Skansen

...must-see if you're in Stockholm! Skansen comprises a zoo, an exhibition of all manner of Swedish architecture, a snapshot of Swedish life, a selection of cafes and eating options, wonderful crafts and a beautiful place to walk and picnic.

~Arrival~

Skansen is one of those magical places that seems a lot larger on the inside than it is on the outside. Located on the island of Djurgården, it's easiest to get there by boat ...
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Entrance to Skansen is free with a Stockholm card (more on that next), or around 50 SEK for children and 90 SEK for adults. Costs do vary a little depending on time of year and atttractions, and some areas can cost extra if you only buy an entrance ticket.

On entrance you're given a delightful - and very useful - foldout map in the language of your choice. If you're like me and think, I won't need that, learn from my error ... more

A truly wonderful place, an absolute must-see if you're in Stockholm! Skansen comprises a zoo, an exhibition of all manner of Swedish architecture, a snapshot of Swedish life, a selection of cafes and eating options, wonderful crafts and a beautiful place to walk and picnic.

~Arrival~

Skansen is one of those magical places that seems a lot larger on the inside than it is on the outside. Located on the island of Djurgården, it's easiest to get there by boat from Slussen (in turn easily accessed by tube), and arriving on the boat makes it seem that bit more special. Boats cost 20 SEK (less or free with some travelcards) and leave Slussen at least every half an hour for most of the year.

There are also buses which stop right outside the park entrance.

Entrance to Skansen is free with a Stockholm card (more on that next), or around 50 SEK for children and 90 SEK for adults. Costs do vary a little depending on time of year and atttractions, and some areas can cost extra if you only buy an entrance ticket.

On entrance you're given a delightful - and very useful - foldout map in the language of your choice. If you're like me and think, I won't need that, learn from my error of losing mine in my bag - you can actually get lost in this place, and a map really doesn't go amiss!

~Time-taking~

Djurgården is home to many of Stockholm's most fascinating museums, including the Vasa boat museum and the delightful Astrid Lindgren museum - if you can, I would say you should absolutely buy a Stockholm card, which gives you free entry to the museums, and allows you into Skansen all day (or for three days, or seven, depending on how long your card's valid for! You can buy Stockholm cards in many hotels, or from the Pressbyrån kiosks, located all over the city).

If you've never been to Skansen before, you could quite easily spend the whole day there. If you have only one day to spare on Djurgården, I would recommend seeing the houses, the architecture and so on, then taking time to dip into the rest of the museums on the island, before returning to Skansen for a late lunch and a walk around the zoo.

In summer, Skansen is often open until late evening (9-10pm) or until dusk, so it's a rather practical and lovely place to spend the latter part of a day when other attractions have closed.

Allow at least an hour to wander the zoo, and the same again for most of the houses. You could easily add another hour onto that to take in the extremeties of the park, worth wandering for the views across the city! Then factor in food too, and certainly, there's no trouble in filling a full day out!

~Access~

With wide, smooth paths all around, the majority of Skansen is easily accessible to wheelchair users and those with reduced mobility, though some of the older buildings may be out of reach.

The park is situated on an enormous hill, however, which could be tough going for those who aren't so good at, well, walking up hills. There is an escalator situated at the bottom which means you can short cut to the top and walk down, or vice versa - there's lots to see on the way so it's worth doing and nice that you don't have to commit to both the up and down of it! There's also a train that goes up the hill from the side entrance of the park - this costs around 15 SEK per person but is a lovely extra if money's no object, or if mobility's an issue.

~Zoo~

On paper, it seems fairly small, and certainly Skansen isn't stuffed with animals as some zoos seem to be. Nonetheless, those that there are are wonderful, nicely spread out, sometimes seeming hidden away amidst the twisty-turny paths through forest-ish land, and, when they're not hiding, the creatures can be spectacular. (I've been to Skansen ten times or more and I've yet to see the wolves, but I like to believe they're really there somewhere beneath the leafy greens!)

The zoo was founded in 1891, and part of its early function continues today: aside from their regular inhabitants, a number of animals presented to Sweden's Royal Family roam in the enclosures. This summer two of the newest arrivals, beautiful monkeys, had just arrived - they had been gifts for the Princess' imminent birthday, from another country's royalty, and were receiving the typical expert care from the Skansen zoo staff.

Every animal enclosure is accompanied by a pleasantly informative sign, usually in both Swedish and English, and sometimes with additional languages, so you get a good sense of education whilst wandering around wthout it being overwhelming.

The bears are beautiful, I've not seen them elsewhere at such length, and they're visible across a wide area from the winding viewing platform. My partner's particularly fond of the owl family there, flitting about their sizeable enclosure, always seeming fascinated by visitors. The moose are majestic as well, and quite a surprise for me!

Skansen was also the first place I ever saw reindeer, and I was unbelievably excited by this, standing as I was on the edge of the field almost dancing around. My Swedish friend was as bemused as I would've been if she'd been impressed by the sight of a fox!

There's a small animal zoo as well in which children can pet and view animals such as guinea pigs, goats and so on close up, though this can get nightmarishly crowded in the summer.

