Skansen
Photo: Own work — CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Skansen, founded in 1891, is the world’s oldest open-air museum and zoo, featuring historic buildings, traditional crafts, and Nordic wildlife.
Planning your visit
Skansen invented the open-air museum. Artur Hazelius founded it in 1891 to preserve Swedish rural life as industrialisation dismantled it, and every such museum since — including the word skansen used generically across Scandinavia and eastern Europe — descends from this model.
Around 150 relocated buildings occupy the hill on Djurgården: farmsteads from every province, a church, a manor house, workshops with staffed craft demonstrations, and a nineteenth-century town quarter with a bakery, printer and glassblower.
The zoo holds Nordic species — bear, wolf, lynx, wolverine, elk and reindeer — in the same grounds, which is unusual and makes it a full family day.
The seasonal calendar is central: midsummer, Lucia and Christmas markets are national fixtures, and Skansen's Christmas market is among Sweden's oldest.
Allow half a day. The main booking is an entrance ticket. Current availability is listed below.
Before you book
Where is Skansen?
Skansen is in Stockholm, Sweden. The map on this page marks its exact location.
How long should I allow for Skansen?
Allow half a day. That is the time the collection itself takes at an unhurried pace, before any queue.
Do I need to book Skansen in advance?
Tickets can be bought on the door at quiet times, but booking ahead fixes the date and avoids the queue at busy ones. Live availability is shown on this page.
