First of all, if you’ve booked a family trip to Stockholm – congratulations, you’ve made an excellent choice. Stockholm is one of the best family-friendly city breaks in the world. From its easy-to-use public transport and welcoming restaurants to the wide range of sights and experiences on offer, the city is perfectly designed for families to explore and enjoy together.
Having recently visited Stockholm ourselves, we initially felt a little overwhelmed by just how much there was to see and do. However, we managed to fit a huge amount into our trip without completely exhausting ourselves in the process. With that in mind, I’ve put together our family-friendly 4-day Stockholm itinerary to help you make the most of your visit.
4-Day Family-Friendly Itinerary for Stockholm
Day one in Stockholm
7:00: Flight to Stockholm
To make the most of your time in Stockholm, hop on an early flight so you can hit the ground running and ready for your first Fika at 11am. We flew British Airways from Heathrow and were landed in Stockholm by 10.30am, which was ideal in giving us the maximum amount of time in the city on our first day.
11:00: Catch the Arlanda Express
Getting to the city centre from Arlanda airport is incredibly easy thanks to the Arlanda Express. This is a high speed train that leaves straight from the airport and deposits you in the city centre in just 20-minutes. We bought our tickets online to save time but you can also buy them in the airport. The only issue with the Arlanda Express is its price, which is quite eye watering.
For 2 x adults and 1 x child (children ride free) it cost us £75 for a return journey (gulp).
If you want to save money there are two other options for travelling into Stockholm city centre from the airport. You can either jump on the SL Commuter train (you can pay for this with your 72-hour SL travel card that can be used on all public transport in the city), or get the Flygbussarna airport bus.
Both of these options take 35-45 minutes, so a little longer but are significantly cheaper.
11:30: Drop your luggage at your hotel
We stayed at the brilliant Radisson Blu Viking Hotel that’s a literal stone’s throw away from the central station. This was such a luxury having to only wheel our suitcases 60 seconds from the train – especially with a small child in tow. The hotel was (in my opinion) brilliant value and we enjoyed such a comfortable stay here, with a delicious breakfast every morning. We nearly booked the Radisson Blu Waterfront in Stockholm that has a more prime location along the waterfront. We walked past it while we were there and it did look lovely but I was really happy with our location and the fact it made travel in and out of the city so easy.
12:00: Fika Stop
Next on your list is your first Fika stop! I was a little bit obsessed by making sure I had researched good Fika stops in Stockholm ahead of my visit but it turns out that it’s actually pretty hard to go wrong in the city when it comes to a sugary treat. If you’re wondering what Fika actually is; it’s a Swedish tradition of taking a daily break to enjoy a warm drink and something sweet with family or friends. The focus is on slowing day and stepping out of the craziness of your busy day to reconnect and reset.
The sweet treats usually come in the form of cinnamon buns, other pastries and cakes or crumbles with custard (my mouth is watering again just remembering these delicious treats).
12:30: ABBA Museum
The first stop for your 4-day family-friendly itinerary for Stockholm is a trip to the ABBA Museum. My daughter loves ABBA with a burning passion, so it was a no brainer that we headed straight there once in the city. This is a really fun, interactive museum (even if you’re not a huge ABBA fan), where you can sing karaoke in booths, dance with hologram versions of the group and dress up in 1970s ABBA style outfits.
Book tickets to the ABBA Museum
13:30: Lunch at Blå Porten
Blå Porten is right next door to the ABBA Museum and is a beautiful, traditional communal dining restaurant with a canteen style vibe. This restaurant has been welcoming guests for over a century and provides homely style Swedish dishes, as well as a mouth-watering Fika selection. We were starving when we arrived and it was great to be able to grab a delicious dish (meatballs and mash, obviously) quickly to stop any hunger tantrums from my daughter.
15:00: Nap/down time
After getting up so early, head back to your hotel to check-in and have a little afternoon nap. This was definitely needed for us (especially for my 5-year old) and meant we could then get back out into the city later in the afternoon and into the evening.
16:30: Explore the Old Town (Gamla Stan)
Feeling refreshed, take a walk into the Old Town to start getting your bearings.
A visit to Gamla Stan is like stepping into a storybook and the perfect way to introduce yourself to Stockholm. This historic old town, with its narrow cobbled streets and colourful medieval buildings, is home to landmarks like Stortorget – Stockholm’s oldest square – and the impressive Stockholm Palace.
Spend a few hours wandering through artisan shops, and cobbled streets to start getting a flavour of this city. There’s also plenty of places to stop to have another coffee or sweet treat, which helped revive our 5-year old post nap.
