One of the most surprising things about Stockholm is how quickly you can leave the city behind. Within thirty minutes of the central station, you can be standing in ancient forest, walking along a quiet lakeshore, or looking out across an archipelago island with nothing but birdsong and wind for company.
Sweden's 'allemansrätten' — the Right of Public Access — means that nature is genuinely open to everyone. You can walk, camp and forage almost anywhere, as long as you treat the landscape with respect. This philosophy shapes everything about the Swedish relationship with the outdoors, and it's something we try to share with every guest who walks with us.
Tyresta National Park
Just 20 kilometres south of Stockholm, Tyresta is one of the largest areas of old-growth forest in northern Europe. Some of its pine trees are over 400 years old. The trails here range from easy lakeside loops to longer routes that take you deep into terrain that has barely changed since the Viking age.
What makes Tyresta special is its sense of scale and stillness. The forest floor is carpeted with moss and blueberry bushes. Granite boulders punctuate the landscape, left behind by retreating glaciers 10,000 years ago. In summer, the air hums with insects and the light filters green through the canopy. In winter, the silence is absolute — broken only by the crunch of snow underfoot and the occasional call of a great grey owl.
Our Forest Bathing & Meditation Walk takes place in the southern sections of Tyresta, where the forest is oldest and least disturbed. It's a walk designed for presence rather than distance.
Hellasgården & Nacka Nature Reserve
Closer to the city centre, the Nacka Nature Reserve offers a more accessible but equally beautiful introduction to Stockholm's natural surroundings. Hellasgården, on the shore of Lake Källtorp, is a popular starting point — and also home to one of Stockholm's best-loved public saunas.
The trails here wind through mixed birch and pine forest, along rocky ridgelines with views across the lake, and through meadows that burst with wildflowers from May onwards. The terrain is gently rolling and well-marked, making it perfect for a half-day walk.
What we love about this area is the combination of forest, water and cultural history. You're walking through a landscape that Stockholmers have used for recreation for over a century, and there's a well-worn warmth to the paths that feels welcoming rather than wild. Our Swedish Forest Hike starts from Hellasgården and follows the best of these trails.
The Stockholm Archipelago
The archipelago is really its own category of walking experience. Made up of roughly 30,000 islands, skerries and rocks stretching east from the city into the Baltic Sea, it offers a landscape unlike anything on the mainland.
Many of the outer islands are treeless — sculpted granite expanses where the sky feels enormous and the wind carries the smell of salt and pine. The inner islands tend to be more forested, with sheltered coves, historic fishing villages and meadows grazed by sheep.
Our Archipelago Thermal Retreat takes guests by boat to one of the quieter islands, where we combine coastal walking with a traditional sauna experience. It's the kind of day that reminds you why Stockholm consistently ranks as one of the world's most liveable cities — not despite its winters, but because of its deep relationship with the natural world.
Djurgården: Nature in the City
For those who want nature without leaving the city, Djurgården — Stockholm's 'green island' — is hard to beat. Once a royal hunting ground, it's now a vast public park with oak-lined avenues, waterfront paths and some of the city's most important museums.
Walking the full circuit of Djurgården takes about two hours at a relaxed pace and offers views across the harbour, through meadows and along canal-side paths that feel surprisingly rural for a place so close to the city centre. Our City Nature Walk covers this route, with local context and stories along the way.
Seasonal Highlights
Each season transforms these landscapes dramatically. Spring brings the first green to the birch forests and carpets of wood anemones. Summer is long days, warm lakes and the midnight light that makes everything glow. Autumn turns the forests to amber and gold, with the smell of mushrooms and damp earth. Winter strips everything back to its essentials — snow, silence and the low-angle light that the Swedes call 'mysbelysning' (cosy lighting).
Whatever the season, there's always something beautiful to walk through. And that's really the point — in Sweden, you don't walk despite the weather. You walk because of it.
