Stockholm New Year's Eve Tour

Stockholm New Year's Eve Birding Tour

Stockholm is a city of islands, which makes it especially convenient for boats, sightseeing, walking and birding year-round.  The city is full of great history, art, music, museums and restaurants.  There are palaces, cathedrals and many historic buildings to visit. The Stockholm subway is considered the longest art gallery in the world at 68 miles in length. 

Stockholm stretches across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. The original old town, known as Gamla Stan, is in the heart of the city and is a charming, picturesque historic neighborhood. Just outside the city and along the Baltic Sea coast is the island chain known as the Stockholm archipelago, which includes approximately 24,000 islands and islets. The area has been inhabited since the Stone Age and was founded as a city in 1252.

Some of the activities will depend on the weather:  The last few years the temperatures in Stockholm have been warm, which has been great for being outside, walking and birding.  If we get a cold and/or snowy Christmas, there will be more indoor activities and boat cruise tours. 

Opera:  If you are an opera fan, there are two opera companies in Stockholm that have performances during the holidays: The Swedish Royal Opera and the Folk Opera. If you are interested, please let us know and we can add performances to the schedule of events. The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra usually has holiday performances, as well. 

Printable Bird List 
(This is a checklist of birds that we have seen on this trip)

• Travel Dates:  
• **December 28, 2025 - January 3, 2026, spots left = 6
• Additional dates:
• Annual trip, and dates don't change
• Tours by request, any time of year is good to visit  
•  
• Group Size:  4 - 6 travelers (4-people for a private tour)
• Trip Length: 7 days
• Rates:  Rate per person = $3,150 (no extra charge for single occupancy). Discount if you join either the Christmas or Northern Lights tour, or both. 
• Rates include: Domestic transfers, lodging, breakfast, lunch, dinner, scheduled group tours, park entrance fees and basic travel insurance.
• Not included: International airfare, customs & immigration fees and visas, alcohol, trip cancellation insurance.
• Adventure level:  Easy, please check the "Welcome" page for definition  
• Reservations: This trip requires a 50% deposit and the balance is due 6-months in advance. 

** Arrive early and join the Christmas tour or extend your stay and visit the Northern Lights and see the Aurora Borealis in northern Sweden. There is a discounted price for booking both tours.  Please contact us for pricing and more details. 

Weather on New Year's Eve:  Sunrise at about 8:45 am and sunset at about 2:45 pm, 6 hours of sunlight. High temperatures during the day are often in the mid to high 30’s and low temperatures are high 20's - low 30's.  During the holiday season, Stockholm is completely decorated with lights and displays.  The best time of day to see and experience this is when it is dark, so don't be concerned about the short amount of daylight.

Boat lodging:  On this tour, the lodging will be aboard permanently moored boats and yachts in the Stockholm waterway. On all the boats, the rooms are small and “cozy”, like most ships, but all the rooms have beds “on the floor”, meaning no bunks and there are waterbirds that you can view from your boat cabin:  Great Cormorants, Herring Gulls, Tufted Ducks, Common Mergansers, and Black-headed Gulls.

The first three nights will be on either the Rygerfjord or the Red Boat, depending on what kind of room you need. The last three nights will be on the Mälardrottning.

1)  M/S Rygerfjord:  The Rygerfjord was built in 1950 at Mjellem & Karl’s shipyard in Bergen, Norway. In 1961 the Crossley machine was replaced with a Wichmann and enabled the ship to cruise at 12 knots (about 14 mph).  During the winter of 1970/71 the boat was renovated, and the stern boat deck was built. She was revalued at 601 GRT and was classified for 100 passengers as opposed to the previous 365.  After 45 years of passenger service within Scandinavia, the Rygerfjord docked at its present position at Söder Mälarstrand in 1995 and has been slowly converted and upgraded over the years to accommodate over-night lodging.  

2) Den Röda Båten (The Red Boat):  Den Röda Båten is a wood and steel tugboat boat.  Built in 1914, it was previously a working boat that served the Göta Canal. There are two sister boats moored next to each other to accommodate travelers.  The "Red Boat" has some of the best Glögg, which can be "enhanced" by adding wine (traditional Glögg is alcohol free). 

3) Mälardrottningen Yacht:  The last three nights will be aboard the Mälardrottningen.  The history of the Mälardrottningen is very interesting and it is always a special treat to stay on the yacht. Here are a few paragraphs copied from the hotel website: “When you enter the gangway of Mälardrottningen, you might be walking in the same footsteps of former movie stars, politicians and royals. The ship was built in 1924 for C.K.G Billings, a millionaire from New York, and the ship at that time was the world’s largest diesel-driven yacht. 

Next is Food: Yummy!  There will be five very special dinners on this tour:

1)  M/S Waxholm:  Dinner cruise with a traditional Swedish Smörgåsbord aboard the M/S Waxholm III, which is a classic archipelago ship from the maritime golden age; built in 1903. This is a 3-hour dinner cruise through parts of the Stockholm Archipelago. 

2)  The Grand Hotel Built in 1874, the Grand Hotel has been a center piece for important events in Sweden and it is truly an opulent, grand old hotel.  Similar to the Mälardrottningen, when you step into the lobby of the Grand Hotel, you are walking in the footsteps of royalty, presidents and movies stars.  From 1901 – 1929 the Nobel Laureate Banquet was held at the Grand Hotel.

3) Michelangelo is our favorite Italian restaurant in Stockholm and a traditional visit for every tour.

4) Wallmans dinner and a cabaret style music show.

5) Sjatte Tunnan (Medieval Cellar) Is fun anytime of the year. The food, staff, and atmosphere is true to the old medieval ways. They don't even have forks....

Depending on the evening schedule, sometimes we eat at one of these locations as an alternative based on availability:  Operakällaren: Established in 1787, this amazing restaurant has evolved from just a local cafe to one of Stockholm's finest restaurants.  Our other option is dinner at the Diplomat Hotel, which was built in 1911 as a residential palace. During the 1940’s and 50’s, the building housed the embassies of Romania, Chile, Persia, Hungary, Italy and Canada and in 1966, was converted to a hotel. Based on the evening schedule, sometimes we dine at this restaurant.

Evening Events:  Depending on the local schedule there will be some evening events such as concerts.  If you have special interests such as opera or theater, please let us know in advance so we can get tickets for you.   Both the Royal Swedish Opera House and the Dramatic Theatre House are extremely beautiful and opulent. 

Museums:  In addition to birding, there will be time to visit museums and there are a lot of museums in Stockholm. We highly recommend the Vasa Museum, National Museum, Nordic Museum, Medieval Museum and a visit to the Royal Palace, just to name a few. Just let us know what your interests are, and we will find the right activities for you.

Vasa Museum:  The Vasa is a Swedish warship built between 1626 and 1628. The ship sank after sailing for only a few minutes into its maiden voyage in August 1628. After most of the valuable bronze cannons were salvaged in the 17th century, the ship was largely forgotten until it was located in the late 1950s in a busy shipping lane just outside the Stockholm harbor. In 1961 the ship was brought to the surface and with much of it still intact, it was restored and now is open for viewing at the Vasa Museum.  It truly is amazing because the ship is very large, 226 feet long, and 90% of the boat is still original. 

Itinerary:  Because the New Year's Eve tour schedule can vary, we don't post a schedule on-line.  You can get an idea of the basic itinerary by visiting the Christmas page or contacting us for details.  We generally plan the itinerary based on the group's interest.