Stockholm is built on islands, with forest and lakes a short ride from the center. Swedes grow up with allemansrätten, the right to roam, so trails, fire pits and swimming spots are open to everyone in every season. Here's what we checked, from the big lawns of Hagaparken to the centuries-old pines of Tyresta National Park.
Haga Park is an English-style landscape park on the western shore of Brunnsviken, with open lawns, woods and winding paths. Scattered across it are buildings from Gustav III's time: the blue-and-yellow Copper Tents (home to Haga Park Museum and a café), the Echo Temple, the Chinese Pagoda and the Turkish Kiosk. Kids get room to run, picnic on the lawns and hunt for the next pavilion.
Rosendals Trädgård is a biodynamic market garden on Djurgården, run by a foundation. Paths lead past vegetable plots, a rose garden, an orchard, a vineyard and greenhouses, and there is a playground and an educational garden for children.
The greenhouse café cooks with the garden's own harvest, and the wood-fired bakery holds Stockholm's largest oven. From late July, kids can cut their own bouquet in the flower field.
Tantolunden is one of the largest parks in the inner city, spread over a hill that slopes down to Årstaviken. Winding paths lead up to the top, and the slopes fill with sleds once snow falls.
There is a playground, a beach volleyball court, minigolf and a frisbee golf course. Up the hill, more than 100 allotment gardens with small cottages have been tended behind their fences since 1915.
Rålambshovsparken, known locally as Rålis, is a big park under the Västerbron bridge, with wide lawns that run down to Riddarfjärden. Kids get the Rålambshovs Parklek playground, the Domarring play sculpture, and Rålis Skatepark, with bowls of different depths and a large street section.
The park also has a beach volleyball court, a boule pitch, and a 5,000-seat open-air amphitheater where Parkteatern often plays in summer.
Judarskogen is a 95-hectare forest reserve wrapped around the small lake Judarn. A marked 2 km nature trail circles the lake, with eight signs on how the last ice age shaped the land.
Gravel paths and forest trails cross pine and spruce woods, open meadows and boulder slopes. Kids can find the pond built for newts and other amphibians north of the lake, and follow Ryssmuren, an old stone wall.
Hellasgården is an outdoor center on Källtorpssjön, inside the Nackareservatet nature reserve. In summer there is a sandy beach with swimming jetties, canoe, kayak and SUP hire, minigolf and forest trails.
In winter the lake gets a plowed skating track of about 2.5 km when the ice allows, and there is a sledding hill across Ältavägen. A lakeside sauna, a café and a restaurant sit by the water.
Tyresta protects the largest old-growth forest south of the Dalälven River: centuries-old pines, tall spruce, smooth bedrock and small forest lakes. Trails run from walks under an hour to weekend hikes, and several suit children.
At the main entrance, Tyresta by is an 18th-century farmyard with farm animals and a small country shop. Kids can walk through the area burned in the 1999 wildfire and see the forest growing back.
Björnö is a nature reserve at the far tip of Ingarö, and Torpesand's sandy beach is an easy walk from the parking lot. Kids can swim from the sand or the smooth rocks and follow a marked snorkel trail to see life under the Baltic.
Marked trails run through forest and meadows to a lookout tower over the archipelago, with fire pits and tent sites along the way.
Hågelby 4H Farm is a small farm run by the local 4H club inside Hågelbyparken. Horses, sheep, goats, pigs, hens, rabbits and cats live here, and families can walk the park paths and look into the paddocks without booking. Kids can pet the animals that come up to the fence, and the park also has a playground. On cold days the hens and pigs stay in the henhouse and stable.
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.
Stockholm is built on islands, with forest and lakes a short ride from the center. Swedes grow up with allemansrätten, the right to roam, so trails, fire pits and swimming spots are open to everyone in every season. Here's what we checked, from the big lawns of Hagaparken to the centuries-old pines of Tyresta National Park.
Haga Park is an English-style landscape park on the western shore of Brunnsviken, with open lawns, woods and winding paths. Scattered across it are buildings from Gustav III's time: the blue-and-yellow Copper Tents (home to Haga Park Museum and a café), the Echo Temple, the Chinese Pagoda and the Turkish Kiosk. Kids get room to run, picnic on the lawns and hunt for the next pavilion.
Rosendals Trädgård is a biodynamic market garden on Djurgården, run by a foundation. Paths lead past vegetable plots, a rose garden, an orchard, a vineyard and greenhouses, and there is a playground and an educational garden for children.
The greenhouse café cooks with the garden's own harvest, and the wood-fired bakery holds Stockholm's largest oven. From late July, kids can cut their own bouquet in the flower field.
Tantolunden is one of the largest parks in the inner city, spread over a hill that slopes down to Årstaviken. Winding paths lead up to the top, and the slopes fill with sleds once snow falls.
There is a playground, a beach volleyball court, minigolf and a frisbee golf course. Up the hill, more than 100 allotment gardens with small cottages have been tended behind their fences since 1915.
Rålambshovsparken, known locally as Rålis, is a big park under the Västerbron bridge, with wide lawns that run down to Riddarfjärden. Kids get the Rålambshovs Parklek playground, the Domarring play sculpture, and Rålis Skatepark, with bowls of different depths and a large street section.
The park also has a beach volleyball court, a boule pitch, and a 5,000-seat open-air amphitheater where Parkteatern often plays in summer.
Judarskogen is a 95-hectare forest reserve wrapped around the small lake Judarn. A marked 2 km nature trail circles the lake, with eight signs on how the last ice age shaped the land.
Gravel paths and forest trails cross pine and spruce woods, open meadows and boulder slopes. Kids can find the pond built for newts and other amphibians north of the lake, and follow Ryssmuren, an old stone wall.
Hellasgården is an outdoor center on Källtorpssjön, inside the Nackareservatet nature reserve. In summer there is a sandy beach with swimming jetties, canoe, kayak and SUP hire, minigolf and forest trails.
In winter the lake gets a plowed skating track of about 2.5 km when the ice allows, and there is a sledding hill across Ältavägen. A lakeside sauna, a café and a restaurant sit by the water.
Tyresta protects the largest old-growth forest south of the Dalälven River: centuries-old pines, tall spruce, smooth bedrock and small forest lakes. Trails run from walks under an hour to weekend hikes, and several suit children.
At the main entrance, Tyresta by is an 18th-century farmyard with farm animals and a small country shop. Kids can walk through the area burned in the 1999 wildfire and see the forest growing back.
Björnö is a nature reserve at the far tip of Ingarö, and Torpesand's sandy beach is an easy walk from the parking lot. Kids can swim from the sand or the smooth rocks and follow a marked snorkel trail to see life under the Baltic.
Marked trails run through forest and meadows to a lookout tower over the archipelago, with fire pits and tent sites along the way.
Hågelby 4H Farm is a small farm run by the local 4H club inside Hågelbyparken. Horses, sheep, goats, pigs, hens, rabbits and cats live here, and families can walk the park paths and look into the paddocks without booking. Kids can pet the animals that come up to the fence, and the park also has a playground. On cold days the hens and pigs stay in the henhouse and stable.
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.
