Djurgården: Stockholm’s playground
Djurgården sign, Stockholm
Djurgården offers an escape from the city. There are green parks as well as a range of places to dine, popular museums, and the thrills of an amusement park. Buses, trams and ferries run frequently.
Royal Djurgården Park
Blue gates mark the entrance to Royal Djurgården Park, a green oasis that was the 18th and 19th century game park of kings. Royal Djurgården Park is the perfect place for a stroll, a picnic, or to simply relax and enjoy the view.
blue gates, entrance to Royal Djurgården Park
The Vasa Museum
The Vasa Museum is the most visited museum in Scandinavia. Built as the most powerful warship in the Baltic during Sweden’s Great Power Era, the grand but top-heavy Vasa capsized in the harbor on its maiden voyage in 1628.
The Vasa was located and raised intact over 300 years later. It is now the best preserved 17th century warship in the world.
Vasa ship, Vasa Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
ship model next to Vasa ship, Vasa Museum
The Nordic Museum
Learn about Swedish cultural traditions going back as far as 1523 at the adjacent Nordic Museum. This is a place to see fashions through the ages, jewelry, folk art, glass and porcelain. There is also an exhibit on the Sami, Sweden’s indigenous people.
table setting, Nordic Museum, Stockholm
table setting, Nordic Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
Table settings from the 16th century to the 1950s offer a fascinating insight into homes and interiors through the ages.
Nordic and Vasa Museums
Junibacken
You can ride the story train through Pippi Longstocking’s adventures for a fanciful experience at the nearby Junibacken.
Pippi Longstocking book at Junibacken, Stockholm
Children can climb and play in exhibits based on books by Astrid Lindgren.
See the adventures of Pippi Longstocking on the story train at Junibacken
Skansen
If you like Colonial Williamsburg you will love spending the day at the museum that inspired it. Artur Hazelius founded Skansen, the world’s oldest open-air museum, in 1891 to show how Swedes lived in the past.
farm laborer’s house, Skansen
Craftspeople and other interpreters are found throughout. Over 200 houses, farmsteads and other structures have been moved here from every part of Sweden. It’s the only open-air museum with wild animals.
Skansen
Skansen
The Abba Museum
Skansen is near the ABBA (“Waterloo,” “Dancing Queen” ) Museum, an interactive experience all about legendary the pop stars from the 1970s.
ABBA display at the ABBA Museum, Stockholm
Go onstage or try on their costumes with virtual reality. Log your experience on your ticket and access it for 15 days.
ABBA The Museum, Stockholm
Waldemarsudde
Prince Eugen (1865-1947) was one of the foremost landscape painters of his time and an avid art collector. Visitors can see his works and collections in his mansion, Waldemarsudde.
The Prince’s Private Apartments are largely unchanged and two upper floors are used for exhibits. It is surrounded by a beautiful sculpture garden with works by Carl Milles, Rodin and others.
Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde, Stockholm
Rosendal’s Trädgard
Hungry? Try the greenhouse or the terrace at Rosendals Trädgard’s garden café and wood fired bakery. The fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs are the product of biodynamic farming and organically certified. In summer, pizza is served in the Garden Bar with garden beer, natural wine, or lemonade on Sundays.
Gröna Lund
Gröna Lund
Catch a concert or find thrills at Gröna Lund on a one of the 30 rides like the vertical spinning coaster called Insane. It’s the the oldest amusement park in Sweden.