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Our Secret Places in Stockholm
I have put together a list for those of you traveling to Stockholm on what to see and do in Stockholm with or without kids. In order to make it easier for you and other travelers, here is the list of our favorite things to see and do in Stockholm and greater Stockholm.
Great places to have Fika in Stockholm
Vete-katten at Kungsgatan 55 (old traditional Swedish fika place central Stockholm)
Rosendals Trädgård at Rosendalsvägen 38 (at Djurgården at a Biodynamic Garden Foundation)
Cafe Kladdkakan at Stora Nygatan 32 (in the Old Town)
Fotografiska Café and Restaurant, Stadsgårdshamnen 22 (on Södermalm)
Old Town (Gamla Stan)
Go for a strolland make sure to get off the main road and explore all the little narrow streets. Lots of great places to eat and have fika (coffee break)
The Royal Palace(Kungliga Slottet) for change of guards at 12.15 every day.
Nobel Museum(in the beautiful and former Stock Exchange building)
Near Old Town
Fotografiskais an amazing photography museum, where you’ll always find an interesting photo exhibition. Also, you will not find a café/restaurant with a better view than the one at Fotografiska. It’s not cheap, but it’s well worth the money, and you can always just go for the fika. https://www.fotografiska.com/sto/en/
At Djurgården (almost central Stockholm) - access by car, bus, bike, boat or walk
The Vasa Ship (Vasa Skeppet)
The war ship that sank after 100 meters of sailing and was salvaged after 333 years at the bottom of the sea. Interesting and fun museum for the whole family). http://www.vasamuseet.se/en
Skansen (Open-air museum of Old Sweden incl. a small zoo with Nordic animals) This amazing, fun and interesting place is a live open-air museum with people “living and working” in the houses + a small zoo with moose, buffaloes and lots of smaller animals, but super fun and interesting for the entire family, and with amazing almost 360 degree view of Stockholm. http://www.skansen.se/en/kategori/english
Abba museum
A fun and interactive museum about this popular group, very close to Skansen. http://www.abbathemuseum.com/en
Junibacken
Here you will get a look into the amazing fantasy world of Astrid Lindgren, the beloved Swedish author of Pippi Longstocking and many other wonderful characters, and the children can have fun and play in real children size houses/worlds. Fun for the little ones and fascinating even for the adults. There is a great bookstore with Swedish children classics – many of them from Astrid Lindgren and translated into many languages. http://www.junibacken.se/en/
Shopping in Central Stockholm
Moods is my favorite place for indoor shopping. It’s a modern mall-type-of-place with great shops (few chain stores), and great food options. Even if you are just window shopping or the “family situation” doesn’t allow time for shopping, this a great place to stroll through. On a rainy day it’s perfect.
Sturegallerian is somewhat similar to Moods, with some great stores but not as modern as Moods. It’s a mix of chain stores and independent stores and there is also a spa there.
NK Huset is the oldest department store in Stockholm. Nothing you can’t get here and although it was considered high end shopping back in the day, today everyone shops there. If you are there during December, they have amazing Christmas displays in their windows.
Sturegallerian has both classic chain stores, high end stores and small independent stores are to be found in the area of the streets: Birger Jarlsgatan, Biblioteksgatan, Nybrogatan, Grev Turegatan and Humlegårdsgatan (“gatan” means the street).
Parks/Playgrounds
Kungsträdgårdenis a small park/area in the middle of the busy and bustling city life, where you find activities every weekend and sometimes during the week. It’s great for a break in the middle of the city in between your Stockholm sight-seeing and shopping with its outdoor cafes.
Humlegårdenis a great park for relaxing. It’s quiet, there are great big grass areas and trees – a typical park. The best thing – if you have young children - there is an awesome playground (one for toddlers and one for older kids. The playground is up the hill – and you can even get your fika there in a daycare-type-of café should you or the little ones need a bit of “fuel”. There are toilets and if it’s a rainy day, you can go inside and play with the kids.
