Tag: Skansen

Djurgården Itinerary

UNDER CONSTRUCTION – This is a two day itinerary. Day one is complete, day two is in progress.

Djurgården is a large island a bit south and east of Stockholm proper. The entire island is practically one giant playground for tourists (and locals too). There are a lot of primo things to do here, so you should allow a minimum of two days. And that’s only to do the things I’m recommending, you could very easily spend more time here. So this is a proposed itinerary for you to cover all of the highlights of Djurgården in two days. Below I will summarize each attraction. Note that you can click on the BLUE titles, and a new page will open with a more complete description of that activity.

Remember when planning your days that by mid summer, Stockholm has over 18 hours of daylight per day. Up with the sun means around 3am! But it doesn’t set until after 10pm, so take your time and get a good breakfast before heading out. You should also take some time here to review your maps and see where everything is and the routes you will be taking. Especially if you don’t have a European data package and are using wifi at your hotel.

Djurgården Day One

Start day one at the Vasa Museum. It opens at 8:30, plan on getting there around 9am. Take your time. Definitely start with the movie then do the guided tour. After that, spend time on all 5 floors observing some really amazing exhibits. It takes a couple of hours to get it all.

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Vasa Museum. This museum displays an almost perfectly preserved ship that sank off the coast of Stockholm in 1628. They claim that it is the worlds only fully preserved 17th century ship. And it is completely intact.

 

Once that’s done, it should be pretty close to lunch time. If not, you are already in the middle of an amazingly beautiful part of Stockholm, so walk around and explore a bit. From your morning review, you should already have an idea of where you want to get lunch. There are some outstanding places to eat in this area. Some are further into the park than others and offer a magnificent outdoor dining experience in the park setting.

One of our favorite places to eat in this area is Ulla Windblabh. It’s a little on the pricey side, but the food, wine, and great atmosphere are well worth it. But look around and find a place that works for you. Chill out, unwind, and recharge since you will be doing a lot of walking on the next phase.

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Skansen Park. It’s a museum, a zoo, and a historical town replica. It’s all of those things and all outdoor. There are some rides and activities for children. It also offers some fantastic views of Stockholm.

 

This is the last activity I have planned for you today. That leaves you plenty of time for a happy hour and a great dinner somewhere. I will eventually be creating a restaurant guide to Stockholm, so stay tuned for that. Sign up for a notification when it’s done by clicking the follow button at the bottom.

Djurgården Day Two

 

Skansen

Skansen

 

Recommendation

The Travelin’ Man’s Overall Recommendation: VERY GOOD*
(surprisingly good, exceeding on some levels)

  • What did I like the most: old houses and scenic views
  • What is the biggest area for improvement: speed up the line getting in

Logistics

Skansen is located on Djurgården island. The island is full of great things to do. I have detailed a two day plan that will help insure you hit all the highlights of Djurgården . To see that, go to the top and select the Stockholm button. Then select Djurgården->Djurgården Itinerary. Or click here and I’ll take you there.

You should allow a minimum of 4-5 hours to see all the exhibits and attractions in Skansen, but if everything is open and/or you have kids, it could easily take the whole day.

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The Park

I’m not sure if I should call this a museum, a zoo, or a historical town replica. It’s all of those things and all outdoor, so be sure to check the weather before you go up. It also offers some great views of Stockholm:

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In my mind, Skansen can be logically broken down into three main areas:

  1. An outdoor mini-zoo.
  2. Historic homestead exhibits.
  3. Food and kiddie activities.

The zoo exhibits display some of the animals of Sweden: reindeer, moose, sheep, etc. There’s a pretty decent brown bear exhibit.

The houses and shops for the homesteads were relocated from areas all around Sweden. They are well documented, so you will know what you’re looking at. Some of them have people working in them, dressed in the garb from that era. Blacksmith, furniture shop, bakery, etc. Very educational and well presented.

IMG_2739Lots of good food up in the food area. Sort of like an outdoor food court. But no chain restaurants here, mostly classic Swedish food, and hamburgers and hot dogs type of stuff. There’s some bumper cars and electric (railed) cars and other kiddie rides.

If the weather is not so good, consider going to the Nordic Museum instead. If you do go to Skansen, take your time and absorb it all.

* Each area is rated on a scale 1-5, with 1 = poor, 3 = good, 5 = exceptional
How did this do compared to what I had expected: 4
How well were the logistics handled: 3
Was the staff helpful and friendly: 4
Overall execution and presentation: 3
Total score: 14

4 – 8 is POOR (was not at all what I expected and/or was not worth the time/money)
9 – 10 is OK (quality of the experience was a little low, but I enjoyed it)
11 – 12 is GOOD (met expectations, would recommend, would do again)
13 – 15 is VERY GOOD (surprisingly good, exceeding on some levels)
16 – 20 is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (outperformed my expectations, great value)