We went to Stockholm last summer with our then-14-year-old son. We had a great time and here were his favorite things: Vasa Museum, Viking exhibition at the history museum, changing of the guard at the royal palace (way more elaborate than in London and you can get closer), fika (mid-morning break for coffee and cinammon rolls), and just walking around. Also fun to take the ferry between islands (included with your transit pass). Have a great time!
How fun! This is a wonderful itinerary. Stockholm is my second home, and I have traveled extensively throughout Scandinavia, so I have a few ideas. In the summer, outside is where the Scandinavians love to be. The island of Djurgården in Stockholm is leafy, green, magical and has lots of things to see. One of these is the Vasa ship museum, an absolute must-see -- a 17th-century battleship that sank on its maiden voyage and has been recovered intact and restored in all its glory, housed in a huge building. The outdoor museum Skansen is definitely worth checking out... in particular the zoo with animals of Sweden. I love to grab lunch at the wonderful buffet at Blå Porten (The Blue Gate), which has a beautiful outdoor courtyard with tables. If you'd like to take a lovely walk, you can make the Djurkyrkogård (Animal Cemetery) a goal. It's a little-known spot for tourists. The outdoor swimming places around Stockholm are wonderful; the city is built on islands, so they are everywhere. A good central one is Långholmsbadet If you're at Hagaparken, there are a couple of swimming places along Brunnsvik. A great place for afternoon coffee/pastry or lunch is Flickorna Helin on Djugården. Södermalm was a working peoples' island in Stockholm, but now it's fashionable. There is an outdoor cafe with a great view out over Stockholm on Södermalm: Mosebacke Terrassen. A good restaurant on Södermalm is Blå Dörren (the Blue Door, not to be confused with Blå Porten). They have tasty Swedish husmanskost (traditional food). The same is true, in the northern neighborhood of Stockholm, of Tennstopet or Tranan (The Crane). Tranan has a herring plate to die for, if you like that kind of thing. Another site worth visiting is the Stadshuset (City Hall), where the Nobel banquet is held. You have to go on a tour, but it is an interesting one. There used to be a stand not far from the City Hall by the water that sold fresh herring (strömming) open-faced sandwiches. Really tasty. And the outdoor icecream stands are everywhere in the summer; look for the long lines for the best ice cream. When my son was your boys' age, he enjoyed the Royal Armoury at the Palace and the viking exhibits at the Historical Museum. The viking treasure room there will blow you away... I can guarantee that you have never seen that much gold in one place before. Because I live in the northern part of Stockholm (everything is pretty close by, it's not a sprawling city), I am partial to Vasaparken (always lively with lots of folks and ice cream) and Hagaparken, an enormous area with Crown Princess Victoria's residence (I have seen her out jogging with her jogging stroller), and fanciful monuments from Gustav III's reign (late 1700s) like the "copper tents." Worth seeing!
In Copenhagen, you should definitely go to a smørrebrød restaurant, where they serve delicious, artistic open-faced sandwiches. A great traditional one is Schønnemann's, and a wonderful new one is Restaurant Carl Nielsen. Just outside of Copenhagen, easily accessible by train, is the Bakken amusement park. Wonderful place for kids and adults, an older park with rides and attractions. If you're heading to Kviknes from Oslo, you could take the route that takes you through Lillehammer (where there is an outstanding outdoor folk museum, Maihaugen) and Gudbrandsdal, a valley region that is stunningly beautiful. Trevlig resa!
We took a fairly similar trip and loved it!! We loved the cities, and also going to the fjords in Norway (ferries, hiking, waterfalls, kayaking, etc). One recommendation to consider is to spend time out in the Stockholm Archipelago. You can take a ferry from Stockholm out to many of the islands. We stayed in a classic Swedish summer cottage on a small island with only walking paths (no cars or roads) for about 4-5 days at the same time of year you're going, and then took a few day trips out to other islands. We enjoyed this part of our trip so much because it was gorgeous, quiet, gave us a chance to get out of the city for a different experience, kayak, walk, play games, peruse adorable little towns, etc. Our kids were around the same age as yours are now and we all loved this part of our Scandinavian adventure. Have fun!!