19:00 Dinner at Meno Male
For dinner, head to the delicious Meno Male pizzeria. As with everywhere in Stockholm, this had a really relaxed vibe with candles on each table, plenty of colouring for kids and excellent pizzas. After a very long day, this was the perfect place to have a quick dinner without any faff or long waiting time.
Day two in Stockholm
10:00 Junibacken Museum
Day two of your family-friendly itinerary for Stockholm begins at the brilliant Junibacken Museum. I was so excited to take my daughter to this story book museum that’s dedicated to the famous Swedish author, Astrid Lindgren, who wrote the much loved Pippi Longstocking series.
Set on the island of Djurgården, it feels more like stepping into a giant storybook than a traditional museum, with interactive play areas, a children’s theatre with daily shows (at an additional price) and the brilliant Story Train ride that takes you through scenes from famous children’s stories.
12:00 – Lunch at Skroten
Once an old marine store, Skroten is a beautiful cosy, bohemian coffee shop located a short walk from Junibacken and Vasa Museum. We loved this spot and can highly recommend the traditional fish stew – which even our daughter loved. It also offers excellent coffee, which you’ll need before heading on to the hugely impressive Vasa Museum.
13:00: Vasa Museum
After a delicious lunch it’s time to head to one of the most popular museums in Stockholm – the epic Vasa Museum. I must admit, I wasn’t particularly excited about visiting this museum but it totally blew me away and was actually brilliant for children too. The Vasa Museum is a maritime museum that’s dedicated to Vasa, a 17th century warship that sunk on its maiden voyage in 1628. Miraciously, 98% of its original parts were almost perfectly preserved and the ship was bought back up from the bottom of Stockholm’s harbour in 1961.
The ship is incredibly impressive and the museum’s story of the ship is fascinating. There’s also a really good kid’s interactive trail that kept our daughter more than entertained, as she followed the journey of a little pig onboard the ship.
18:00 View Stockholm from above (and for free!)
We stumbled across Katarina Elevator by accident on our way to dinner and were so glad we found it. This is a free elevator the handily links the waterfront of the Slüssen area with my favourite neighbourhood in Stockholm, Södermalm.
The elevator was originally constructed in the 1880s, to cut out the steep climb between the neighbourhoods and now acts as a busy passageway in the city. Just a note of caution: when it’s windy the lift does stop or close completely.
19:30: Dinner at Pat’s Place (Thai Tapas) in Södermalm
After taking in panoramic views of the city, it’s time to amble into the beautiful neighbourhood of Södermalm for a delicious Thai tapas at Pat’s Place. We chose this spot for dinner as it looked so relaxed, and offered lots of small delicious plates that worked well with our daughter. The food was incredible and I probably could have eaten here every night if I had to. It also gave us the perfect opportunity to do some shopping in the neighbourhood, which is known for its independent, quirky shops.
Travelling to Stockholm with kids? Read our guide to the best things to do in Stockholm with young kids
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Day three in Stockholm
10:00 Skansen Open Air Museum
If you’re travelling to Stockholm with or without kids, there’s one place you must go: Skansen Open Air Museum. But do note, this is not a quick visit and you do need a full day here to see and enjoy all that it has to offer.
Skansen Open Air Museum is one of Stockholm’s most popular attractions, combining an open-air museum, zoo, and cultural village all in one place. Spread across the island of Djurgården, it recreates life in Sweden from past centuries with historic houses, costumed staff, traditional crafts, and farm animals that make it feel like walking through a living version of Swedish history.
Visitors can wander between old town streets, bakeries, workshops, such as glass blowing and pottering, as well as Nordic wildlife exhibits and a zoo, featuring a lemur walk through that my daughter absolutely loved (and me, to be honest).
Relaxed and easy to explore, Skansen is especially popular with families and anyone wanting a more hands-on, outdoorsy look at Swedish culture and traditions. We were at Skansen from opening to closing and still didn’t feel like we had seen everything – it’s vast so leave plenty of time to enjoy it.
There’s plenty to eat here and in the main square you can pick up a traditional lunch from one of the many vendors. Just be warned, the smells are mouth-watering and you will want to eat everything.
Book your tickets to Skansen Open Air Museum
16:30 Stockholm Metro Adventure
No trip to Stockholm would be complete without heading underground. Beneath the bustling streets of the city lies Europe’s longest art gallery with more than 90 of its stations transformed into colourful underground art spaces stretching over 100 kilometres of track.
Instead of plain platforms and tunnels, commuters will discover cave-like ceilings painted with murals, mosaics, sculptures, neon installations, and modern artworks created by hundreds of artists since the 1950s.
My 5-year old daughter LOVED travelling on the metro, discovering colourful stations at every stop. The metro is also incredibly clean, orderly and efficient too, making it a breeze to travel on with kids (something you rarely say about travelling on public transport with children).
