Stockholm with Kids: Things to Do + Tips (2025)
Heading to Stockholm with kids, and looking for things to do as a family? you’re in the right place. Stockholm is an amazingly family-friendly capital city.
I’m half Swedish, and visited Stockholm several summers while visiting family in Sweden. I got to experience Stockholm from the perspective of a child, as more recently, as well as an adult. I’ve been lucky to plan my own trip to Stockholm to introduce it to my kids which has opened my eyes up to even more things that are amazing about it.
Stockholm has:
- several kid-friendly museums (including the largest open-air museum in the world)
- a children’s museum dedicated specifically to kids
- an amusement park on the water
- boat rides
- a beautiful and walkable ,striking old town
- family-friendly restaurants.
Sweden is generally a family-friendly place and Stockholm is no different. Stockholm is a beautiful city, and ideal for families, and you’ll probably find after reading this article that there are so many things to do, that you’ll have to choose – or, even stay a night or two longer than you originally planed.
So, let’s chat about the things you can do as a family in Stockholm!
Resources & Tips for Visiting Stockholm with Kids
✅ Stockholm is made up of islands. With kids, the island you’ll want to spend a lot of time in in Stockholm is called Djurgården. Djurgården has the most family-friendly activities, museums, gardens, and everything. We took a ferry to Djuargården almost every day. Here are the different ways to get to the Djurgården island from elsewhere in Stockholm.
✅ Many of the activities I’ll be mentioning below are included in the Stockholm City Pass. The pass can be bought for 1-5 days. (Many attractions in Stockholm allow children to enter for free, so you should determine if the pass is worth it for just you, or your kids as well.)
Things to do in Stockholm with Kids
1. Spend a day at Gröna Lund
Best for: All ages
Gröna Lund translates to Green Cove, and its an amusement park on the Djurgården island. There are all kinds of rides there, including roller coasters and a drop tower.
We used to go to Gröna Lund (also known as Tivoli) every time we went to Stockholm. I most recently got to bring my own kids and it was as fun now as it was 20+ years ago.
When you visit Gröna Lund, you choose between:
- Entrance only ticket (and pay extra once inside for coupons for rides)
- A ‘Ticket to Ride’ entrance, which includes unlimited rides.
Tickets can be booked for the date you want to visit on the website here.
2. Step into Swedish history at the Skansen Open-Air Museum
Best for: All ages (4 and under are free of charge)
Open-air museums are very popular in Sweden during summer, and Skansen on Djurgården island in Stockholm is one of the largest open-air museums in the world.
There are antique buildings, a zoo, playgrounds, food trucks, parks, and even beautiful views of Stockholm City from some areas.
The purpose of Skansen is to show you what life in Sweden was like 100s of years ago, and they bring this alive with the old-fashioned buildings.
So, you will see some adult-only groups but its mostly a draw for kids because of the zoo and playgrounds. Our kids (12 and 4) both loved it.
See opening hours and prices, and book your tickets on the Skansen website.
Pro Tip: You could spend the whole day at Skansen if you wanted to. It’s quite large, and extensive!
3. Walk through Old Town (Gamla Stan)
Best for: All ages
Even as a child, I was mesmerized by the beautiful alleyways and cobbled streets of Gamla Stan.
It still impressed me now, as a 30-something mom of 2. It’s a beautiful, walkable old town with so many little alleyways.
Gamla Stan is a must on anyone’s Stockholm itinerary. There are countless restaurants, cafes and Swedish souvenir shops.
As you walk around, here are some sights to look out for:
- Stortorget – the oldest town square in Stockholm, with the iconic reddish orange buildings side by side. This is a must for photos and family pictures
- Mårten Trotzigs Gränd, the skinniest street in Stockholm, shorter than your arm span. However, there was a line up to get into it so we skipped it
- Stockholm Cathedral (Storkyrkan) built in the 1200s, and is the city’s oldest church. Kids under 18 can enter for free, but it costs money for adults. We just took photos from the outside
- The Royal Palace – changing of the guard ceremony is held at 12:15pm and lasts around 40 minutes. It gets busy, and hard for kids to see if you don’t get a good spot. Get here 30 minutes early if you’re visiting in spring or summer. Also, there is such a cute giftshop and bathrooms
- Museums – The Jewish Museum, the Nobel Prize Museum, the Medieval Museum and the Royal Armoury Museum
4. Take a boat or ferry ride around the city
Best for: All ages
Stockholm being a city on water means you sometimes need to take a boat from one side to the other.
I think its worth it to get out on the water at least once while you’re in Stockholm, it allows you to see the city from a different perspective and appreciate that its a city of islands.
Here are some ways to make sure you set foot on some type of boat while you’re in Stockholm:
- Take the ferry to Djurgården! Taking the ferry is the same as taking the metro or tram – its interconnected with the city’s transit system. Simply pay as if you’re using your credit card to buy something, and you’ll be on the ferry!
