Skansen Museum
Skansen is the world’s first open-air museum representing the whole of Sweden in miniature. Here you can tour the vastness of Sweden from north to south, from the sixteenth century to the present day, and experience the spirit of the past in cultural and historical manor houses, where people in period clothing perform various household chores.
History
Skansen was founded in 1891 by explorer and ethnographer Arthur Haselius and quickly gained great popularity. All of Sweden is represented here, as Skansen contains more than 160 houses and estates from different eras from all over the country. A variety of animals, both domestic and wild representatives of the Swedish fauna are represented here. Here you can walk around the beautiful park, eat delicious food, and in summer you can dance, listen to a concert, see craftsmen at work and buy high quality goods in numerous souvenir stores and workshops. Skansen is open on all days of the year except Christmas Eve.
.Houses and manor houses
There are about 160 houses and manor houses in Skansen, brought here from all over Sweden. Most of them date back to the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The furnishings have been preserved, showing how people of different social backgrounds lived in different parts of Sweden in those times. House keepers dressed in period costumes can guide visitors through the rooms and tell them about the exhibits. In December, Christmas tables are set and the work of decorating for the holiday begins.
.City Quarter
The city quarter recreates the atmosphere of a Swedish city from the late 18th to mid-20th century. Most of the houses have been moved here from the Söder district of Stockholm. The dwellings stand side by side with the Spice Shop, Bakery, Glassworks, Pottery, Joinery, Printing House, Tinsmith’s Shop and other small workshops.
.Älvrus Manor (Älvrosgården)
Älvrus Manor consists of several buildings and represents a typical peasant farmstead of northern Sweden in the early 19th century. It is a house open for tours all year round, where you can just sit by the fireplace and listen to the caretaker, who will tell you how they lived in the estate in the old days, how they spun yarn and dried cheese, why they slept in short beds in a semi-sitting position, and how they played with simple toys.
.Delsbogården Manor
Delsbu Manor belonged to a large and prosperous farm in northern Sweden. The two dwelling houses are decorated with beautiful wood carvings and paintings. Inside the house you can admire the hand-painted beautiful wall decorations. Delsbu Manor is open to the public in the summer and during the Christmas holidays, when a grand Christmas table is set in the large house.
.Skogaholm Manor and Garden
Skogaholm Manor and Garden is a beautiful example of the Gustavian style. An aristocratic family once lived here. The manor also includes outbuildings with a kitchen, guest rooms, a library and a typical vegetable garden, which looks the same as it did many years ago. Skoogaholm Manor also has a small English and French park.
Seglora Church
Sweden’s most popular church where the church wedding ceremony is performed is located in Skansen. Seglura Church was built in 1729 and moved to the Skansen grounds in 1916. Many Stockholm residents are married in this church, and baptisms and confirmations are often held in this small wooden church. On the platform where the organ is located, you can admire both the instrument itself, preserved in its original state, and the paintings that decorate this ancient organ.
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The complex of buildings in the summer pastures
During the summer in Sweden, cattle were driven to summer pastures. There were huts where the milkmaids had to live until October, when the cattle were moved back to the winter quarters. Workers were engaged in making cheese, churning butter, and cooking a special kind of sweet, soft cheese called mesmør. In Skansen there is a summer building with a fireplace, where you can see cows and sheep of the old rural breed, typical of the time.
.Sami camp
The Sami Mill shows in a historical and social perspective the life and work of the Sami, the indigenous people living in northern Sweden.
.Menagerie
Skansen’s menagerie features animals typical of Scandinavia. There are wolves, lynx, wolverine, brown bears, moose, northern Lapland owl, owl, bison, red fox, wild boar, otter, kittiwake and other animal species. Rural breeds of sheep, goats, pigs and cows are also represented in Skansen.
Livestock that used to be seen on a peasant farm is also present here in Skansen. Here you can see chickens and pigs of old Swedish breeds, geese and ducks, horses and cows, sheep and goats. Skansen is actively involved in preserving old breeds of livestock and pets to preserve them for the future.
The brown bear is Sweden’s largest predatory animal, reaching a weight of up to 350 kilograms. The bear feeds mainly on berries and plants, but before going into hibernation it develops a taste for meat. The bear goes into a den and sleeps there until spring. A female bear usually has cubs every third year or every third year. In Skansen, bears live on the so-called Bear Mountain, where they share their territory with a family of red foxes.
.Wolf
The wolf is a collective animal that lives in a pack. Wolves are afraid of humans and it is almost impossible to see them in the wild. Keeping wolves in Skansen is part of the work done by the park staff to maintain a healthy population and improve the living conditions of the animals, the staff’s task also includes disseminating information about the wolves’ way of life.
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Lynx
The lynx is the only wild cat living in Sweden. It weighs between 15 and 30 kilograms. The lynx is an agile hunter, well adapted to life in the winter forest, the wide soft paws of the lynx, as best suited for movement in the snow, it is a kind of “snowmobiles.”
Wolverine
The wolverine is the largest animal of the marten family, living in Sweden, reaching a weight of up to 30 kg. The wolverine is a predatory animal, prone not only to attacking its prey, but also to taking prey from other predatory animals. The wolverine is a protected animal species, with no more than a hundred individuals left in Sweden.
.Moose
The moose is the king of the Swedish forests. The moose is the largest mammal, with the male reaching a weight of up to 700 kilograms. The species was almost wiped out in the 18th century, but these days the population has recovered considerably and moose are now often found in Swedish forests.
