Excursion vacations in Sweden are an excellent way to reignite your interest in museums, art galleries, and architectural monuments. They offer a chance to escape the mundane routine and immerse your mind in cultural exploration.
Sweden's walking and museum tours provide a diverse array of routes and scenarios. Within the vibrant tapestry of the kingdom's cultural life, there's a cherished corner waiting for every traveler.
Package Travel or Independent Exploration?
In package tours to Sweden, visits to the country's primary attractions are typically included by default. On one hand, this is convenient as you won't need to constantly calculate expenses on the go, worrying if you have enough for museum tickets. On the other hand, tour itineraries can be monotonous and predictable, often leaving travelers' individual preferences unmet.
Considering that tour prices to Sweden can be quite high, it's advisable to seek themed tours that align with your interests. Why pay a substantial sum for a program where half of the activities may not be of interest to you? The average cost of a trip, including flights and accommodation in a comfortable-class hotel, is.
Of course, you can plan your own trip by searching for affordable hotel and airfare deals on tripmydream.
Independent guides often offer unique, author-designed programs that delve into lesser-explored aspects of the city's history, intriguing details from the lives of notable figures in the kingdom, and vibrant facets of informal culture. However, there is a risk of encountering fraudulent guides, so it's essential to read reviews of Swedish tours offered by individual guides on reputable websites.
As part of promotional initiatives, local historians occasionally provide free walking tours, with meeting times and locations announced in advance on city portals and themed resources.
For instance, in Stockholm during the summer, free tour groups gather multiple times a week at Sergels Torg Square. You can check the schedule and programs on the organizer's website.
Popular Routes
Among the most frequently visited tourist cities in Sweden are Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Visby, and Uppsala. In Stockholm, the majority of sightseeing routes lead to the historic neighborhoods of Gamla Stan and Riddarholmen, both founded in the 13th century. Travelers benefit from the convenient proximity of key tourist attractions, including the Royal Palace, the Nobel Museum, the German Church, and St. Nicholas Cathedral.
After enjoying a traditional sightseeing tour of the capital city, there's often an opportunity for a breathtaking rooftop walk led by an experienced instructor-roofer. You can channel your inner Carlson and leave your everyday worries behind as you take in the city's panoramic views.
On the enchanting island of Gotland, glimpses of the early Middle Ages come to life. A formidable fortress wall adorned with watchtowers stands as a guardian of Visby, the capital of the county. Throughout this historic city, structures from the Hanseatic League era intermingle with early Christian churches, adorned with lavish Byzantine frescoes and mosaics. Venturing into the depths of Lummelund Caves feels like an initiation into an otherworldly mystery, where intricate stalagmite formations spark the imagination.
Tours in Malmö are particularly appealing to aesthetes and young individuals with dreams of the future. Many paths lead to the futuristic Västra Hamnen ("Western Harbor") quarter, where you can witness the innovative and energy-efficient designs crafted by Swedish engineers. Don't miss the chance to admire the city's primary attraction, Scandinavia's tallest skyscraper, the Turning Torso, which gracefully rotates on its axis.
In Uppsala, nearly every guide feels compelled to pay homage to Professor Carl Linnaeus, the pioneer of plant systematics. The city hosts a house museum and a botanical garden named in his honor.
Architecture enthusiasts often prefer bus tours that take them to castles and forts, where expressive stone structures reflect various milestones in architectural development. Kalmar Fort, for instance, embodies the spirit of Romanesque asceticism from the late Middle Ages, while the walls of Malmöhus Fortress and castle complexes in Vik, Uppsala, and Örebro resonate with the cheerful melodies of the 15th- and 16th-century Renaissance.
Baroque aesthetics find representation in landmarks like the late 17th-century "gingerbread castle" Melsacker and the 18th-century creation of Nikodemus Thyssen, Stramsholm.
Many Swedish castles still retain their original interiors, providing visitors with the opportunity to admire them for a modest fee. Entrance tickets typically range from 70 to 120 SEK, with prices increasing by almost a quarter during the summer and December-January.
In the Valleys and Over the Hills
Excursions to Sweden's national parks and nature reserves offer city dwellers the opportunity to reconnect with the lost appreciation for the simple beauty and wisdom of nature.
The pristine landscapes of Western Lapland find their sanctuary in Laponia, encompassing the territories of Mudus, Sarek, Stura-Shefallet, and Padjelanta nature parks, along with the two reserves of Stubba and Sjaudja. The imposing ridges of the Scandinavian Mountains push the taiga eastward, revealing vast alpine meadows, glistening mountain lakes, and misty valleys with rushing mountain rivers.
Experienced and resilient hikers with mountaineering skills can embark on the 440km King's Trail, commencing at the northern limits of Abisko and concluding in Chemawan.
