THE UNDERGROUND RAINBOW/
STOCKHOLM SUBWAY STORIES

TRAVEL • AUG 2018 • STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

The night I saw the photo of a set of tall escalators descending into a fiery cave station that seemed so modern yet minimalist and bare, I couldn't forget how breathless I was. As further research uncovered a string of beautiful visuals that make up the city's network of underground stations, Stockholm went straight up to the top of my travel to-do list. The two weeks spent just covering the various sights to my heart's content, that was pure luxury.

Here are some tips that I have put together from the trip that I hope will be useful to anyone else would may be interested to experience Stockholm's underground stations personally.

* Get the 1-day, 3-day, or 7-day pass and avoid the hassle and additional cost of station-hopping.

* Weekdays, in between the morning and evening rush hours, are the best time to explore, with the exception of T-Centralen that is busy all day long. For that station, we actually covered it in the last two hours of operations. Weekends are good too for stations off the center.

* Tripods are technically not allowed. We were politely asked to keep them away everytime we bumped into the police or someone who seemed to hold some authority of the place. But they're not around often, and with some luck, you may not even bump into any, especially in the quieter stations. Also it'll of course be good to practise courtesy by not allowing your tripods to be a nuisance or an obstacle to the other commuters.

And my favourite stations are:

* Stadion, for its striking rainbow across a rough, minimalist station  

* Solna Centrum, for its fiery red ceiling and the constrasting black or green walls

* Odenplan, for its mesmerising set of neon lights

* Thorildsplan, for its 8-bit art inspired tile design

* T-Centralen, for its majestic wall art, and other modern fixtures

* Solna Strand, for its curious-looking half-sunken cubes that are begging to be shot in a new light

* Morby Centrum, for its minimalist yet effective pastel-colored tiles and installations.

* Duvbo, for its minimalist vintage furnitures and fittings.