- Book an electric boat ride (50 minutes long) this will show you more of the city, rather than just being a way of getting from one place to another.
5. Introduce them to the fika culture
Fika in Sweden is about sitting down with a coffee, and taking in the moment and relaxing.
This may sound like its mostly an adult thing, but children are always included too. (As a kid, I loved fika just as much as I do now as an adult – for different reasons.) Children in Sweden typically drink saft, a syrup mixed with water that creates a red sweet drink.
Your kids will also enjoy the sweet options – fika often involves cookies, cinnamon buns and other pastries and baked goods.
There are several cafes and places to get fika in Stockholm (all are in Gamla Stan – Old Town).
You’ll see countless places advertising fika and selling cinnamon buns and other traditional Swedish baked goods, pastries, and coffee.
Pro Tip/Unpopular Opinion: Fika isn’t something you find in a place. It’s about the mindset of relaxing and taking a break. So in my opinion, the best spot for a fika is wherever you’re staying, or a park somewhere! Buy some cinnamon buns, cookies, cakes, and bring coffee and juice. Sit down, put phones away and interact with eachother. This will best capture the fika spirt
6. See the sunken ship at the Vasa Museum
Best for: Ages 5+ (but all ages can participate – everyone under 18 is free!)
The Vasa museum is a maritime museum. The main draw of the Vasa Museum is a 1600s ship that sank in the harbour and was later salvaged.
It is so well preserved with so much detail. There are also several other rooms to visit, showing artifacts from the wreckage, such as jewelry, clothing, models and tools.
Vasa is the kind of place you may feel like you have to see, so the kids will have no choice – however, if they like pirates, sunken ships and buried treasure, then this museum may be pretty awe inspiring, even for them.
Bonus – there is a special LEGO exhibition on, which kids 18 and under enter free of charge. Aside from the LEGO, the whole museum is just as interesting for adults as it is for kids, if not more so.
Grab tickets for the VASA Museum in advance on their website, it saves time when you arrive.
Pro Tip: If you’re looking for somewhere to eat Restaurangen Blå Porten – (means Blue Door restaurant in Swedish) a Mediterranean restaurant, has a large outdoor courtyard, and is right next to the Vasa Museum. They don’t have kid’s meals, but you’ll find many things kids will like on the menu; especially their Blue+ menu. Check it here.
7. Admire the Stockholm archipelago
Best for: Kayaking – Age 6+, Boat ride – All Ages
It’s very common for tourists to take a boat ride to the archipelago near Stockholm, which is different from simply taking a boat ride around the city centre.
While boat rides just around the city centre are under an hour, boat trips to the archipelago boat rides are longer – often 2-3 hours in length.
With kids, you have a couple options for seeing the archipelago.
- This kid-friendly kayak tour of the Stockholm archipelago for kids who are 6+ years old. (It’s on the pricy side – a few hundred dollars per participant. But its 3 hours long and includes a fika snack)
- Do a boat tour of the archipelago with Stromma, which are also around 3 hours long but all ages can participate and its quite a bit cheaper than kayaking. Strollers are welcome aboard (preferably foldable ones) and there is a cafeteria and food service.
8. Check out the underground metro
Best for: All Ages
I definitely recommend checking out the metro while you’re in Stockholm. It’s a convenient way to get around, especially if you aren’t staying central.
Several (not all) of Stockholm’s metro stations are artistically painted with creative designs.
I do find that the photos look better than the reality (the metro stations are still crowded and musty, so I wouldn’t go into the metro just to see the designs.)
But if you’re on the metro anyway, seeing some of the colourful designs is an added bonus! Here are some of the colourful metro stations in Stockholm to check out:
- T-Centralen (white with blue designs) this is the main metro station in the city, so if you’re taking the metro at all, you’ll probably end up here. The express bus from the airport brings you here.
- Stadion (the rainbow station, pictured above)
- Rådhuset metro station
It’s so easy to use the metro. Simply tap with your credit card as you enter, and it will charge you! No hassle of having to pay for a ticket.
Once you tap and pay to get in, you can go anywhere you want within 75 minutes.
Pro Tip: Children are always FREE on the Stockholm subway. When you tap, simply bring them through with you.
9. Visit the Junibacken Children’s Museum
Best for: All ages
Junibacken is a children’s museum inspired by the stories of Swedish author Astrid Lindgren (who wrote the Pippi Longstocking books.)
Junibacken isn’t like other children’s museums. The inside of it reminds me of the scene Mary Poppins, where they jump into the paintings. It looks like like you jumped right into a story book – its so amazingly put together, and highly worth a visit with kids.
There is also an escape room for older kids and adults, beautiful gardens in the exterior, as well as a theatre and gift shop.
