Stockholm Ferry Route 80 - Nybroplan to Frihamnen | Casual Travelers

If you’d like to see Stockholm from a boat, take one (or all) of Stockholm’s three ferries that are part of the SL system. SL stands for Storstockholms Lokaltrafik = public transportation in Stockholm, Sweden.

All you need is a regular ticket – preferably a timed visitor SL Access smart card, but a single ticket will work as well (for an excellent guide about public transportation in Stockholm, see sweetsweden’s post “Your Guide to Public Transport in Stockholm“).

SL operates three “shuttle” ferry routes:

1) Route 80 – between Stockholm Nybrokajen in the Stockholm center and Frihamnen, which is close to where several large cruise ships dock when they visit the town. This is route is the longest of the three routes, includes several stops, and takes about 50 minutes to complete one way.

2) Route 82 – between Stockholm Slussen Kajen (in the Gamla Stan area, just south of the Royal Palace – Kungliga slottet) and Stockholm Allmänna Gränd Brygg (on the Djurgården island, right next to Gröna Lund Amusement Park and the ABBA museum), with a stop at the Skeppsholmen island in between. It’s a really short route – the total trip duration for this route is just under 10 minutes.

You can see both routes on the map below.

Route of Stockholm's commuter ferry lines 80 and 82 — Routes of Stockholm’s commuter ferry lines 80 and 82

3) Route 89 – between Klara Mälarstrand, just south of Stockholm Central Station, and the western part of the city – stopping at Lilla Essingen Brygga on Lilla Essingen island, and then heading to the southern part of the city, to Eskenberg brygga.

route of Stockholm's "shuttle" ferry 89 — route of Stockholm’s “shuttle” ferry 89

There used to be another ferry route – 85 – but apparently it has been suspended (per sweetsweden’s blog post “Your Guide to Public Transport in Stockholm“).

There are other ferries operating out of Stockholm, but as far as I can tell these three routes are the only “shuttle” ferries that accept public transportation SL cards.

What does the ferry look like?

You can see a photo of the outside of the ferry at the beginning of the post. Mind you, most of the time the ferry arrives at the dock, lets people off and on and then leaves immediately, so be at the stop a few minutes ahead of time, just in case. We did see a few people “stranded” because they missed the ferry by less than a minute.

Unfortunately, I don’t know where to find current year’s schedule. All I could find online are schedules from 2018, like the Summer 2018 schedule, or this more recent Winter 2018/2019 schedule. We just happened to be at the stop five minutes before the boat arrived. NOTE that not all boats go all the way to Frihamnen – some stop at Lidingö.

Inside, there are several pretty comfortable, upholstered and padded benches with tables.

inside view of the Stockholm shuttle ferry (on route 80)

inside view of the Stockholm shuttle ferry (on route 80) with a glimpse on Djurgården island through the windows

There is a small deck outside in the back of the boat, if you’d rather be out in the open to take photos.

What can you see from the ferry?

As the ferry leaves the Nybroviken bay, you can see from the water the surrounding houses and a variety of boats of different sizes docked in the bay. You are also likely to pass another ferry boat.

boats and houses in the Nybroviken bay in Stockholm, seen from shuttle ferry 80

view of another SL ferry in Stockholm — passing another SL ferry in Stockholm

As you get to the Allmänna Gränd Brygg stop, where both 80 and 82 stop, you’ll get a glimpse of the Gröna Lund amusement park on the island of Djurgården.

Gröna Lund amusement park on the island of Djurgården in Stockholm, close to the Allmänna Gränd Brygg stop (both 80 and 82 stop here) — Gröna Lund amusement park on the island of Djurgården

If you’re on ferry route 80, you will pass on your right, but won’t stop, at the small island of Skeppsholmen, with Moderna Museet, one of Europe’s leading museums of modern and contemporary art, and ArkDes, Sweden’s national centre for architecture and design that includes a museum.

Just south of Skeppsholmen, connected by a bridge, is an even smaller island of Kastellholmen, with medieval-looking Kastellet on top of the hill. Kastellet dates back to the 1660s, but the current structure was built in 1848, and is nowadays a function space for events and conferences.

Kastellholmen, with medieval-looking Kastellet, which is actually a function space, and yes, that’s a large cruise ship in the distance

As you’re passing between the Saltsjöqvarn stop and Finnboda hamn brygga, in the Henriksdal area, you’ll pass a large brick structure with copper roofs and a spire in the middle. That’s actually a retirement home – Danvikshem – built in early 1910s.

From then on, you’ll see more modern-looking buildings, like the one below.

view from Stockholm shuttle ferry 80 onto buildings along Siloplatsen street on the southern shore of the city.

Nacka Strand is the last stop on the southern shore, and from there you can see an unusual fountain, called God, our Father, on the Rainbow, by Carl Milles, Sweden’s famous sculptor, Carl Milles, designed in 1946 for the United Nations in New York City, where it was supposed to stand right on the East River. However, due to lack of finances, the sculpture fountain was not built as originally planned. The 18 meters (60 ft.) high sculpture in Stockholm was built in 1995, but Carl Milles, who passed away in 1955 never got to see it.

You can see a small model of the same sculpture, as well as many others, at the Millesgården, a museum that includes the artist’s home, an antique collection, a vast sculpture garden, and an art gallery, located on the island of Lidingö east of Stockholm.

God, our Father, on the Rainbow, fountain sculpture by Carl Milles by the Nacka Strand stop

One more stop, and you’ll arrive at the Frihamnen terminal, where you can visit the Möbeldesignmuseum, museum of furniture studies, and then head back to Stockholm center on the next boat, unless Frihamnen is where you need to get off.