When you visit Skansen, which sits on the beautiful island of Djurgården, you can escape the confines of 21st-century life and explore a simpler life. As you step through the gates, you’re transported to pre-industrial Sweden, where you’ll find yourself surrounded by around 150 houses and farmsteads from every part of the country.
The world changed rapidly in the 19th-century and many feared that traditional live would disappear. That is why Skansen was created in 1891, to preserve traditional customs and occupations. At this unique museum in Stockholm, you can still see how the Swedes once lived according to the changing seasons and learn about the customs and traditions, work, celebrations and everyday life of times gone by. You can visit traditional crafts workshops like butter-churning, weaving, shoe making and glassblowing.
As the place where Swedish traditions are maintained, Skansen is also the place where traditional festive occasions are celebrated by many who live in Stockholm, including the Royal Family. For Easter, Midsummer, Lucia, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and all other Swedish holidays, people come here to celebrate.