Ivar Los Parkis one of the best kept secrets in Stockholm and the cutest little park for a break with a really great playground. But not only that, this is where you will find the absolute best view of Stockholm. There is a small path on the opposite side from where you enter the park/playground, where you should go and enjoy the view and take some beautiful pictures of the city. Have a picnic here, so bring a coffee/fika or lunch. The address of this little hidden gem is: Bastugatan 21.
Outings from the city
A lot of times it can be difficult to get out and about when visiting a city like Stockholm. For the following places you will need a car or go by public transportation (or a taxi… but that’s pretty expensive in Sweden). These places are all worth the travel though, and not places where you’ll meet other tourists.
Svindersviks Brugghus is a very cute little lunch restaurant/fika place 10 min. outside the city with great traditional Swedish food – all homemade and organic. It’s particularly nice when you can sit outside, as It’s right by the water/archipelago. They are not open all year round. From May-Oct. open every day for lunch/fika between 11-14 and for Halloween, Christmas, and other special occasions.
Olle Nyman’s Studio + café/restaurant is in the beautiful area of Saltsjö-Duvnäs, a 15 min. drive southeast of Stockholm. You can also get there by train and then walk there (10 min.) along the waters in the archipelago. There is a small museum with his arts and guided tours of the famous Swedish painter/sculptor’s home. Though it’s interesting to see the arts, it’s as much the location, right in the middle of the archipelago, the beautiful Saltsjö-Duvnäs and the café/restaurant you should go for.
Nyckelviken is a nature reserve 15 min. drive southeast of Stockholm. In the middle of the nature reserve you find Nyckelviken Herrgård (manor) with a café open on the weekends between 11-16. It’s also a mini farm with cows, horses, rabbits, sheep and pigs for the kids to look at and pet and pony rides on the weekends. In the summer months you can to for a swim there from the cliffs or the tiny beach and watch all the boats passing through the archipelago. Finally, it’s a great place for a run or a nice forest walk. You can get there by car or bus (by bus there is a 15 min. walk through the nature reserve to the manor/farm). Oh, and don’t forget to bring your own sausages/buns to put on the grill there (it’s on every weekend).
Siggestagård is a big farm in the country side, 40 min. drive southeast of Stockholm. It has been turned into a restaurant, hotel/conference site and most importantly, in my eyes, they have a great place to visit with kids, for half or one full day. There are farm animals to pet, fun and creative mini golf, football golf, disc golf and an obstacle course. Finally, there are lots of horses, big stables and an indoor riding house. You can even rent bikes at this place to explore the surroundings. You will not get bored at this place.
Places to reach by boat (from the city center)
Artipelag – A cool art museum in the amazing archipelago with fun trails around – and you can walk on to the roof of the museum they always have a children activity on. There is a great restaurant/Swedish buffet. The buffet is usually typical Swedish food and very delicious. It’s possible to go from the city by special Artipelag bus, by boat or drive. I would go by boat if weather is nice.
Vaxholm – a small very picturesque town with a fortress and traditional Swedish houses, easy to reach by boat and a great place to go for lunch.
Fjäderholmarna – a group of 4 small islands, as in super small, so small that you can walk around all 4 of them in 20 minutes. There are hand craft workshops and in some of them you get to give it a try for yourself. Great places for traditional Swedish lunch or dinner. Finally, in the summer you can swim in the archipelago from the cliffs.
Drottningholm – where the Royal Family lives – 45 min. calm boat tour through the beautiful Swedish archipelago, such a great way to see and experience the archipelago. There is the big park at the castle to walk around and also the change of guards (since there are fewer soldiers there, it’s not as impressive as the change of guards at Royal Palace in central Stockholm).
Stockholm, we hope to see you again soon… And if you want to know more about what to expect when you arrive in Stockholm click here or interesting knowledge about Sweden click here.