The Longest Tourist Route in Sweden - Skåneleden Road
The Skåneleden road is the longest tourist route in Sweden, divided into thematic sections. Walking along it allows you to witness miniature representations of all the landscapes of the kingdom, forming an eclectic relief of Skåne. In the northeastern part of the län, along the shores of Lake Ishövön, runs the equally colorful Hjumleslingan trail.
During the tourist season, unspoiled corners of southern nature are open to visitors, including Christianstadts Vattenrike Biosphere Reserve, Kristinehof Ecopark, Kullaberg and Söderåsen National Parks, the island of Wen, and Hallands Vodera Marine Reserve.
For those who are not yet ready to leave the benefits of civilization, there are also interesting options such as Romelosen Valley, Kung Park in Malmö, and Gothenburg Botanical Gardens with its unique collection of orchids.
Museums in Sweden: From the Vikings to the Avant-Garde
Excursion services in Sweden are organized with an "A+." Tourists are not subjected to boring lectures or constant yelling. Instead, they are treated to enchanting interactive shows with thoughtful dramaturgy and creative installations, making it easy to absorb new information quickly and effortlessly.
Sweden's art museums are well-known to connoisseurs of Art Nouveau painting. In Stockholm, the National Art Museum and the Tilla Gallery are worth a visit. The eclectic collection, once owned by the eccentric banker Ernest Thiel, includes some real gems - little-known paintings by artists like Jansson, Larsson, and Munch, Rodin's sculpture "The Shadow," and a posthumous mask of Nietzsche, whose works the patron of the arts personally translated into Swedish.
The Gothenburg Museum of Art houses original works by artists such as Munch, Monet, Zorn, Kreijo, and Picasso. In a neighboring street, the Röhssa Museum of Design and Applied Arts introduces visitors to the history of Scandinavian interior design and current trends in contemporary design.
Also of great interest is the Malmö Art Gallery, which boasts one of the largest collections of contemporary paintings. The Vanos Gallery features works by artists like Roxy Payne and Yoko Ono, while the Sketch Museum traces the history of many 20th-century masterpieces through sketches by Henri Matisse, Henry Moore, Diego Rivera, and Sonia Delaunay.
Swedes honor national traditions by paying tremendous attention to the development of historical and local history museums. In Stockholm, you can easily walk into a working royal palace and descend into an underground treasury that houses the ceremonial jewelry, clothing, and weapons of the Vasa and Bernadotte dynasties, while the Vasa warship, the only surviving 16th-century shipbuilding monument turned into a museum, sways haughtily on the waterfront.
In 1891, the world's first ethnographic museum complex, Skansen, was opened on the island of Djurgården, known for its lush sketches of the life and manners of Swedish peasants and landowners against a colorful historical backdrop. The total area of the open-air exposition is 5000 hectares. The measured life of the artisan neighborhoods is represented in the Museum of Medieval Stockholm under the North Bridge.
Futeviken, a reconstructed Viking village near the town of Tofla on Gotland, welcomes visitors from May to September. It offers a chance to experience Viking life with activities like warrior training, ethnic music performances, and folk craft workshops. If you're interested in historical reconstructions, Umeå and Jammtli feature large-scale depictions of 17th- and 19th-century folk life. For those fascinated by antiquity, don't miss the opportunity to explore the runic petroglyphs created by pagan priests in Sigtuna or Tanum.
Sweden also boasts a variety of unique "hobbyist" exhibits alongside its traditional museums. These include the Liquor Museum, the Prison Museum located on Longholmen Island, and the iconic ABBA Museum in Stockholm. Additionally, you can explore the Ski Museum in Umeå and the Dance Museum in Malmö, each offering a distinctive glimpse into Sweden's cultural heritage.
Cultural temples typically welcome visitors from 10 am to 5 pm. Museums often extend their opening hours on weekends, even though weekends may fall within the regular working week. During the summer and Christmas seasons, museums may stay open until 7-20 hours. The average admission ticket price is around 100-120 SEK, and children under 18 may enter for free or at a significant discount.
In Stockholm, many visitors opt for the Stockholm Card to save money on museum visits. The card grants free access to 75 museums in the capital, offers discounts on sightseeing and street food, and serves as a substitute for a bus pass for public transportation.
Interactive museum complexes tend to be more expensive. For example, admission to the Universeum Museum of Scientific Discovery and Technology in Gothenburg costs 160 SEK for adults and 99 SEK for children under 16. Exploring artistic improvisations at the Tom Titus Experiment Museum in Stockholm will cost 189 SEK for adults and 149 SEK for children under 14. But can you put a price on the excitement of exploration and the joy of free creativity?
