Nordiska Museet

This wasn’t at all what I was expecting from this place. I guess it’s a cultural history of Sweden but it seemed all over the place and less history and more of the cultural customs. It’s definitely interesting and not a run of the mill museum. I found the way the Swedish culture was effected by the political motivations of the time fascinating. Everything from cultural celebrations to the way they dressed. The layout however is a but all over the place so it lacked flow. It’s worth the trip and close to other points of interest.

From September to May, admission is free Wednesday evenings after 5pm until closing at 8pm, so my sister and I finished off the day in the Djurgården area with a visit to the Nordiska Museum after going to Skansen and the Vasa Museum*. The Nordiska Museum didn’t wow me, but it was still a fun museum, and hey, it was free! Some of the exhibits we saw were: the history of furniture and design; Swedish folk art; the Sami people and their culture (that was interesting and informative); fashion throughout the ages (I quite enjoyed that one); and an exhibit about sugar (it was not very informative, but it was visually appealing and fun).
*Tip: From September to May, the Vasa Museum is discounted, but not free, on Wednesdays after 5pm until closing at 8pm, but it was a much better deal to pay the full price at Vasa than pay the full price at the Nordiska Museum and the discounted price at Vasa. Also, we wanted to spend more time at Vasa and not have to rush through the exhibit.

The first thing that caught my attention was the amazing building that houses this great museum. At first when you enter it seems like a huge empty museum but once you venture further In and find the exhibits, you will be impressed. They tell the history and traditions of Sweden, so if you are a history buff, you will love this place. I also liked that they mixed in old history with new exhibits that touched upon modern issues, such as our unhealthy relationship with sugar. I loved this place and highly recommend it if you love hearing and learning about history. I also enjoyed their lovely café and had the most delicious Swedish pancakes. Great visit!

I don’t know why so many of the reviews of this place are so sour! This is one of my favorite Museums in Stockholm! I’m not going to be nit picky about all the small details like some of the other reviews and give this place a really good rating because it deserves a bit of love. My five Unilocal stars are because I love the types of exhibits, how great the audio tour was and how much fun I’ve had taking people new to Sweden here. AND, it’s only 100 swedish kronor! Thats like the price of a sandwich… come on!
You learn so much about Swedish cultural history in such a fast and fun way! I love this place too because it’s never really that busy and I can usually take my time exploring everything it has to offer. I could get lost in here all day! I especially loved the Homes and Interior, Fashion, Jewelry and Table Setting exhibits. Sure, you could pick at each exhibit and be more critical about the museum if your a real museum buff, but I think that overall they did a pretty great job of quickly introducing people to cultural and historical topics of Sweden. The building is beautiful and it resides in the beautiful Djurgården park. It’s right next door to the Vasa Museum (awesome 300 something year old battle ship) – So, if your quick on your feet and have on good shoes you can hit both in the same day! I would recommend making a day (or even a whole weekend) of exploring attractions in this area. This museum should definitely be somewhere on your list of «must sees» when in Stockholm. I just really love coming over to Djurgården, it’s so peaceful and yet right in the city. Some other places nearby that I also recommend you check out are the garden café Rosendals Trädgård, Rosendals Slott (a historic summer castle in the park), Blå Porten (a casual Swedish café with traditional foods and deserts) and Skansen (an outdoor animal park and museum). Enjoy! =)
TIP: If your doing the audio tour take one of the available folding stools so you can sit down at the ones you want to take your time at. The audio can be a bit long to stand around the whole time.

Amazing building, both inside and out. Honestly worth the admission price alone to walk around for a while. What I think some other reviews were missing is taking an audio tour, which really pulls the entire museum together. Rather than wandering around on your own, the audio tour is quite excellent and you decide what exhibits you wish to see, but otherwise, just follow the instructions to start at the top and then spiral down. Really fantastic amount of things to see and learn. I would agree with some other reviews that noted a lack of continuity or narrative to the museum — it seemed a litany of disparate topics. But, head in with a game plan of the exhibits you want to see and just hit those with your trusty audio tour, and you should be a happy camper. Leaving Stockholm with a much better sense of Swedish history is about (particularly the modern eras) is a big plus to grounding your visit.

The building outside is really neat. Inside not so good. Also, not everything is written in English. Even the movies have some subtitles (when I say some is because it is in some parts of the movie, not in the whole movie)
I recommend going to the outside of the building but it is not worthy to pay to go inside.

This was a very nice museum in a very beautiful old building. After seeing the scale of this building, I quickly abandoned my plans for the Vasa. You take an abbreviated tour through Swedish history. From clothes and jewels to furniture and living spaces you see how the country has evolved. There is a lot of great photography to accompany the artifacts.
The museum is on a beautiful island. Be sure to have time to walk at least some of it and see what is hidden.

There’s a lot of knickknacks and you learn about how people may have lived throughout Sweden’s history. But it seemed to me that the museum fell short. It was a bit boring for me. It’s missing it’s wow factor. I’d say go when it’s free on Wednesday nights if you want to kill some time. The impressive exterior makes the interior quite disappointing.

