Sweden and Stockholm 2026 · Page 3

Then we continued to Bredäng Camping. Although the site didn't officially open until 8 May, it was made available especially for us – including electricity and washrooms. No staff on site, but great service and a great location.

We took the metro into the centre – the connection was ideal: about a 10-minute walk to the station, and after 8 stops we were in the middle of the city. To get to the Vasa Museum, we also took the ferry.

Our first stop was the Vasa Museum – and we were immediately overwhelmed. The warship Vasa was built in 1628 and sank just minutes into her maiden voyage, mainly because of a design flaw: built too narrow and too heavily armed.

What makes the museum so special is its state of preservation: over 95% of the ship is original. Standing in front of this huge, almost completely preserved wooden ship, we only then realised how big the Vasa was. Particularly impressive were the countless carved figures on the stern – originally painted in bright colours and intended as a symbol of power.

The museum is superbly laid out from an educational point of view. As well as the ship itself, there are numerous exhibitions:

• reconstructions of the crew with real faces (based on skull analyses)

• information on 17th-century shipbuilding

• insights into the salvage in 1961 – a technical masterpiece

• details on the conservation of the wood over decades

You can view the Vasa from several levels, which keeps opening up new perspectives. For us this wasn't just a museum visit but a real immersion in history and technology.