Höstlov: 5 Fun Activities To Do
By: Silvia Lopez Prieto
Sweden has a lot of traditions not known in other countries. One example is Autumn holiday . Do you want to know what it is?
Höstlov is in week 44 (31st of October – 6th of November this year). This school holiday week is between the middle of Autumn and Winter. The tradition comes from many years ago when, during something called potatislov , children stayed at home to help pick up potatoes. Even though the tradition has changed a lot, holidays are held and there are many different activities to do here in Stockholm during that week!
1. Pick berries and mushrooms
A great thing in Sweden is that it is allowed to pick mushrooms and berries wherever you want! So a great thing to do during Höstlov is go to some places like Lidingö, Saltsjöbaden or any forest you have close here in Stockholm and bring a basket with you to pick up some.
2. Go to a Halloween parade
Starting with performance and choosing the best Halloween costume, it is possible to be part of a Halloween parade that goes all the way from Gamla Stan to the middle of Kungsträdgården . It’s free and so much fun!
3. Go to the Ljustfest in Brunnsviken
A really interesting activity to do during this week is going to Ljusfest. The activity consists of going with torches through Haga and Brunnsviken to light the coming darkness! It’s really beautiful and you can just pay for the torch (if you want to carry one) instead of bringing your own.
4. Enjoy Halloween at Gröna Lund
Even though it’s not exactly the best time to go on a ride on the Gröna Lund rollercoaster, it still is really worth to go during Halloween, if you’d like to celebrate it. A lot of fun activities and eye-popping decorations are all laid out at the theme park to make you have a great experience!
5. Visit Skogskyrkogården
The cemetery of Skogskyrkogården (“The Woodland Cemetery”) is one of the UNESCO World heritage sites that you can visit in Stockholm (the other one is Drottningholm Slott) and as the 2nd of November is Alla helgons dag (All Saints’ Day), the place is covered with candles.
Other activities:
During this week there are a lot of things to do at the museums, check out this page by Visit Stockholm where a wide range of Höstlov activities are gathered. I ‘m also really recommendable to check Facebook or the community website you live in since normally there are also a lot of local plans!