Given the breathtaking exterior of this building, I really wanted to like the inside too. Sadly, in most respects it fell short of my expectations. First of all — and I fully recognize that this is a picky museumgoer thing to say — the signs for the coat room and toilets should be clear from the very first step, especially when the museum asks you to check bulky bags and coats. I walked several confused circles looking for the silly things. There is indeed a wonderful room of sturdy lockers, different shapes even for bags vs. coats; but where to find them is just not obvious. Nor does the minimal map help much with this crucial central area.
Picky picky, yes I am a picky visitor. But the signage doesn’t improve much from there. Because of the unusual floorplan, with galleries encircling the humongous central hall (originally built as a banquet hall, not a museum), the limited bidirectional flow should be relatively straightforward — but again, it isn’t. The exhibition about the Sami culture is one example: it tries to welcome visitors from both directions, but ends up therefore repeating its introductory text at each end. In other sections I found myself too often wondering, What hallway am I in now? What is the theme here? Does it relate to what I just saw, or is this a new topic? Such questions get tiring after one floor, let alone three or four. Some sections closed for reinstallation could also have been better signed.
Noise and smells from the central hall, onto which all the galleries look, drift through unimpeded. Not bad when it’s coffee smell from the café, but when it’s a baby wailing for a hearty quarter hour it’s not so nice.
That said, I really enjoyed the exhibition on table settings. The dioramas of mealtimes from different centuries gave a rare and wonderful impression of life at home in these periods — from a 16^th-​century Swedish dinner table to a glorious 18^th-​century banquet in the manner of French aristocrats. Labels here did a great job of picking out interesting points, even if any overarching development or narrative was lacking. (Far less successful were the furnished interiors on another floor, which had so little signage as to appear meaningless.)
Low, therefore, on my Museum-​o-​Meter. Skip it in favor of the Vasa Museum and Skansen.

Good museum… Beautiful building… Came here with our STO Card. Loved learning about how the folks in Stockholm and Sweden lived. Cool furniture and old paintings. We saw a band and some people swing dancing too.
We ran here before we visited Skansen. Four museums in one day: ABBA, Spirit (great place for lunch, Nordiska, and Skansen. Rode the tram too. Fun!

The museum building looks rather like a cathedral than a museum. It’s a Renaissance architecture style, built in the beginning of 20^th century by a Swedish architect. From the second level you can access to small balconies with view over the Vasamuseum and Djurgården. Nordiska Museet is dedicated to ethnography and cultural history of Sweden. In the main hall there is a huge sculpture of King Gustav Vasa. When you visit the first and second level of the museum you will always see the King from another angle. The Swedish traditional celebrations are presented, as well as an exhibition about Sami culture. On the 4^th flour there are artisanal pieces of knitting, embroideries and traditional handicrafts. The legend says: «It’s about restoring the beauty of women’s handicrafts». There is a small room showing handwritings, paintings and sculptures (The weeping boy) of writer August Strindberg. There is also a room with cute doll houses. Small folding chairs are available on every flour of the museum, so you can sit down and rest. This museum is worth a visit if you wish to know more about Sweden and its rich culture! In summer on Wednesday entrance is free from 4 pm to 8 pm.

I was doing a tour of the city in one of those hop-​on-​hop-​off buses. We were going through the Östermalm Djurgården district of Stockolm, when I decided I was kind’a tired because of all this traveling I do, getting in late at night before. So I got off at this one landmark and I had no idea what it was or what it was for. Grabbed an energy drink from the street vendor. Looked pretty cool, so I took pictures outside and in. Went inside and paid for the fare. Turned out to be quite the place! I walked through and got a trip back in time of Swedish History!
I even had to go to the restroom and on the way, I’m seeing all kinds of neat stuff, man! I get to the restroom and it was co-​ed??? Got in there and it was almost like private suite restrooms! It was a whole locker room and they were all wooden-​designed. Badass!!!

If you’re into Scandinavian history and traditions, this museum needs to be on your list. Carefully selected artifacts tell you about ancient and modern Swedish life. Even the locker room and facilities breathe Nordic design.

Without question, the Nordiska Museet on Djurgården is housed in one of the most beautiful buildings in Stockholm. The architectural wonder is only surpassed by the history of the building and the individual determination it took to bring it to fruition.
Though, what I expected to be my favorite museum experience in Stockholm disappointed on a few fronts.
The organization of the museum seemed to be a bit all over the place. Rather than doing it chronologically or in any sort of linear order, each section led clumsily into the next. The music revolution of the 60s was on the ground floor, the history of Sami people were on two different floors, the Nordic wedding section poured into the Christmas traditions
I guess that in an anthropological history museum, I would’ve expected everything to be laid out as if it was telling a story.
The audio tour was good, but very thorough, some displays having up to 20 minute explanations, which means that you’d need about 9 days to experience the whole thing. So it can’t effectively be done in one trip, unless you fly through a lot of the audio explanations.
As a fan of history I recommend it. As a fan of efficiency, some work needs to be done.