from other places is a great idea for column that would have required more research on my part. Going to Netherlands next month, so maybe I will find the best Belgian beer in the world there.
Thought about parks but based on passing the one in Stockholm, did not seem to compete with Tivoli, which is hard to top.
Blessed with exceptionally good weather in both places when I visited. Did notice the Danes just sort of stopped working and went sunbathing for the day.