The 5 best family activities in Stockholm
There are some places in the world that we visit and we know exactly what we want to do. We’ve seen about them online, or we’ve heard stories, or read books that capture the most important places that a city has to offer. This was not true for us when it came to Stockholm. I felt like I was going in blind, and I knew nothing about Stockholm except that there were a lot of islands and that IKEA is there.
This is when I turn to my trusted travel mom groups online to find out everything that I need to visit in a city. And the Swedish moms were incredibly helpful and did not let us down. When we traveled in the December, there was no snow to speak of, so we had to shift some of our plans to regular sightseeing across the city. We ended up visiting a lot of museums around Sweden so that our five-year-old could get in some quality playtime during our travels. Since we had just come from Finland, we were not too upset that we missed out on a lot of the winter activities in the area.
Stockholm is definitely a kid-friendly city. Read on to discover our 5 favorite activities for young children in Stockholm. (Note: we visited Stockholm in the winter of 2024 after we had traveled around Finland for a week. When I planned our trip to Finland, I had a bucket list ready to go.)
Pippi Longstocking’s horse at Junibacken Children’s Museum.
Here are our 5 favorite places to visit in Stockholm with a 5-year-old.
Skansen Open Air Museum
Junibacken Children’s Museum
Abba Museum
Vasa Museum
Post Museum
Skansen Open Air Museum
Cost: Adults- SEK 160 ($17 USD)
Cost: Children (4-15)-SEK 80 ($8.50 USD)
Do not miss: The Baltic Sea Science Center, The Children’s Zoo (indoors), visiting with the animals (all over outside)
The one place that everyone should visit is Skansen. This is primarily an outdoor open air museum, and you could easily spend an entire day here if your children were willing to. We arrived at opening in the morning and then left around lunchtime. Skansen offers examples of what life used to look like in Sweden, as well as a small aquarium and zoo. There are also indoor and outdoor play centers. I cannot imagine any child being bored at Skansen.
We just missed the Christmas markets in the area, but if you are able to visit earlier in December, you can take advantage of those too.
Playing with the friendliest bear at Skansen Open Air Museum
Skansen Playground
Baltic Sea Science Center, Skansen
2. Junibacken Children’s Museum
Junibacken was, without a doubt, the most recommended place for children in Stockholm. It also happens to be on the same island as most other museums. So it’s easy to visit Junibacken in the morning and then visit another place on our list, like the Abba Museum.
Cost: Adults: 230SEK ($24 USD)
Cost: Children 195 SEK (over age 2) ($20 USD)
Junibacken is a collection of storybooks brought to life. Pippi Longstocking gets center stage (literally) and there are magical rooms for children to explore. This is one of the most hands on children’s “museum” we have seen. Every room offers a chance for children to play and experience a story world. Our daughter was 5 when we visited, which was the perfect age. But I could see children ages 2-8 really loving this space.
Playhouse and theatre at Junibaken
There is also the famous story train which takes you through a children’s book. To be honest, as Americans who are used to happy endings in children’s books, we were NOT prepared for this. Here’s the description from the website: “Get on The Story Train and dive straight into the magical world between the pages of books. You’ll meet Madicken, Emil, Karlsson and the others on an enchanting journey between the Swedish summer of fairytales and stories and the roaring Karma Falls. Beautiful, exciting and a little sad – exactly as it should be. One ride is included in the entrance ticket.”
Plan to visit Junibacken in the morning and make sure you get to see one of the live Pippi shows! While it was in Swedish, we still were able to enjoy it and laugh along with the crowd.
3. Abba Museum
Some might not expect the Abba museum to be “kid-friendly” but our daughter loved it here. We did not even buy tickets in advance, because we were not sure we would visit. But I can say that this was a wonderful place to visit after spending the morning engaging in more kid-focused places (like Skansen or Junibacken).
The tagline for the museum is “Walk In. Dance Out.” And you will definitely leave singing and dancing and then listening to Abba’s collection for the rest of your life (if you were not already a fan). If you are a true fan, and visit without little kids, you could spend a lot of time learning about the band.
Cost: Adults: 239-269 SEK ($24-$27 USD)
Cost: Children 110 SEK (ages 7 and up) ($11.50)
Since we were at the whim of a 5-year-old, we spent more time in the “fun areas” of the museum.
This included:
looking at the costumes
playing in the helicopter
watching others sing on stage with the virutal band members
singing in the recording room
participating in the silent disco
4. Vasa Museum
We couldn’t visit a Scandinavian country and miss out on some Viking history. The Vasa Museum is also located on the island of Djurgården, and displays the only almost fully intact 17th-century ship that has ever been salvaged. The Vasa, a warship, sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. The scale of the ship and museum is hard to describe in words.
The Vasa museum was less interactive for children; however, we stayed there for quite some time for a couple reasons. 1. There was a video about the boat. 2. The restaurant attached to the museum was quite good. 3. There was a lego room next door that featured famous ships from around the world and room for kids to play.
Cost: Adults: 195 SEK ($20 USD)
Cost: 0-18 years: Free admission
5-year-old and stuffed animal for perspective. The Vasa is huge!
5. Post Museum
If you have toddlers and young children, then do not sleep on the Post Museum in Stockholm. This is smaller in scale than the other museums, but it’s also closer to other attractions. For our last day, we wanted to stay near our hotel (Hilton Slussen) and walk around the city, so we stopped by the Post Museum before lunch and ice-skating.
The downstairs of the post museum….
The upstairs is where ALL the children are. It’s heaven for 2-6 year olds who can work together to get the packages sent out. Just look at these photos- but don’t show them to your children so they can be pleasantly surprised.
Cost: Adults 120 SEK ($13 USD)
Cost: 0-18 years: Free admission
The Postmuseum was our child’s dream come true.
Scanning packages at the postmuseum
We visited Stockholm in December of 2024.
Read more about our recent trips and find inspiration for your next family adventure.