The Vasa museum in Stockholm is worth a visit. It is in the guidebooks I'm sure, so it's not lesser known and may be crowded... I've been there twice and would go again. It's very dark and quiet and ominous in a good way. The Vasa is a ship that sunk on her maiden voyage in the harbor. Also if you have a younger child or if you just enjoy Astrid Lingren stories like Pippi Longstocking then Junibacken is really fun. You get to "visit" the story books by traveling on a gondola. We enjoyed it as well as the kids. There's also a fun amusement park- Grona Lund.
Second the Stockholm recommendation. Your 7 year old will love it! We took our kids when they were 1.5 and 2.5 so a little too young but we loved Junibaken, the Vasa Museum, Skansen (animals here), the Nobel Prize museum and the ABBA Museum. There's a playground around every corner with lots of cool things like in-ground trampolines, ziplines and large slides. We had a blast and it's an amazing city!
Ireland is also amazing and you could do the Dublin Zoo, Natural History Museum and drive to Fota Wildlife Park where they have lemurs and wallabies roaming the grounds. Then you could drive cross country to the west (about 3 hours) to see some beautiful landscapes - I would recommend the Cliffs of Moher, the Aran Islands (take a ferry for a day trip) and Ailwee Caves and Birds of Prey Center. They have lots of fun department stores - I would recommend Dundrum Shopping Center where there are several department stores, a great bookstore and a bunch of stores that carry children's clothing (Next, Zara, Monsoon, etc.) and I would also highly recommend the Avoca Handweavers store - they sell beautiful handmade items. And the food there is delicious.
We had a great time in Stockholm when our daughter was that age. There's the Astrid Lundgren (Pippi Longstocking) museum ( https://www.junibacken.se/en/ ). Skansen, is an open-air museum with miniature buildings and also a zoo. Also, pretty much everywhere you go has part set up for children with places to play. Even the parks have equipment like stilts children can check out. We were there in the summer, I'm not sure how it would be other times of year.
We went to Stockholm last summer with our then-14-year-old son. We had a great time and here were his favorite things: Vasa Museum, Viking exhibition at the history museum, changing of the guard at the royal palace (way more elaborate than in London and you can get closer), fika (mid-morning break for coffee and cinammon rolls), and just walking around. Also fun to take the ferry between islands (included with your transit pass). Have a great time!
How fun! This is a wonderful itinerary. Stockholm is my second home, and I have traveled extensively throughout Scandinavia, so I have a few ideas. In the summer, outside is where the Scandinavians love to be. The island of Djurgården in Stockholm is leafy, green, magical and has lots of things to see. One of these is the Vasa ship museum, an absolute must-see -- a 17th-century battleship that sank on its maiden voyage and has been recovered intact and restored in all its glory, housed in a huge building. The outdoor museum Skansen is definitely worth checking out... in particular the zoo with animals of Sweden. I love to grab lunch at the wonderful buffet at Blå Porten (The Blue Gate), which has a beautiful outdoor courtyard with tables. If you'd like to take a lovely walk, you can make the Djurkyrkogård (Animal Cemetery) a goal. It's a little-known spot for tourists. The outdoor swimming places around Stockholm are wonderful; the city is built on islands, so they are everywhere. A good central one is Långholmsbadet If you're at Hagaparken, there are a couple of swimming places along Brunnsvik. A great place for afternoon coffee/pastry or lunch is Flickorna Helin on Djugården. Södermalm was a working peoples' island in Stockholm, but now it's fashionable. There is an outdoor cafe with a great view out over Stockholm on Södermalm: Mosebacke Terrassen. A good restaurant on Södermalm is Blå Dörren (the Blue Door, not to be confused with Blå Porten). They have tasty Swedish husmanskost (traditional food). The same is true, in the northern neighborhood of Stockholm, of Tennstopet or Tranan (The Crane). Tranan has a herring plate to die for, if you like that kind of thing. Another site worth visiting is the Stadshuset (City Hall), where the Nobel banquet is held. You have to go on a tour, but it is an interesting one. There used to be a stand not far from the City Hall by the water that sold fresh herring (strömming) open-faced sandwiches. Really tasty. And the outdoor icecream stands are everywhere in the summer; look for the long lines for the best ice cream. When my son was your boys' age, he enjoyed the Royal Armoury at the Palace and the viking exhibits at the Historical Museum. The viking treasure room there will blow you away... I can guarantee that you have never seen that much gold in one place before. Because I live in the northern part of Stockholm (everything is pretty close by, it's not a sprawling city), I am partial to Vasaparken (always lively with lots of folks and ice cream) and Hagaparken, an enormous area with Crown Princess Victoria's residence (I have seen her out jogging with her jogging stroller), and fanciful monuments from Gustav III's reign (late 1700s) like the "copper tents." Worth seeing!
