5 x nature around Stockholm to escape the crowds
Don't get us wrong, we love the city. The city brings inspiration, creativity and excitement. It causes a stir and sometimes gets you into the craziest situations. The city takes you on an adventure.
But sometimes, sometimes the city is a bit much. Even for Bart's Gang. And then it's nice if you can escape the hustle and bustle for a while. And if there is a city that can bring both excitement and tranquility, it is Stockholm.
The unspoilt nature is just a stone's throw from the city. The ideal place for a week of recharging and experiencing adventures.
Djurgården is the Swedish word for zoo. It is not that wild animals roam around here, but secretly they could in this piece of rich nature on the edge of the city.
With a short walk from the city center you can walk towards the island and suddenly imagine yourself in an oasis of peace. Although, Djurgården is more than just a park and nature, you will also find museums, theater and cute cafes.
Tip: get started nature break with lunch or fika in Rosendals Tradgården and then continue your route into the woods or along the water.
Anyone who walks around Djurgården can easily cover ten kilometers in their legs. We can assure you that your head will be empty.
The program Tyresta National Park is about a 40-minute drive from the city. It is easily accessible by car and public transport and once you have disappeared into the woods, you can no longer imagine that the city is actually right behind you.
Tyresta has an area of 30 kilometers, 55 kilometers of hiking trails and is one of the largest areas of untouched forest in Sweden.
In the forest you will find countless pine trees and large lakes, including small islands with only a tree and a bush as 'inhabitants' and you only hear the silence of nature. It doesn't get much more 'mindful' than this.
Hagaparken is another park on the edge of the city center, but a little further north. You can walk there from the center and as soon as you take your first steps into the greenery, you will almost immediately forget the hustle and bustle of the city.
The oasis of peace has been there since 1797 and is the ideal hide-out from the city, even when it snows and there is ice. Or maybe just that.
If you walk through the whole of Hagaparken, you will have traveled about fourteen kilometers and have a calm mind. You will also find more than just trees in this park. You can walk past the house of the crown princess and visit the beautiful botanical gardens at the natural history museum. Tip: don't do that in the winter.
South of Tyresta National Park you will find the water-surrounded nature reserve Gålö, which is pronounced goooooaleeeu. A little less easy to reach by public transport, but with a rented car you can get there in no time - and the drive there is well worth it.
Gålö is also called the garden of paradise. You can feel like wandering endlessly along all the forest paths and depending on when you are there, you will find blueberries, raspberries and mushrooms that you can pick.
(By the way: always be careful with those mushrooms, because I have heard several horror stories about eating the wrong mushroom).
Photo via freak factory on Instagram.
Oh, oh, oh, the archipelagoooo. Anyone visiting Stockholm should not leave without a boat trip to one of the islands. Yes, even when it is snowing and cold. The archipelago is gigantic and you can make it as colorful as you want (read: sitting on a boat for about 2,5 hours until you reach the island is not crazy).
Fjäderholmarna is about a twenty-minute boat ride away. A cute and creative island with quite a few catering establishments. But secretly the islands further down the archipelago are favorites, such as Grinda, Gistholmen and Gällnö.
You also want to see the beautiful village and island of Vaxhölm. The ideal destination in winter if you don't want to stumble over slippery forest paths, but still want to get on the water. You can book boat tickets via the Stromma ferry service.
The most beautiful piece of nature around Stockholm? That is the tens of thousands of islands of Stockholm archipelago.
