Some days you want the big outing: the rides, the famous sights, the place the kids will talk about at dinner. This list pulls together the city's theme parks and headline attractions, from gentle spots toddlers enjoy to rides that make a ten-year-old scream. Check each listing for seasonal hours, since outdoor sights and rides often close or cut back in winter.
Monteliusvägen is a 416-meter walking path along the steep edge of Mariaberget, high above Söder Mälarstrand. Terraces and benches, some with fixed tables, look out over Riddarfjärden to City Hall, Riddarholmen and Gamla stan. Steps and cobbled lanes like Blecktornsgränd climb up from below, and the path opens onto two small parks. Kids can spot pieces of old millstones set into the retaining walls.
Fjäderholmarna is a cluster of small islands, the nearest part of the Stockholm archipelago to the city center. Stora Fjäderholmen has craft studios including a glassworks, a forge and a pottery, some offering day workshops, plus a permanent exhibition of traditional boats and rocks to swim from.
Food runs from a smokehouse and an archipelago restaurant to a brewery and a chocolate maker.
Skansen-Akvariet is a privately run zoo and aquarium on the Skansen grounds, packing about 200 exotic species into 3,000 square meters: fish, corals, crocodiles, snakes, naked mole-rats, marmosets, lemurs, baboons and parrots.
In the Children's Rainforest, kids walk in among some of the animals, and a pet corner lets them touch a snake and a spider. The animals on show vary with the season.
Stadshuset, the seat of Stockholm's city government, stands at the water's edge facing Riddarholmen and Södermalm, built from nearly eight million dark red bricks.
Inside, the Blue Hall hosts the Nobel Prize banquet and holds Scandinavia's largest organ, with 10,270 pipes. Upstairs, the Golden Hall is covered in more than 18 million mosaic tiles showing scenes from Swedish history. The 106-meter tower is topped by the Three Crowns.
The King's official residence has more than 600 rooms over eleven floors, and much of it is open to visitors. Kids can walk the state apartments, see the crowns and regalia in the Treasury's cellar vaults, and pass through the medieval gate in Museum Three Crowns.
An animal safari map from the front desk sends kids hunting for animals hidden on walls, ceilings and furniture.
Gröna Lund is Sweden's oldest amusement park, open since 1883 on the Djurgården waterfront. Its 30 rides run from big roller coasters and drop towers to bumper cars, carousels, teacups and Ferris wheels.
Younger kids head for Pettson och Findus Värld, a house built in 1720 full of nooks to hide in and buttons to press. Pentathlon game stalls, summer concerts and food stands fill the gaps between rides.
Skansen is the world's oldest open-air museum: historic houses and farmsteads from across Sweden that show how people lived and worked over the centuries. Its zoo keeps Nordic wild animals such as moose, bears and seals, plus traditional Swedish farm breeds.
Lill-Skansen, the children's zoo, has small animals and big indoor and outdoor play areas with a snake slide. The Baltic Sea Science Center shows life under the Baltic.
Some days you want the big outing: the rides, the famous sights, the place the kids will talk about at dinner. This list pulls together the city's theme parks and headline attractions, from gentle spots toddlers enjoy to rides that make a ten-year-old scream. Check each listing for seasonal hours, since outdoor sights and rides often close or cut back in winter.
Monteliusvägen is a 416-meter walking path along the steep edge of Mariaberget, high above Söder Mälarstrand. Terraces and benches, some with fixed tables, look out over Riddarfjärden to City Hall, Riddarholmen and Gamla stan. Steps and cobbled lanes like Blecktornsgränd climb up from below, and the path opens onto two small parks. Kids can spot pieces of old millstones set into the retaining walls.
Fjäderholmarna is a cluster of small islands, the nearest part of the Stockholm archipelago to the city center. Stora Fjäderholmen has craft studios including a glassworks, a forge and a pottery, some offering day workshops, plus a permanent exhibition of traditional boats and rocks to swim from.
Food runs from a smokehouse and an archipelago restaurant to a brewery and a chocolate maker.
Skansen-Akvariet is a privately run zoo and aquarium on the Skansen grounds, packing about 200 exotic species into 3,000 square meters: fish, corals, crocodiles, snakes, naked mole-rats, marmosets, lemurs, baboons and parrots.
In the Children's Rainforest, kids walk in among some of the animals, and a pet corner lets them touch a snake and a spider. The animals on show vary with the season.
Stadshuset, the seat of Stockholm's city government, stands at the water's edge facing Riddarholmen and Södermalm, built from nearly eight million dark red bricks.
Inside, the Blue Hall hosts the Nobel Prize banquet and holds Scandinavia's largest organ, with 10,270 pipes. Upstairs, the Golden Hall is covered in more than 18 million mosaic tiles showing scenes from Swedish history. The 106-meter tower is topped by the Three Crowns.
The King's official residence has more than 600 rooms over eleven floors, and much of it is open to visitors. Kids can walk the state apartments, see the crowns and regalia in the Treasury's cellar vaults, and pass through the medieval gate in Museum Three Crowns.
An animal safari map from the front desk sends kids hunting for animals hidden on walls, ceilings and furniture.
Gröna Lund is Sweden's oldest amusement park, open since 1883 on the Djurgården waterfront. Its 30 rides run from big roller coasters and drop towers to bumper cars, carousels, teacups and Ferris wheels.
Younger kids head for Pettson och Findus Värld, a house built in 1720 full of nooks to hide in and buttons to press. Pentathlon game stalls, summer concerts and food stands fill the gaps between rides.
Skansen is the world's oldest open-air museum: historic houses and farmsteads from across Sweden that show how people lived and worked over the centuries. Its zoo keeps Nordic wild animals such as moose, bears and seals, plus traditional Swedish farm breeds.
Lill-Skansen, the children's zoo, has small animals and big indoor and outdoor play areas with a snake slide. The Baltic Sea Science Center shows life under the Baltic.
