SkyView at Globen

SkyView

I did it! I'm not the best person when it comes to heights and enclosed spaces, so I've been a little leery about trying one of Stockholm's newest attractions... SkyView. Fortunately, I was given the opportunity during an educational seminar led by the Stockholm Visitors Board last week. SkyView is a specially designed glass gondola that takes you 130 meters up to the top of the Ericsson Globe Arena.

Going up...

Called Globen for short (the globe), it is the largest indoor arena in Stockholm with a capacity of up to 16,000 people and is the venue for most large concerts (Lady Gaga, Paul Simon, Tom Petty this summer) and indoor sporting events (ice hockey world championships this May) in Stockholm. The building itself is quite unusual & spectacular. Shaped like a large white ball (some say it looks like a golf ball), it is the largest spherical building in the world and a famous part of the Stockholm skyline.

and up...

SkyView is a funicular railway on the outside of the building with two gondolas that take up to 16 passengers at a time to the top of the arena. At the top of Globen, visitors have an unobstructed 360 degree view of the southern part of Stockholm. Each ride takes 20 minutes and the gondolas depart 6 times an hour. Tickets cost 130 SEK (100 for children and seniors) and includes a 10 minute information video about Globen and SkyView). Tickets can be purchased there or on their website. At the base you have a nice café and gift shop (great Swedish ice hockey souvenirs). To be honest, while it is an amazing view... it is not an amazing view of Stockholm city. Globen is located south of the central part of the city, so the view is mainly of the southern suburbs. I definitely recommend SkyView for the experience itself. It's not every day you ride in a glass ball on the outside of a giant white globe! But if it is views of downtown Stockholm that you are interested in, then I recommend Kaknästornet, Monteliusvägen, Fjällgatan, Gondolen or Skrapan. Click here for my tips regarding this. To get to Globen/SkyView from the Rival Hotel, take the subway (green line) from Slussen south, in the direction Hagsätra, for four stations.

Photo by Sören Andersson, SVB (the other 3 by me!)