In Copenhagen, you should definitely go to a smørrebrød restaurant, where they serve delicious, artistic open-faced sandwiches. A great traditional one is Schønnemann's, and a wonderful new one is Restaurant Carl Nielsen. Just outside of Copenhagen, easily accessible by train, is the Bakken amusement park. Wonderful place for kids and adults, an older park with rides and attractions. If you're heading to Kviknes from Oslo, you could take the route that takes you through Lillehammer (where there is an outstanding outdoor folk museum, Maihaugen) and Gudbrandsdal, a valley region that is stunningly beautiful. Trevlig resa!
We took a fairly similar trip and loved it!! We loved the cities, and also going to the fjords in Norway (ferries, hiking, waterfalls, kayaking, etc). One recommendation to consider is to spend time out in the Stockholm Archipelago. You can take a ferry from Stockholm out to many of the islands. We stayed in a classic Swedish summer cottage on a small island with only walking paths (no cars or roads) for about 4-5 days at the same time of year you're going, and then took a few day trips out to other islands. We enjoyed this part of our trip so much because it was gorgeous, quiet, gave us a chance to get out of the city for a different experience, kayak, walk, play games, peruse adorable little towns, etc. Our kids were around the same age as yours are now and we all loved this part of our Scandinavian adventure. Have fun!!
The Vasa museum in Stockholm is worth a visit. It is in the guidebooks I'm sure, so it's not lesser known and may be crowded... I've been there twice and would go again. It's very dark and quiet and ominous in a good way. The Vasa is a ship that sunk on her maiden voyage in the harbor. Also if you have a younger child or if you just enjoy Astrid Lingren stories like Pippi Longstocking then Junibacken is really fun. You get to "visit" the story books by traveling on a gondola. We enjoyed it as well as the kids. There's also a fun amusement park- Grona Lund.
Second the Stockholm recommendation. Your 7 year old will love it! We took our kids when they were 1.5 and 2.5 so a little too young but we loved Junibaken, the Vasa Museum, Skansen (animals here), the Nobel Prize museum and the ABBA Museum. There's a playground around every corner with lots of cool things like in-ground trampolines, ziplines and large slides. We had a blast and it's an amazing city!
Ireland is also amazing and you could do the Dublin Zoo, Natural History Museum and drive to Fota Wildlife Park where they have lemurs and wallabies roaming the grounds. Then you could drive cross country to the west (about 3 hours) to see some beautiful landscapes - I would recommend the Cliffs of Moher, the Aran Islands (take a ferry for a day trip) and Ailwee Caves and Birds of Prey Center. They have lots of fun department stores - I would recommend Dundrum Shopping Center where there are several department stores, a great bookstore and a bunch of stores that carry children's clothing (Next, Zara, Monsoon, etc.) and I would also highly recommend the Avoca Handweavers store - they sell beautiful handmade items. And the food there is delicious.
We had a great time in Stockholm when our daughter was that age. There's the Astrid Lundgren (Pippi Longstocking) museum ( https://www.junibacken.se/en/ ). Skansen, is an open-air museum with miniature buildings and also a zoo. Also, pretty much everywhere you go has part set up for children with places to play. Even the parks have equipment like stilts children can check out. We were there in the summer, I'm not sure how it would be other times of year.