These are the darkest weeks of the Swedish year, and the brightest. Markets, shop windows and light art fill the city from late November, and around December 13 kids in white gowns and candle crowns sing Lucia songs in churches and at Skansen. Then Skansen rings in the new year. Here's what we checked, from Children's Christmas at Gröna Lund to the Nutcracker at Cirkus.
Gröna Lund opens Lilla Området, the small-kids corner of the amusement park, for a new winter season built around Christmas. Kids ride winterized carousels, watch ice-skating shows and Gnutt performances, meet the Ice Queen, and hand their wish lists to Tomten, Tomtemor and their elves.
Made for families with younger children. Kids hoping for the big thrill rides should know only the little-kids area is open.
Every year the NK department store on Hamngatan dresses its street windows for Christmas, and the unveiling is a Stockholm tradition. Kids go from window to window, nose to the glass, spotting the details in each scene.
There is no program to follow, so you stay as long as your kids are interested. It suits a short stop on a city-center walk more than a whole outing.
A Christmas market on Djurgården that has run since 1903, with stalls of crafts in textile, wood, ceramic and wool, plus marzipan, Christmas bread and hand-dipped candles.
For kids, the draw is Santa's workshop, where they make their own Christmas craft, then dancing around the tree and carols in Seglora church. Much of it is outdoors, so dress for the cold.
Pär Isberg's Nutcracker is the Royal Swedish Ballet's Christmas classic, retold with Elsa Beskow's storybook characters. Petter and Lotta live with Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender and are celebrating Christmas for the very first time.
The children want to sleep under the Christmas tree, and that night an enchanted world opens up around them. It suits kids who can sit through a full evening ballet with an intermission.
Each Advent the Royal Stables (Hovstallet) in Östermalm hosts a Christmas market, with around seventy craft makers from across Sweden selling handmade gifts in every material.
For kids, the draw is the King's horses: the stable stays open to visitors, so they can say hello to the horses trained for royal processions on state visits. It suits kids patient enough for some gift browsing between horse visits.
Nobel Week Lights is a light art festival that turns Stockholm's streets and squares into canvases during the darkest time of the year. International and local artists, designers and students build large-scale light artworks that interpret the Nobel Prize and the ideas behind it.
Kids walk from one glowing piece to the next, so it suits a toddler in a stroller as much as a curious teenager. Everything is outdoors.
Torekällberget, Södertälje's open-air museum, turns back the clock for a Christmas market in the style of the 1800s. Kids can step into the historic homes as the households get ready for Christmas, browse the market stalls on the square and catch live Christmas music around the grounds, with a sing-along too.
It suits families who like to wander at their own pace, and the weekend closes with a Lucia procession.
Lucia is one of Sweden's best-loved traditions, and Storkyrkan, the medieval cathedral in Gamla stan, is a classic place to see it. The Lucia procession enters in white with a crown of candles, and choirs sing the Lucia and Staffan songs of the day.
This is the family performance of the cathedral's Lucia concerts. It suits kids who can sit quietly through a concert in a dim, candlelit church.
Lucia is a Swedish holiday tradition, and Skansen offers two ways to see it. In Seglora Church, a choir gives a traditional Lucia concert. In the Temperance Hall, a 1920s-style celebration shows what Lucia could look and sound like a century ago.
It suits kids who are happy to sit and listen to a choir, and families curious about Swedish holiday traditions.
Skansen has celebrated New Year's Eve since 1893, and the midnight countdown on the Solliden stage is broadcast live on Swedish TV by SVT. Families count down together outdoors, with Stockholm as the backdrop.
It suits kids who can stay up late and cope with a crowd in the winter cold. Daytime visitors can explore the park earlier in the day; the evening is all about the countdown.
These are the darkest weeks of the Swedish year, and the brightest. Markets, shop windows and light art fill the city from late November, and around December 13 kids in white gowns and candle crowns sing Lucia songs in churches and at Skansen. Then Skansen rings in the new year. Here's what we checked, from Children's Christmas at Gröna Lund to the Nutcracker at Cirkus.
Gröna Lund opens Lilla Området, the small-kids corner of the amusement park, for a new winter season built around Christmas. Kids ride winterized carousels, watch ice-skating shows and Gnutt performances, meet the Ice Queen, and hand their wish lists to Tomten, Tomtemor and their elves.
Made for families with younger children. Kids hoping for the big thrill rides should know only the little-kids area is open.
Every year the NK department store on Hamngatan dresses its street windows for Christmas, and the unveiling is a Stockholm tradition. Kids go from window to window, nose to the glass, spotting the details in each scene.
There is no program to follow, so you stay as long as your kids are interested. It suits a short stop on a city-center walk more than a whole outing.
A Christmas market on Djurgården that has run since 1903, with stalls of crafts in textile, wood, ceramic and wool, plus marzipan, Christmas bread and hand-dipped candles.
For kids, the draw is Santa's workshop, where they make their own Christmas craft, then dancing around the tree and carols in Seglora church. Much of it is outdoors, so dress for the cold.
Pär Isberg's Nutcracker is the Royal Swedish Ballet's Christmas classic, retold with Elsa Beskow's storybook characters. Petter and Lotta live with Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender and are celebrating Christmas for the very first time.
The children want to sleep under the Christmas tree, and that night an enchanted world opens up around them. It suits kids who can sit through a full evening ballet with an intermission.
Each Advent the Royal Stables (Hovstallet) in Östermalm hosts a Christmas market, with around seventy craft makers from across Sweden selling handmade gifts in every material.
For kids, the draw is the King's horses: the stable stays open to visitors, so they can say hello to the horses trained for royal processions on state visits. It suits kids patient enough for some gift browsing between horse visits.
Nobel Week Lights is a light art festival that turns Stockholm's streets and squares into canvases during the darkest time of the year. International and local artists, designers and students build large-scale light artworks that interpret the Nobel Prize and the ideas behind it.
Kids walk from one glowing piece to the next, so it suits a toddler in a stroller as much as a curious teenager. Everything is outdoors.
Torekällberget, Södertälje's open-air museum, turns back the clock for a Christmas market in the style of the 1800s. Kids can step into the historic homes as the households get ready for Christmas, browse the market stalls on the square and catch live Christmas music around the grounds, with a sing-along too.
It suits families who like to wander at their own pace, and the weekend closes with a Lucia procession.
Lucia is one of Sweden's best-loved traditions, and Storkyrkan, the medieval cathedral in Gamla stan, is a classic place to see it. The Lucia procession enters in white with a crown of candles, and choirs sing the Lucia and Staffan songs of the day.
This is the family performance of the cathedral's Lucia concerts. It suits kids who can sit quietly through a concert in a dim, candlelit church.
Lucia is a Swedish holiday tradition, and Skansen offers two ways to see it. In Seglora Church, a choir gives a traditional Lucia concert. In the Temperance Hall, a 1920s-style celebration shows what Lucia could look and sound like a century ago.
It suits kids who are happy to sit and listen to a choir, and families curious about Swedish holiday traditions.
Skansen has celebrated New Year's Eve since 1893, and the midnight countdown on the Solliden stage is broadcast live on Swedish TV by SVT. Families count down together outdoors, with Stockholm as the backdrop.
It suits kids who can stay up late and cope with a crowd in the winter cold. Daytime visitors can explore the park earlier in the day; the evening is all about the countdown.
