Watching Movies in Stockholm... in Style!

Sometimes, when traveling, it is nice to take a break from doing touristy things for an evening and do an activity that you would do at home... like go to the movies. Thankfully, visiting a cinema in Stockholm as a visitor is easy, as we don't generally dub movies here. That means movies are all shown in their original language with Swedish subtitles. In other words, French movies will be in French, American & British movies will be in English and so on. This is one of the reasons that Swedes are so good at English. The exception to this are movies geared for children, though even these will often have scheduled showings in their original language.

A new trend in cinemas has come to Stockholm, making movie watching even more enjoyable. As more and more people are enjoying movies in the comfort of their home through Netflix, HBO and more, the obvious way for cinemas to attract guests is to bring the comforts of home to the cinema. There are now a few new cinemas in the city with couches, plush armchairs and tables, along with a restaurant & bar on the premises. This means that you can enjoy a glass of wine and bite to eat while sitting comfortably and watching a movie... not just popcorn and a soda pop.

Last night I visited one of these cinemas, Bio Capitol, with family and friends to watch Rocketman. We had a great time. I had ordered a tapas plate, with cold cuts and cheeses, in advance and it was waiting at our seats when we arrived. We then ordered some wine at the bar and settled in to watch a great movie. Another unique feature at Capitol is that they show other movies besides the latest from Hollywood. They have "Musical Mondays", "Classic Thursdays" and "Genre Sundays". The latter is where they pick different genres to focus on that day, like horror or science fiction.

There are a couple of other similar cinemas in Stockholm. The larger theatre Rigoletto has a "VIP balcony" area that has a similar set up as Bio Capitol and the multiplex at Mall of Scandinavia has four VIP theatres connected to the restaurant Drama, so you can bring in food and drink to enjoy. But, I think Bio Capitol is smaller and therefore more intimate, with perhaps 60 seats, adding to the atmosphere. The websites for these cinemas are generally in Swedish, but, if you are staying at the Hotel Rival, contact me directly for help in booking your tickets!