You can pre-book tickets on the Junibacken website (and cancel them up to the day of your visit.)
10. Learn about Vikings at the Viking Museum
Best for: 5+ (but all ages welcome; kids up to age 6 enter free)
The Viking Museum is an interactive museum for kids and adults of all ages. You can see Viking artifacts, remnants of one of their ships, and there are live demonstrations and activities.
A bonus (that makes Stockholm’s Viking Museum unique) is that there’s a small, slow roller coaster-like ride that takes you on a journey of visuals. There are people dressed in Viking gear that can answer questions in several languages.
Visiting the Viking Museum is well worth it, and I would say you could easily spend 2 hours here.
Recently, they’ve added a restaurant to their site, which serves Nordic-based recipes that are based on the season. (There are vegetarian options.) It’s a bit upper scale – they do weddings, but they also do kid’s birthday parties and it’s completely family friendly.
Grab your Viking Museum entrance ticket here
11. Explore Swedish wildlife at the Biological Museum
Best for: All Ages
The Biological Museum is right next to Skansen on Djurgården in a brown wooden building, and the focus is on Swedish wildlife, but there are a variety of European native animals, birds and marine life.
As much as its a biological museum, its also a historical museum – its been open since the 1800s and still functions similar now to how it did then.
It has exhibits with taxidermy of real Swedish native animals in a set-up typical habitat, so you can see how they live.
It’s a very small and quick museum. You could be in and out and less than half an hour, so it’s an easy activity to squeeze into a day with bigger activities.
Pro Tip: At the time of writing in 2025, the Biological Museum is still temporarily closed for renovations but is supposed to reopen soon! Keep an eye on the Stockholm Museum website for updates.
12. Visit the Drottningholm Slott (Queen’s Palace)
Best for: All ages
Dtottingholm is the current home for the King and King of Sweden. (Drottning in the name means Queen.) It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Drottningholm is a bit far out from the city centre, on a different island – so heading there is more of a day trip from Stockholm.
Guided tours show you some of the rooms inside the castle and last for around 45 minutes. There are also special activities for kids at Drottningholm. However, you can also simply visit the outside of it for free.
Near the Drottningholm Castle is the Kina Slott (Chinese castle.) It has nice gardens, and Chinese-style tends and rooms. Apparently this was given as a gift to the queen of Sweden in the 1750s, when the Chinese style was the latest fashion.
My husband is half-Chinese, so we made a detour to see this as well.
Pro Tip: The Drottningholm Slott is about 10 km (6.2 miles) from Stockholm. You can take the metro, bus, or drive. See exact details here.
13. Head to the Toy Museum
Best for: All ages (but ideal for younger kids)
Like other museums in Stockholm, the Toy Museum is quite unique and fascinating. It’s located inside a cave, and there are many toys and pretend play areas where they can role play.
While all ages are welcome, I would mostly prioritize the Toy Museum if you have young kids between 3 and 8 years old. There is also a little underground where you can have fika onsite.
The Toy Museum is open from 10am to 5pm every day. Kids between 3-18 years old cost 115 kronor, which is around $10 USD. Adult entrance ticket costs around $16. Book here on their website.
14. Sample different foods at Östermalms Food Hall
Best for: All ages
Östermalms food hall is a historic food market that dates back to the 1800s in Stockholm.
Traditionally, the market was based around meat and cheese but they have so much more than that now; Lebanese cuisine, healthy plant-based fast-food, Scandinavian open-faced sandwiches. See all the options here.
Of course you can also get the more traditional items – fresh produce, jams, Swedish flatbread, cheeses and meat, baked goods, and coffee. It’s a
Östermalms Food Hall opens at 9:30 every morning. It’s in a less-visited area of Stockholm which you probably wouldn’t be spending time in unless going there specifically for the food hall, so I recommend taking the metro. Get off at Östermalm’s Saluhall on the red line.
16. Spend a day at Lida Friluftsgård
Best for: All ages (ideal for families with young and older kids)
Lida Friluftsgård is a year-round outdoor recreation centre, just 30 minutes (by bus or car) from Stockholm.
It’s a bit of a ways from the city compared to other attractions, but if you’re spending a good amount of time in the area, then it might be worth the trek out here for some time in the Swedish outdoors.
Lida Friluftsgård sits right on the lake, which is a beach in the summertime, but often frozen in the wintertime. It has many walking trails through old-growth forest, mini golf, barbeque areas, and an acro park for older children and adults.
There’s also a cabin that sells great food – the menu changes daily, so be sure to check their website.
17. Visit the Tom Tits Experiment Science Museum
Best for: All ages (best between ages 7 and 15)
I know the name sounds a bit weird, but don’t let it put you off. Tom Tits Experiment is a science museum, located in a suburb southwest of Stockholm.
