I love to plan ahead... but the best laid plans and all that. I'd really wanted to travel by train for the entire duration of my Scandinavian trip but major engineering works between Copenhagen and Cologne put a slight spanner in the works. After two lots of reconfiguration I have my route.

Yesterday I had a great trip out of Dorset up to Waterloo before heading to West London for hair and nail appointments in Chiswick. The platform at Richmond was overflowing with people and no sign (or announcements) of any tube. I did my first transport hop of the day making it to Chiswick in the nick of time, by overground, a slow bus and on foot. I grabbed a latte from Hack & Veldt (superb coffee) enroute to the hair salon (and in place of lunch). It was a bonus meeting up with friends in Côte for drinks afterwards, before heading out to Heathrow. Further tube delays meant I missed every connection by a minute, so I ended up hopping between tube, bus and taxi. Two hours later I'm at my destination for the evening. I'm glad I decided to travel to the airport a day in advance!

Today things continued in the same vein. Instead of catching my intended direct bus to T5 I ended up hopping between bus and the Heathrow Express via Heathrow Central. The airport was busy and as the fifth floor Cafe Nero (with views over the runway) was closed for refurbishment I decided to check-in and head to Pret airside for my morning coffee. Having received the full security check I was in need of a latte to calm my nerves. On the plane I sat next to Cecilia, an HR student returning to Stockholm and Annie an artist from California enroute to Russia. The views coming into Stockholm were great and the weather stunning with 28 degrees registering on the gauge.

I headed into the depths of the earth to catch my pre-booked Arlanda Express into Stockholm. It's dimly lit and slightly eerie with the exposed rockface and wind whistling through the tunnels. An SMS acted as my ticket. All very efficient and easy to buy online. After weaving through the tunnels the train pops up at ground level to reveal rows and rows of trees (just as I'd imagined). Within 40 minutes of landing in Sweden I was booked into my hotel in the city. My room has a courtyard view overlooking apartment blocks with beautiful balconies and a multi-coloured grass roof with tones of green and mauve plants. I took the lift to the rooftop bar on the top floor of the Clarion Sign. Surrounded by glass barriers and overlooking Stockholm Central Station, the waterways and beyond it's a great lookout. Trendy professional people having drinks after work made for great people watching while I supped my cool glass of rosé wine taking in the glorious view in the basking sun.

I headed straight out to do a recce of Stockholm Central Station (inside and outside) ahead of my Copenhagen journey tomorrow. As with many cities the station area is on the seedier side of things with some colourful characters around. A relaxing coffee in an expresso bar gave me a chance to reflect on my upcoming travels. I'm looking forward to returning to Stockholm for four days after my Scandinavian circuit. Before settling in for the night I had delicious vegetable tacos washed down with a Sol at a Mexican restaurant. It was a bonus sitting outside in the sun!