Summer here runs on long light evenings, and families spend them outdoors: singing along on Skansen's hillside, swimming off city beaches, catching a ferry to the nearest islands. Midsummer is the big tradition, with flower crowns and dancing around the maypole. Here's what we checked, from Midsummer at Skansen to the Mountain Coaster down Hammarbybacken.
Skansen has celebrated Midsummer every year since the 1890s, and it is one of Sweden's most important holidays. The day centers on the maypole: it is dressed in birch leaves, raised at Tingsvallen, and danced around to folk music.
Kids can watch folk dances and see wreaths of birch leaves and meadow flowers. It suits families who want to see a Swedish tradition done the old way.
Allsång på Skansen is Sweden's big summer sing-along. A host (Pernilla Wahlgren since 2023) leads the crowd at the Solliden stage through well-known songs with guest artists, while the show goes out live on SVT1.
It suits kids who like live music and a big, cheerful crowd. Everything is sung in Swedish, so children who know the songs get the most from it.
Kulturfestivalen is the City of Stockholm's own summer festival: days of concerts and performances on outdoor stages spread over squares, quays and bridges in the city center. Families can drift between stages, catch a few songs, and head home when the kids have had enough.
It suits kids who enjoy music and busy crowds. Many concerts are loud, so ear protection is worth packing for younger ones.
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.
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.
A guided boat tour run by Strömma that leaves Strömkajen, enters the quiet Djurgården canal (Djurgårdsbrunnskanalen) and runs through the Royal National City Park. Kids watch historic buildings, museums, green shores and the big contemporary sculptures of the Princess Estelle Sculpture Park slide past, then the city skyline opens up on the way back. A live English-speaking guide tells stories about the island's history and nature.
Tom Tits Experiment is Sweden's largest science center, with more than 400 do-it-yourself experiments over four floors and an outdoor experiment park. Kids build a bridge and test whether it holds their weight, pull out a model small intestine to see how long it is, and puzzle through an illusion gallery. No prior knowledge is needed, and many experiments are built at a height small children can reach.
Hammarbybacken is a 93.5-meter hill built up from construction spoil, with a blue, a red and a black run reached by T-bar lift, a snow park with jumps, boxes and rails, and a gentle green children's slope with two conveyor belts.
In summer the hill switches to a Mountain Coaster, rubber-ring tubing, a SummerSki slope of artificial grass, and a climbing park on poles with a 100-meter zip line.
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.
Siggesta Gård is a farm on Värmdö with a hotel, restaurants and forest all around. Kids can meet the alpacas, walk the Swamp Trolls' Path, a fairytale trail with its own farm troll, and swim at the natural beach after a forest walk.
Paid extras include an 18-hole adventure golf course whose holes are miniatures of Värmdö buildings, plus soccer golf, disc golf and a forest obstacle course.
Långholmsbadet is the public swimming beach on the north shore of Långholmen, a green island between Södermalm and Kungsholmen, right beside the Västerbron bridge and facing Riddarfjärden.
A path follows the shore around the whole island, past the old prison buildings. East of the bridge sits Långholmens klippbad, a rocky swimming spot first laid out as a bath for women and children.
Smedsuddsbadet is a small sandy city beach on Riddarfjärden, right beside the Västerbron bridge and next to Rålambshovsparken. Kids can swim off the sand, play on the lawn behind it and walk out on the boat jetty.
There are changing rooms, toilets and two outdoor showers. In summer a café runs from the yellow wooden villa on Smedsudden, which is also home to the canoe club.
Summer here runs on long light evenings, and families spend them outdoors: singing along on Skansen's hillside, swimming off city beaches, catching a ferry to the nearest islands. Midsummer is the big tradition, with flower crowns and dancing around the maypole. Here's what we checked, from Midsummer at Skansen to the Mountain Coaster down Hammarbybacken.
Skansen has celebrated Midsummer every year since the 1890s, and it is one of Sweden's most important holidays. The day centers on the maypole: it is dressed in birch leaves, raised at Tingsvallen, and danced around to folk music.
Kids can watch folk dances and see wreaths of birch leaves and meadow flowers. It suits families who want to see a Swedish tradition done the old way.
Allsång på Skansen is Sweden's big summer sing-along. A host (Pernilla Wahlgren since 2023) leads the crowd at the Solliden stage through well-known songs with guest artists, while the show goes out live on SVT1.
It suits kids who like live music and a big, cheerful crowd. Everything is sung in Swedish, so children who know the songs get the most from it.
Kulturfestivalen is the City of Stockholm's own summer festival: days of concerts and performances on outdoor stages spread over squares, quays and bridges in the city center. Families can drift between stages, catch a few songs, and head home when the kids have had enough.
It suits kids who enjoy music and busy crowds. Many concerts are loud, so ear protection is worth packing for younger ones.
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.
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.
A guided boat tour run by Strömma that leaves Strömkajen, enters the quiet Djurgården canal (Djurgårdsbrunnskanalen) and runs through the Royal National City Park. Kids watch historic buildings, museums, green shores and the big contemporary sculptures of the Princess Estelle Sculpture Park slide past, then the city skyline opens up on the way back. A live English-speaking guide tells stories about the island's history and nature.
Tom Tits Experiment is Sweden's largest science center, with more than 400 do-it-yourself experiments over four floors and an outdoor experiment park. Kids build a bridge and test whether it holds their weight, pull out a model small intestine to see how long it is, and puzzle through an illusion gallery. No prior knowledge is needed, and many experiments are built at a height small children can reach.
Hammarbybacken is a 93.5-meter hill built up from construction spoil, with a blue, a red and a black run reached by T-bar lift, a snow park with jumps, boxes and rails, and a gentle green children's slope with two conveyor belts.
In summer the hill switches to a Mountain Coaster, rubber-ring tubing, a SummerSki slope of artificial grass, and a climbing park on poles with a 100-meter zip line.
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.
Siggesta Gård is a farm on Värmdö with a hotel, restaurants and forest all around. Kids can meet the alpacas, walk the Swamp Trolls' Path, a fairytale trail with its own farm troll, and swim at the natural beach after a forest walk.
Paid extras include an 18-hole adventure golf course whose holes are miniatures of Värmdö buildings, plus soccer golf, disc golf and a forest obstacle course.
Långholmsbadet is the public swimming beach on the north shore of Långholmen, a green island between Södermalm and Kungsholmen, right beside the Västerbron bridge and facing Riddarfjärden.
A path follows the shore around the whole island, past the old prison buildings. East of the bridge sits Långholmens klippbad, a rocky swimming spot first laid out as a bath for women and children.
Smedsuddsbadet is a small sandy city beach on Riddarfjärden, right beside the Västerbron bridge and next to Rålambshovsparken. Kids can swim off the sand, play on the lawn behind it and walk out on the boat jetty.
There are changing rooms, toilets and two outdoor showers. In summer a café runs from the yellow wooden villa on Smedsudden, which is also home to the canoe club.