Students learn about science through hands on, interactive displays. It’s a lot of fun, and there are a few floors. If you have school-age kids, you could easily spend a whole day here. There’s an outdoor area as well with gardens, insects, and life-size dinosaurs.
There’s a cafeteria on site, with a weekly changing menu – or you’re welcome to bring a packed lunch.
If driving, it would take around 35 minutes to get to Tom Tits Experiment by car from Stockholm. See details on visiting here.
18. Take the ferry to Grinda or Sandhamn
Best for: All ages
Grinda and Sandhamn are quaint, charming Swedish islands that you can take a ferry to from Stockholm. It’s a way to escape the city, and see more of the archipelago.
These islands can be visited year-round, in fact – they have their special charm in the off-season when its less busy.
- Grinda – a nature reserve just 1 hour away by ferry. Very family friendly. You can visit for the day, or even stay overnight.
- Sandhamn – similar to Grinda, but more activity-oriented and a bit more lively. (With younger kids, I’d choose Grinda.) See details on getting to Sandhamn here
19. Take a day trip
Best for: All ages
I’ve already listed a few ideas which would be considered daytrips, although most of them are by boat or a short drive from Stockholm.
Most tourists mainly spend their time in the Stockholm area, and rightfully so – especially if you’re visiting Sweden with kids, Stockholm is a great place to be. But there’s so much to see in Sweden beyond that.
Here are some possible day trips from Stockholm to consider making room for in your Sweden itinerary.
- Uppsala (1 hour) a quaint town with the beautiful Uppsala Castle and Cathedral, a botanic garden and large park
- Gävle (1 hour) Walk through the cobbled streets of old Gävle. Visit the kid’s playground and do mini golf in the Boulognerskogen park. Visit or stay overnight at Kybacka Farm, outside of Gävle where you can spend time with animals
- Vimmerby (3 hours) – Known for its Astrid Lindgren Theme Park, which is mostly set up to look like you’re on the set of a Pippi Longstocking book
See my Sweden travel itinerary (which can be done in 7-14 days for how to structure a trip to Sweden and see more than just Stockholm (with or without kids.)
Where to Stay in Stockholm with Kids
Here are some of the best places to stay as a family in Stockholm, according to different budgets. All of these places are located near Stockholm Central Station, which is a 15-20 minute walk to Old Town
- Budget: Elite Hotel Adon 1800s building with creatively decorated rooms, close to old town and central station, offers a great breakfast and very kid-friendly
- Mid-Range: Old Town Stay Hotel (what we chose, because we prefer having separate rooms!)
- Luxury: Radisson Blu Viking Hotel Right beside Stockholm Central Station, with a swimming pool, and a superb breakfast
Suggested Itinerary for Stockholm with Kids
Adults travelling on their own (without children) could probably see Stockholm in just two days.
Because there are such interesting and unique things to do in Stockholm as a family, I recommend spending at least three days in Stockholm with kids. (We spent 4 nights, and it was just enough time to be able to experience the best of Stockholm as a family.) I would do more, if possible.
Here’s how I would structure your time in Stockholm with children:
Day 1: Walk around Old Town. Check out the Royal Palace, the cathedral, and the main squares.
Day 2: Visit the Skansen Open Air Museum
Day 3: Visit Junibacken Children’s Museum OR Gröna Lund Theme Park
Day 4: Option 1: Gröna Lund. Option 2: Visit the Viking Museum, and eat in their restaurant. Check out the Vasa Museum. Option 3: Take a boat ride or a kid-friendly kayak tour to the Archipelago
Your preference on which activities to prioritize will depend on your interests and kids ages. You can swap out any of the activities on day 3 with option 1 activities on day 4, as they’re all on the same island (Djurgården.)
Stockholm for Families FAQ
Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about visiting Stockholm and Sweden with kids in tow
Is Stockholm worth visiting with kids?
Stockholm is absolutely worth visiting with kids. There are more than 20 different activities in Stockholm that are suitable to the whole family. Sweden is a child-friendly place in general, and Stockholm does a good job at creating environments and activities where people of all ages -from baby to adult- are welcome and entertained.
Is Sweden good for children?
Yes, Sweden is a great place to visit with kids. Sweden has a very outdoorsy, and family-friendly culture. Children are welcomed in almost all settings, and the peaceful and naturalistic setting is the perfect place for them to spend time outside.
Final Thoughts on Stockholm with Kids
By now, you know of the long list of great things there are to do in Stockholm for families. I’ve travelled quite a bit, and I find Stockholm to be one of the most family-friendly capital cities. I love how children are always considered and welcome on most activities.
Most things to do in Stockholm are very versatile, meaning it can be a great thing to do as adults only if you want it to be, but it can be enjoyed with children too. This is the case with many of the museums, fika culture, the amusement park, and other aspects of Swedish culture. Ha de så bra (have fun) in Stockholm!