17:00 Playground stop(s)
Next up on your family-friendly itinerary for Stockholm is a trip to a playground. I know this might be last on your list while on a city break but I promise you that the Swedish playgrounds are far beyond anything we offer in the UK. In fact, they completely put us to shame.
There are a few playgrounds in the city that are particularly popular, including Vasaparkens parklek (the largest in the city), which we visited. This is a huge playground that also offers bikes and trikes for children to enjoy, music playing, activities to enjoy such as treasure hunts and even delightful wooden sun loungers for parents to relax on.
We found there’s brilliant playgrounds in most neighbourhoods and they were great for burning off any remaining energy of the day before heading back to the hotel or while waiting for our dinner reservation.
19:00: Dinner at Meatballs for the People
You’re in for a real treat for your final dinner in Stockholm. Meatballs for the People is a very popular restaurant, located on Södermalm, entirely dedicated to (you guessed it) meatballs. You can’t book a table here but you can put your name down on a list if it’s full – which we did – and I promise you, it’s worth the wait.
I’d highly recommend the Chef’s choice – which is a sharing platter of meatballs of different meats, neatly surrounding a giant dollop of delicious creamy mashed potato. I’m dribbling just thinking about this meal again. It was also a great place for my daughter to eat, with an easy, non-fancy dinner for her (they did the same meatballs, just in smaller portions).
Day Four in Stockholm
10:00 Fika in Gamlastan
For your final fika in Stockholm, head to the Old Town (Gamlastan) for an apple crumble and custard in Stortorget – the old square. On our final day in the city, we took up a few seats in the old square, on a beautifully sunny morning, and enjoyed the most delicious crumble and coffee. It was honestly one of my favourite memories from the trip, where my daughter was busy colouring and I could people watch as the sun shone across the multi-coloured buildings.
Heavenly.
11:00 Visit the Royal Palace
After your final Fika it’s time to amble over the river to the Royal Palace.
The Royal Palace in Stockholm is one of Sweden’s most famous attractions and a highlight of the historic Gamla Stan district. As the official residence and workplace of the Swedish royal family, the palace combines centuries of history with stunning Baroque architecture. Inside, you can explore beautifully decorated royal apartments, grand ceremonial halls, and museums filled with treasures, crowns, and fascinating stories from Sweden’s past. The popular Changing of the Guard ceremony outside the palace is also a great experience and gives visitors a glimpse into royal tradition. We stumbled across this by chance and our daughter was completely captivated by the female guards (whoop!) as they marched across the square to their posts.
The palace is especially enjoyable for families. Kids can join fun treasure hunts and interactive trails that encourage them to spot hidden details and animals throughout the palace rooms.
14:00 Lunch at Östermalms Saluhall
To top off your final meal in Stockholm head to the food market of Östermalms Saluhall. This – I must stress – is not your usual food market and if you’re looking for fish and chips in newspaper or a sandwich, you’ve come to the wrong place.
Östermalms Saluhall is actually recognised as the 7th best food hall in the world and has been a significant part of the city since 1888. This market offers gourmet food, and a number of high-end restaurants, including the delicious Gabagool, which we ate in.
This is an Italian restaurant that offers mouth-watering, traditional dishes and wines that go down far too easily. I was a bit worried that there wouldn’t be anything for our daughter but she wolfed down a spaghetti bolognaise and was delighted with our final choice of dining in Stockholm.
15:30 Final chance to do some shopping
Before heading back to the hotel to collect your things, it’s time to do a little bit of shopping. Both the area around the food market is great for shopping if you like designer shops but also the area around the Radisson Blu hotel (next to central station) has really great independent shops. The map I mentioned further up in my blog post has some brilliant suggestions of shopping spots in the city, particularly independent stores.
17:00 Head to the airport
At 5pm, it’s time to head back to the airport using the Arlanda Express. This was such a breeze for us, checking out of the Radisson Blu Viking Hotel and being on the platform for our train in less than 5 minutes. There was no stress about finding a taxi or a long journey back on public transport. We were on our train within minutes, enjoying the quick and smooth 20-minute journey back to the airport.
20:00 Fly back to the UK
After some jam-packed days in Stockholm, it’s time to fly home. We actually had a really pleasant time at Stockholm airport before we boarded our plane home – enjoying a lovely meal in a very tranquil and beautifully designed airport.
We returned back from the city feeling like we’d managed to pack so much into our family-friendly itinerary for Stockholm. As well as more than keeping our 5-year old entertained, we also felt like we had gotten to see the city and enjoyed its history, culture and food.
Stockholm is a destination ideal for a city break with children and we’ll definitely be back in the near future to explore it a little more.
Pin for later: 4-Day Family-Friendly Itinerary for Stockholm