CRUISE SHIPS
Cruises that are beginning or ending in Stockholm are handled at Frihamnen or the smaller Stadsgården terminal. The other berths are in the centre.

FERRY TRAFFIC
Silja Line (Tallink) sailings to and from Finland and Latvia use Värtahamnen and Frihamnen in the commercial port.

Viking Line, serving Åland and mainland Finland, has its terminal at Stadsgården.

NYNÄSHAMN
To avoid the long journey through the archipelago, some cruises berth at Nynäshamn, 60 km (38 miles) south of Stockholm

Port of Stockholm

Stockholm was established about 750 years ago to prevent marauders reaching older settlements on Sweden’s great Lake Mälaren. The site chosen was a narrow point on the long channel between the lake and the sea.

CRUISE QUAYS
Stockholm can accommodate up to ten cruise vessels at the same time. The berths are at eight locations around the city, as shown on the map.

Moorings in the commercial port at Frihamnen and Värtahamnen are the farthest from the city centre, although the distance by road is not much greater than from southern berths at Stadsgården. Shuttle buses to the centre usually terminate at Strömsgatan, next to the Opera and close to the Parliament building.

Turnarounds	Frihamnen & Stadsgården
Berths allocated by the Ports of Stockholm

Closer to the centre, there is a mooring on the eastern embankment of the Old Town and another at a buoy off the Old Town, 600 metres (yards) from land.

The centre of the modern town is Nybroplan. Short vessels (up to 90 metres length) can moor between here and the National Museum.

Cruises that begin and end at Stockholm are usually handled at the Frihamnen cruise terminal in the north but another, smaller terminal building is in operation in 2009 at Stadsgården 160 on the south side of town.

Weather conditions have no effect on the choice of quay but in exceptionally high winds – once or twice a year – some ships cannot safely enter the Stockholm archipelago at all. Diverted ships moor in Nynäshamn, a port on the Baltic about 60 km (35 miles) south of Stockholm.

FRIHAMNEN & VÄRTAHAMNEN
These quays are in the commercial port. It is not pretty but, being in Sweden, is a great deal neater than most commercial ports. Frihamnen has a dedicated cruise terminal with tourist information, a café, restrooms, telephone, WiFi internet access and a mailbox.

To the city centre at Nybroplan is 4-5 km by road and the journey is fast by taxi or bus. It can be walked in under an hour (following streets Tegeluddsvägen, Lindarängsvägen, Oxenstiernsvägen and Strandvägen) but not with much pleasure: only the last kilometre along Strandvägen holds any interest.

STADSGÅRDEN
These quays are not much closer than Frihamn but psychologically much more so, because the Old Town is visible from there. There is a new, smaller cruise terminal at Stadsgården 160, with tourist information, telephones, WiFi access and a mailbox.

To the Old Town by road is a distance of some 2 km (1½ miles). The centre at Nybroplan is a little farther – 3 km (2 miles) – in the same direction. It is not an unpleasant walk and clear signposting makes it easy to find your way.

OTHER CRUISE QUAYS have no dedicated cruise facilities but don’t need them because they are in the heart of the city.

FERRY SHIPS
In 2008 11 million people ferry passengers passed through the Ports of Stockholm (compared with just 365 thousand cruise passengers).

Viking Line and Silja Line (part of Tallink Group) both offer overnight sailings from Stockholm to Helsinki and to Turku, Finland. They travel via the Åland Islands.

Silja also operates overnight cruiseferries to Riga in Latvia and Tallinn in Estonia. Sailings to Tallinn are via the Åland Islands. On all their routes, Viking and Silja operate vessels that carry freight as well as passengers.

Birka Cruises and Ånedin Line offer 22-hour cruises, for passengers only, from Stockholm to the Åland Islands and back.

Sailings to Poland are from the nearby Baltic port of Nynäshamn. Ferries to Germany leave from Gothenburg (Göteborg in Swedish), Sweden's second city, which is 500 km (300 miles) away by road, and also from Malmö, in the far south, which is even farther.

The ferry terminals are at Värtahamnen, Frihamnen and Stadsgården. All have comprehensive facilities and are served by taxis and public buses. The cruiseferry companies also offer shuttle buses to and from the city centre.

These terminals don’t have their own stops on the metro but the map shows the nearest stops (marked T for Tunnelbana or underground railway).

VIKING LINE has its terminal at Stadsgården, which handles all its arrivals from Finland. Its shuttle buses take passengers to the nearest metro station at Slussen and then continue to the city bus terminal alongside the Central Railway Station, arriving in about 20 minutes.

A one-way ticket costs 30 Swedish crowns, either to Slussen or the City Terminal. A return ticket is 50 crowns.

The public bus option is number 53, which continues through the Old Town and then past the Central Railway Station.

Alternatively, there is a metro station at Slussen, 1½km (about a mile) away. The walk along the coast is level, clearly marked and popular with Swedish joggers.

SILJA AND TALLINK ships from Finland and Estonia use the commercial port at Värtahamnen, while ships from Riga arrive a little farther south at Frihamnen. Shuttle buses run between these terminals and the city bus terminal by the Central Railway Station in 20 minutes. A single fare costs 3 euros or 25 Swedish crowns.

From Värtahamnen the nearest underground railway (T-bana) station at Gärdet is only 1 km (two-thirds of a mile) away but the route is not flat and can be tricky if you have luggage. The walk from Frihamnen to Gärdet station is longer and even less comfortable.

Public bus 76 meanders past both terminals. It takes its time getting into town but passes the bridge to Djurgården on the way, and so is convenient for visitors heading for the Vasa or Nordic Museums, or Skansen. Unfortunately the bus does not run on Sundays.

NYNÄSHAMN
Nynäshamn is operated by the same company as Stockholm's ports. It was built for ferry lines serving countries to the south of the Baltic because it saves them so much time and fuel.

The town of Nynäshamn is only about 60 km (38 miles) south of Stockholm by road but ships from Gdansk (Poland), Ventspils (Latvia) and Visby (Gotland Island, Sweden) avoid a long extra voyage of about 150 km (95 miles). The Stockholm archipelago can be entered from the north only.

Nynäshamn is used by a few cruise companies, who describe it as the "Gateway to Stockholm". It is a rather distant gateway for passengers who have only a day to tour the Swedish capital and who also miss the Stockholm archipelago.

Large cruise ships anchor offshore and their passengers are ferried to the quay by tender, which in itself uses up valuable time.

Nynäshamn itself is not an unattractive place but there is little to see. An organized excursion is probably the best way to get to Stockholm but the journey by road will still take at least 45 minutes each way, even when there is no congestion.

The train is for rail fanatics only. The station is not far from the port but connections to central Stockholm were not designed with tourists in mind.