Getting around Stockholm winds and twists its way across islands, over water and through parkland, a thoroughly confusing place. To find your way around, the best bet is to equip yourself with one of the tourist maps and walk: it takes about 25 minutes to cross central Stockholm on foot, eastwest or northsouth. Sooner or later, though, you'll have to use some form of transport to reach the more distant sights and, while routes are easy enough to master, there's a bewildering array of passes and discount cards available; the brief rundown below should help. One thing to try and avoid, though, is paying as you go on the city's transport system an exinsive business. The city is zoned, a trip within one zone costing 12kr (6kr for children and offpeak), with single tickets valid within that zone for one hour; cross a zone and if s another 6kr. Puyicjrsport tockholm Lokaltrafik (SL) operates a comprehensive system of buses and ™ns (underground and local) that extends well out of the city centre. There's an Mormon office, the SbCenter, inside TCentralen station at Sergels Torg nThurs 9am6pm, Fri 9am5.30pm), which has timetables and sells a useful "port map (42kr), which you can also buy from Pressbyrd newspaper kiosks, gj'uckest and most used form of transport is the Tunnelbana (Tbana), bran h underground railway, based on three main lines with a smattering of nes. Entrances are marked by a blue T on a white background. It's the swift handvf between Norrmalm and Sodermalm, via Gamla Stan, and it's also У tor trips out of the centre into the suburbs to ferry docks and distant youth For public transport information, call «08600 10 00. hostels and museums. The Tbana is something of an artistic venture, too, many of the stations like functional sculptures: TCentralen, for instance, is one huge papiermache cave; and Kungstradgirden is littered with statues and spotlights. Buses can be less direct, due to the nature of Stockhohn's islands and central pedestrianisation for help, consult the free bus route maps from the tourist centre. If you still find the standard lines too complex, the Turistlinjen (Tourist Route) buses make a continuous and convoluted loop through the city, stopping at most points of interest on the way. There are daily departures on this service every ten minutes between midJune and midAugust (OctApril Sun only); one day's unlimited travel costs 40kr (fiee with Stockholm Card, see below); and central pickup points include Sverigehuset, Central Station and the National Art Museum. Ferries provide access to the sprawling archipelago (see "Around Stockholm"), and they also link some of the central islands: Djurgarden is connected with Nybroplan in Norrmalm (summer only) and Skeppsbron in Gamla Stan (all year) and there's a summer service from Stadshuset (Stadshusbron) to L4ngholmen. These trips all cost 15kr oneway. Cruises on Lake Malaren and city boat tours also leave from Stadshusbron, from Nybroplan and from the quays in front of the Grand Hotel the Stockholm Card is valid for a discounted tour on most of them.