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Reindeer
Reindeer have been the livestock of the Sámi since time immemorial. In Skansen, reindeer are kept at the Sámi plague, recreating the environment of Sámi life in northern Sweden.
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Humpback seal
The humpback seal is the largest member of the seal family found in the waters of Scandinavia. Humpback seal reaches 3 meters in length and weighs up to 300 kg. It feeds on fish of different varieties. In Sweden, the seals live in the Kattegat Strait, as well as in the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia.
.Skansen Aquarium
The Skansen Aquarium is home to exotic species of animals – you can find literally everything from spiders, crocodiles, bats, naked rats, pygmy monkeys, lemurs and parrots to baboons and other interesting animals. There is an additional fee for admission to the aquarium.
.Souvenir stores
Museum Souvenir Shop Right at the main entrance to Skansen is the Museum Souvenir Shop, which offers a wide range of goods. Here you will find both handicrafts and the work of modern designers, many souvenirs directly related to Skansen, beautiful textile crafts, glass and ceramic objects, gifts, books, CDs, postcards and guidebooks in different languages. The gift store also has special souvenirs that are not sold anywhere else in Stockholm, such as items made of ceramics, glass or hand embroidered items based on Skansen’s houses and estates.
.Watchhouse
Books, souvenirs, maps, guidebooks, postcards and candy are sold here. Here visitors will also be given information about events taking place in Skansen, or given a tour of a house that is currently closed. The gatehouse is open all year round.
.Spice Shop
In the small spice shop in Skansen’s city quarter, you can buy brushes, bags of caramel or tea, and other small things that were sold in similar market stalls in the mid-19th century.
In the pottery workshop located on the territory of Skansen, all kinds of pots, dishes, bowls, vases, mugs and other ceramic consumer goods are made and sold right in front of your eyes. The workshop is open during the summer and on special days celebrated as artisan days.
.Stockholm Glassblowing Workshop
The glassblowing workshop’s gift store sells household glassware and jewelry, designer art glass, and custom-made items – all made right here in the adjacent workshop. The Stockholm glassblowing workshop specializes in special Skansen cracked glass, which has been produced here since 1933.The glassblowing workshop and gift store are open most of the year.
.The Bakery
The small bakery in Skansen’s city quarter is especially loved for its cinnamon buns. Here you can watch the baker at work and choose something from a wide range of baked goods such as blueberry jam muffins, almond baskets, all sorts of scones, cookies and breads.
Food and drink
Skansen has many cozy cafes and restaurants. Some of them are in old public buildings, while others, such as those near Suliden Square, offer amazing views of Stockholm. All of them are open in the summertime.
.Gubbhyllan has been operating as a restaurant since the mid-19th century. It is also home to the Tobacco and Match Museum.
Café Petissan
.The old student café Petissan is located in the city quarter of Skansen and has a lovely patio for relaxing in the summer months. It serves coffee, tea, cocoa, juices, sandwiches and pastries.
.Big Swing Restaurant (Stora Gungan)
Near the exit from the upper escalator hall is the Big Swing Restaurant. The restaurant is decorated in the style of the 1880s, serving traditional Swedish food, coffee and homemade pastries.
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Solliden Restaurant and Party Hall
A classic restaurant near the Solliden stage with a beautiful interior and fantastic views of Stockholm. Taste the traditional buffet, with classics like herring, salmon, Jansson’s Temptation dish, meatballs, etc.
.Tre Byttor
.Come in and you will see what an 18th century inn looked like. The inn is in the same building as the restaurant “Soliden” and the café “Terassen” (Skansen Terassen). “Three Kadki” is a summer restaurant serving traditional Swedish food from a menu of the customer’s choice.
.Bollnästorget (Bollnästorget)
restaurant on Bollnäs SquareA simple self-service restaurant on Bollnästorget Square with tables and benches outdoors serving coffee, hot dogs and hot waffles.
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Balderslunden
An outdoor café near the Bredablik tower and the small Skansen (Lill-Skansen). Balderslunden serves sandwiches, pastries, drinks and ice cream. It is only open in the summertime.
.Terrace Cafe (Skansen Terassen)
A bright and cozy self-service cafe for families with children, located in the same building as the restaurant “Suliden”. It provides space for baby strollers and serves dishes that children especially love, such as meat meatballs and pancakes. In summer, most of the tables are moved outdoors. The cafe is open all year round.
.Café Flickorna Helin & Voltaire (Helin & Voltaire’s Maidens) in Skåne Mine
It serves sandwiches, light lunch specialties, and good pastries. In the winter half of the year there is a cozy crackling fire in the fireplace, and in the summer the tables are brought out onto the outdoor terrace overlooking the bay Djurgårdsbrunnsviken (Djurgårdsbrunnsviken). The cafe is located in the so-called Skånska gruvan.(Skånska gruvan on Rosendalsvägen 14.
.Wallins café
.Wallins’ is an outdoor café in the Galejan neighborhood. It serves light meals as well as coffee, drinks, beer and wine, ice cream and candy. In the summer, when there are dance parties, Wallin’s Cafe is open until the last dance is over.
.Practical information
How to get there
Skansen is located on the island of Djurgården in Stockholm. Bus number 44 and streetcar number 7 stop right at the main entrance to Skansen. The most beautiful way is by water, by ferry from Slussen.
.Opening hours
Skansen is open daily throughout the year, except Christmas Eve (December 24), starting at 10 a.m.
.Ticket price
From 40 to 90 SEK for an adult and from 20 to 40 SEK for a child, the price of a ticket to Skansen depends on the season.
.Official website
www.skansen.se
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