Vasa museum and Skansen in Stockholm
Moose spotting on a city break? It’s all possible at Skansen on Djurgården in Stockholm. Here you can also visit the impressive Vasa Museum
Royal Djurgården (meaning ‘animal park’) is a national Swedish city park in the heart of Stockholm. It’s a mix of parkland and forest with both canal and harbour sides.
Museums
Royal Djurgården is home to several of Stockholm’s main museums. The Nordiska Museet is where to go if you want to see folk art, fashion, textiles and furnished rooms and get a picture of Scandinavian culture. And for collections of Scandinavian paintings and sculptures from the period around 1900, visit the esteemed Waldemarsudde (voted favourite museum 2016 by Stockholmers) and Thielska Galleriet.
ABBA The Museum
Djurgården is also where to go if you are an ABBA fan. ABBA The Museum. ABBA The Museum is a permanent exhibition in the brand new ‘Swedish Music Hall of Fame’ on the island of Djurgården, a brisk walk, or a short bus or tram ride from the city centre.
Vasa Museum and Skansen
The impressive Vasa Museum is a magnet for the curious, housing a resurrected 17th century Swedish sunken warship. And a must-do is the open-air historical museum of Skansen depicting Swedish life in the past by literally recreating a real-life Sweden of the 1900s. A destination restaurant and café here is Gubbhyllan where they make everything themselves the traditional way.
Moose spotting in Stockholm?
Skansen in Stockholm is the world’s biggest open-air museum and brings together some 160 historical buildings from all over Sweden, smack bang in the middle of Stockholm. As an idea and place to visit Skansen is a charm offensive par excellence. What about the zoo though? Also authentic, with Nordic wildlife such as moose, brown bears, elk, wolves, lynx, snowy owls and the wolverine in outdoor enclosures. Skansen also has domestic Swedish breeds of cows, ponies, chickens and other critters. For exotic animals (hey, they’re indoors) visit the ‘Our Africa’ part of the zoo and for total cuteness visit the ‘Children’s Zoo’ where petting is encouraged. Skansen is open every day of the year.
With kids?
Go to Gröna Lund, Stockholm’s amusement park. Also on the island of Djurgården is Junibacken, not a museum, but an enjoyable homage to the characters of Astrid Lindgren’s books.
Tip:
Get there easily from the city centre by foot, or hop on a boat from Nybrokajen or Gamla Stan/Slussen. You can also take a tram from Sergels Torg or go by bus.
