Ikea

When talking about Swedish décor shopping it is inevitable that Ikea should come up, so I'll make a small mention here. There are two Ikea locations in the Stockholm area, Barkarby and Kungens Kurva. I have only been to the store at Kungens Kurva, which is apparently the largest Ikea in the world, yet I can tell you, feels like the smallest. It is a circular plan spanning over 4 levels. Aside from the (more) confusing layout, the Kungens Kurva Ikea has everything you expect from Ikea. North Americans may find the restaurant a little surprising. Of course, Ikea caters to local food tradition at their restaurants but the selection in Swedish Ikea is much smaller than that of the North American counterparts. Another interesting discovery for me was that the Ikea grocery store, "The Swedish Food Market" (usually found near the exit), is called "The Swedish Food Market" even in Sweden. So there will be overhead messages about the grocery section in Swedish with the name of the section in English ... are you following me?  Kind of made my head spin a bit at first.

You can take the Ikea shuttle bus from Central Station at Vasagatan 18 every hour on the hour starting at 10am - 7pm - Monday to Friday.  On the way home the bus leaves every hour starting at 10:30am - 7:30pm and makes a few stops along the way in Hornstull, Friedhemsplan, Kungsholms and back to Vasagatan 18 near Central Station.  And it's free.

Ikea Kungens Kurva
 Modulvagen 1
141 08 Kungens Kurva

Ikea Barkarby
Folkungavagen 50
177 35 Jarfalla

Ikea.se