Stockholm's short-let scene is quietly outshining its hotel rooms. A new round-up from Condé Nast Traveller UK spotlights seven Airbnbs across the Swedish capital and its leafy outskirts, each chosen for Superhost status, guest ratings, location and — the real hook — decor. Every single one has either sea or skyline views, and several come with their own sauna, which feels very on-brand for the Nordics.
The picks are helpfully sorted by traveller type. Couples get a floating houseboat with a sauna in Boo, on the archipelago's edge. Families are pointed towards an idyllic countryside home, also in Boo, while big groups can take over a 19th-century warehouse by a lake in Norrö-Stava. Design obsessives are catered for with a subterranean home built into rocky walls on Södermalm — about as Stockholm as interiors get — and anyone prioritising the view should book the A-frame cabin tucked among the trees on Värmdö island.
What makes these stays appealing is the setting they unlock. Stockholm spreads across 14 islands, so water is never more than a short walk away, and the city layers medieval lanes, stylish boutiques and serious museums over all that coastline. Gamla Stan, the old town, holds some of Europe's oldest cobbled medieval streets; museum-wise you can go from the Abba arena to the Vasa, the world's best-preserved 17th-century warship. Add gallery-hopping and a steady supply of cinnamon buns and you have a city break that works in any season.
Booking an apartment or cabin here also buys you a bit of archipelago life without leaving the city behind. Stays in Boo and Värmdö sit within reach of the Stockholm archipelago's ferry network, so a morning in the old town can turn into an afternoon swim off a jetty. And because these are private homes rather than hotels, you get kitchen access, space to spread out and the kind of designer interiors you'd normally have to book a boutique hotel to see.
Who is this for? Anyone who finds Stockholm's hotels either booked out or pricey in summer, groups who want a single base rather than three rooms, and design-led travellers who'd rather wake up under timber beams or beside rocky walls than in a chain room. If none of the seven fits your dates, the same editors have comparable lists for Copenhagen and Oslo, plus hotel picks across Iceland and northern Norway.
The practical takeaway: filter Airbnb by Superhost and read recent reviews closely, as the round-up did, and consider the outer-island listings if you want water views at a lower price than central Södermalm. Then plan around the city's strengths — walk the medieval centre one day, catch a ferry into the archipelago the next, and make sure at least one evening ends in a sauna.
