Christmas in Stockholm: Skansen’s market, Sweden’s oldest Christmas market on Stortorget, Lucia and the julbord

Sweden’s oldest Christmas market, on Stortorget

Stortorgets Julmarknad fills the cobbled main square of Gamla Stan with red wooden stalls. First held in 1837, it is Sweden’s oldest Christmas market, in Visit Sweden’s words, with ironwork and ceramics, Swedish Christmas sweets and the scent of glögg. In 2026 it is open every day from 22 November to 23 December.

The Nobel Prize Museum, on Stortorget →

Skansen’s Christmas market

Skansen’s Christmas market has been a tradition since 1903. The bonfires are lit and the stalls fill with handicrafts and design, sweets, home-made candles and food for the Christmas table, much of it made locally; there is dancing round the tree and Lucia concerts. In 2026 it is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 27 November to 20 December, 10:00–17:00 (Sundays to 16:00).

Skansen →

Lucia, 13 December

On 13 December Sweden celebrates Lucia, a custom Visit Sweden calls 400 years old, which symbolises light in the dark of winter: girls and boys in white gowns carry candles and sing, and guests are served gingerbread and lussekatter, the S-shaped saffron buns. Skansen held the first Lucia procession in 1893, it says, and its 18th-century Seglora church hosts Lucia concerts on 12 and 13 December 2026, with a separate ticket.

Julafton: the julbord on Christmas Eve

In Sweden the great day is Christmas Eve, julafton, and its table is the julbord, a Christmas smörgåsbord that brings the whole medley of Swedish Christmas food together: pickled herring (sill) in its many dressings, Christmas ham (julskinka), meatballs and beetroot salad (rödbetssallad), as Visit Sweden describes it. Increasingly there are vegetarian and vegan dishes too.

At three o’clock in the afternoon, Swedes famously gather in front of the television for the annual Donald Duck and his friends wish you a Merry Christmas (Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul), a medley of Disney classics.

Julskinka, meatballs and Janssons frestelse

The ham is the centrepiece. Beside it come the köttbullar, the Swedish meatballs of ground pork and beef, cream, egg and onion, and Janssons frestelse, “Jansson’s temptation”, a potato casserole that is traditionally served at Christmas, in Visit Sweden’s words.

To finish there is Ris à la Malta, a vanilla rice pudding typically served with orange slices. To drink: julöl, a dark seasonal beer, julmust, a Christmas soft drink, and snaps, with a “skål” for every toast.

Advent, lussekatter and glögg

Each of the four Advent Sundays is marked by lighting a new candle. Friends meet over glögg, the warm spiced wine, with gingerbread biscuits (pepparkakor) and lussekatter, the S-shaped saffron buns that play a particular part on 13 December, Lucia Day, says Visit Sweden. Supermarkets also sell alcohol-free glögg.

Our advice: in Stockholm, book a julbord through December: Den Gyldene Freden in Gamla Stan has opened its 2026 bookings, Stockholm Stadshotell serves a Christmas table from 25 November to 20 December, and Hotel Skeppsholmen, Stallmästaregården and Hotel J serve Christmas buffets; see our page on Swedish Cuisine.

Nobel Day, 10 December

December also brings the Nobel Prize ceremonies. The Nobel Prize Museum on Stortorget, a few steps from the Christmas market, tells the story of the prize and its laureates; it is open Tuesday to Sunday, and late on Fridays.

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