Teenagers want plans that feel like their own, not a younger sibling's day out. This list covers what works for ages 13 to 17: climbing walls, laser tag, bowling, ice rinks, music and history museums, and the city festivals worth staying out late for. Hand it over and let them pick the weekend.
Avicii Experience is a tribute museum to Swedish DJ and producer Tim "Avicii" Bergling, one floor below street level at Sergels Torg. The 350-square-meter exhibition follows his life and music career through interactive rooms, untold stories and music that has never been released.
The room kids remember is the one where they get to try performing in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans.
A touring exhibition about James Cameron, the director of Titanic and Avatar, and his other life as a deep-sea explorer. Kids see props from his films, film projections, rare objects and the underwater cameras and technology he used to explore the ocean depths.
It suits kids curious about the deep sea, underwater technology or how films get made.
A dark, smoke-filled laser tag arena in Vasastan where players in vests hunt each other through UV-lit corridors to music. Each 16-minute game takes up to 40 players, in two to eight teams or everyone against everyone.
Between games, the lobby has a live scoreboard, arcade games, darts, foosball and table tennis. Birthday party packages bundle games with food, ice cream and a candy bag.
Armémuseum tells Sweden's story of war and peace through the soldiers, women and children who lived it, from the 1500s to today. Full-scale scenes with life-size soldiers and original weapons fill Artillerigården, a former artillery depot whose buildings date from the 1700s.
The Trophy Chamber holds flags and spoils captured from defeated armies, and a smaller exhibit covers Raoul Wallenberg's rescue work in World War II.
London's Natural History Museum runs this yearly wildlife photo competition, and this is the exhibition of the results: 100 photos picked from 65,403 entries from 121 countries. Kids get a dung beetle shot at eye level by the young winner, along with animal moments few people ever see. It is all looking and no touching, so it suits animal fans more than toddlers who need to move.
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.
An indoor climbing gym with two ways to climb: bouldering, which uses no ropes, and roped climbing. Courses suit complete beginners as well as experienced climbers, so a first-timer has a way in.
Klätterverket also runs regular courses and events for children, plus kids' birthday parties and school-holiday camps.
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.
An interactive museum about the Swedish pop group, with original stage costumes, gold records and the Polar Studio mixing desk on show.
Kids can sing karaoke in The Audition, set up to feel like the Polar Studio, perform on stage as the fifth member alongside Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Frida, try the Tretow Mix Challenge and an ABBA quiz. The museum cinema screens films all day.
Teenagers want plans that feel like their own, not a younger sibling's day out. This list covers what works for ages 13 to 17: climbing walls, laser tag, bowling, ice rinks, music and history museums, and the city festivals worth staying out late for. Hand it over and let them pick the weekend.
Avicii Experience is a tribute museum to Swedish DJ and producer Tim "Avicii" Bergling, one floor below street level at Sergels Torg. The 350-square-meter exhibition follows his life and music career through interactive rooms, untold stories and music that has never been released.
The room kids remember is the one where they get to try performing in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans.
A touring exhibition about James Cameron, the director of Titanic and Avatar, and his other life as a deep-sea explorer. Kids see props from his films, film projections, rare objects and the underwater cameras and technology he used to explore the ocean depths.
It suits kids curious about the deep sea, underwater technology or how films get made.
A dark, smoke-filled laser tag arena in Vasastan where players in vests hunt each other through UV-lit corridors to music. Each 16-minute game takes up to 40 players, in two to eight teams or everyone against everyone.
Between games, the lobby has a live scoreboard, arcade games, darts, foosball and table tennis. Birthday party packages bundle games with food, ice cream and a candy bag.
Armémuseum tells Sweden's story of war and peace through the soldiers, women and children who lived it, from the 1500s to today. Full-scale scenes with life-size soldiers and original weapons fill Artillerigården, a former artillery depot whose buildings date from the 1700s.
The Trophy Chamber holds flags and spoils captured from defeated armies, and a smaller exhibit covers Raoul Wallenberg's rescue work in World War II.
London's Natural History Museum runs this yearly wildlife photo competition, and this is the exhibition of the results: 100 photos picked from 65,403 entries from 121 countries. Kids get a dung beetle shot at eye level by the young winner, along with animal moments few people ever see. It is all looking and no touching, so it suits animal fans more than toddlers who need to move.
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.
An indoor climbing gym with two ways to climb: bouldering, which uses no ropes, and roped climbing. Courses suit complete beginners as well as experienced climbers, so a first-timer has a way in.
Klätterverket also runs regular courses and events for children, plus kids' birthday parties and school-holiday camps.
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.
An interactive museum about the Swedish pop group, with original stage costumes, gold records and the Polar Studio mixing desk on show.
Kids can sing karaoke in The Audition, set up to feel like the Polar Studio, perform on stage as the fifth member alongside Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Frida, try the Tretow Mix Challenge and an ABBA quiz. The museum cinema screens films all day.