There's also a small mammal world which is well worth a wander around, with lemur and suchlike that have more personality and less fear than any I've ever seen, however this section does cost around 20 SEK extra (or is free with the Stockholm card).

One of the nice things about the rest of the zoo is that, as I say, it is rather spread out, so even when major areas are particularly busy it's usually quite easy to find something that, well, isn't!

There's plenty of open land where you can simply sit back on the grass and watch the animals - ample opportunity indeed for a picnic, which is a great option if lunchtime for you is 12.30pm sharp as the cafes can be very busy.

~Eating~

As above, there can be long queues if you want eat at lunchtime, though the food has never been less than excellent, to my mind, and is very reasonably priced. There's a range of sandwiches, soup, and a choice of hot 'meals of the day', as with almost every Swedish restaurant.

Service is friendly and as fast as is reasonable, and if you eat at the top of the hill, near the stage, there's a restaurant with a wonderful view.

There are also ice cream parlours, sweet stalls and takeaway sandwich and coffee hatches dotted around Skansen, so you're never too far from sustenance!

~Buildings and shops~

Skansen hosts an amazing collection of buildings, providing an outdoor museum, almost, which is wonderfully informative. Some buildings were carefully removed from their original location, at times, hundreds of miles away, and rebuilt exactly as they were for preservation.

See farmers' cottages, shops, an old school, a mansion, all sorts, the majority of which you can actually go into and wander around - they're furnished as close as possible to how they would have been, from 15th century to the turn of the 20th century, almost every domestic aspect of Swedish life is covered somewhere.

A particular favourite of mine is the little town square with its accompanying array of traditional shops (may not be open in winter, or off-season). There's a wonderful bakery, a working pottery selling beautiful cups, mugs, pots and vases, a 'knick knack' shop, from which you can buy utensils, salt, herb mixes and so on...the best of them all to my mind is the old-fashioned sweet shop, with bottles and trays of boiled sweets and pieces of fudge and liquorice pipes and all the things you didn't think you could get any more! Fantastic treats to get for people back home not lucky enough to visit, and a definite hit with the children =)

~Staff~

Another fantastic thing about Skansen's outdoor museum area, shops and houses, is the staff, all dressed in period costume to suit their 'occupation' or location. To work in Skansen you need to speak at least three languages fluently, and everyone has wonderful English. Unlike in many UK attractions, the staff are unlikely to speak to you first, and often simply contiinue with the work (needlework, pottery, etc) as if part of the exhibition themselves. However, they're always more than happy to talk to you about their exhibits and have many fascinating tales to tell if you have time to hear them!

There are larger gift shops selling bits and pieces from these smaller craft shops, so if they're incredibly busy (as they can be in the summer) it's worth going down to the main concourse (near the children's animal area) and looking in the barn-sized shop there! There's also another gift shop located just outside Skansen itself - perfect for any forgotten items you want to come back for but don't want to pay to get in just to buy them!

~Children~

There's so much here for children, but it rarely appears overly 'childish', so it suits a good mix of ages. There are often special events, and opportunities for children to dress up and take part in things (for more of that, I highly recommend the children's area in the Swedish national museum, also on the same island and about 10 minutes' walk from Skansen), demonstrations of crafts, animal talks and feeding demonstrations in the zoo, activity packs and quizzes that can be taken around the park was you walk, and so on. Also the cafes do a good range of food for children, and can usually help out with dietary requirements if needed.

Children's shows take place regularly during the summer at the top of the park in the staged area, and are all good fun, whether you speak Swedish or not! During the Allsång festival popular children's characters and presenters have many a sing-and-dance-type event there which is enchanting, amusing or plain random, somehow offering something for all ages!

~Special Events~

Skansen is as much a community place as it is a tourist attraction, and you often see locals taking a stroll at quieter times, or families simply enjoing the decent picnic spots. It forms quite the centre of things during Swedish festivals, such as Lucia, where Stockholm's chosen 'Lucia' is crowned with candles by a local dignitary in the concert area.

The annual Allsång på Skansen festival also takes place there. Featuring some of Sweden's best singers, it's a delightful event which is also shown live across the country. It's usually free to stay and watch the show, and a great way to somehow feel involved in things!

~Conclusion~

Phew! I could - and have - talked about this beautiful place all day! As you may gather, I highly recommend a visit, whether you have children or not, an hour to spare or a day, it's got so very much to offer, and is well worth it. If you can dip in and out on a Stockholm card it's better still, as you might wish to take a picnic there one day, then come back and look at the zoo when it's quieter, and so on. There's so much to see and do, and it's always changing. There's so much to learn but you never feel like it's being forced on you, it's just a wonderful, unusual, beautiful place to spend as long as is possible!

In the winter, a number of the animals do hibernate, so the zoo is rather less rewarding a visit, and obviously the tourist attractions aren't so active, however there are often special events taking place, or exhibitions available, any of which will undoubtedly make the journey worth it. Reduced prices are often also available. Even if you see nothing but the closed buildings, the reindeer, and the view from the top, you should, if you can, do so! 

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