Lidl — Supermarket in Kungsholmen, Stockholm

Lidl on S:t Göransgatan is a branch of the Lidl chain, and it is a small one: a compact supermarket in Kungsholmen, near Rådhuset station, where the aisles are short and you can be in and out quickly if the tills cooperate.

The things to buy here are nuts and chocolate. Nuts are the pick that comes up most, sold in bags you can take back to a hotel room, and chocolate sits alongside them as the other reason to stop in. Large boxes of dates turn up on the shelves too. Themed weeks rotate food from different countries through the store, and the bread department was renovated, so that corner looks newer than the rest.

What you notice first is the size. The premises are small, and the selection reflects that: a scattered assortment rather than a full range, so you come for the staples and the specific things this branch does well, not for a complete weekly shop. The bottle deposit machine has been known to act up, and bags get checked at the exit, which adds a step on the way out.

The prices are the draw, and they are good on everyday goods. Shop in the last hour before 9 pm and the store is quiet and nearly empty, which is the easiest time to move through it. Queues run long, self-checkout registers are sometimes closed, and waits for assistance at the till can stretch out.

That combination of low prices and a cramped, sometimes understocked shop is what you are choosing when you walk in. It suits a traveler who wants cheap nuts, chocolate and basics close to where they are staying in Kungsholmen, and who can shrug off a queue.