Europe

Stockholm, Sweden

The most populous city in Scandinavia, Stockholm is one of the world’s most beautiful capitals. It’s built on 14 islands around a medieval city center and is located where the freshwater Lake Mälaren flows out into the Baltic Sea. Running in Stockholm is a treat, given the water, unique geography, and well laid out pedestrian and recreational paths. The Stockholm Marathon is among the most beautiful marathon routes in the world. If you’d like to have an in-person guided running experience in Stockholm, we highly recommend our friends at Go! Running Tours.

We’ve designed three routes in central Stockholm, featuring the city’s unique geography and important sights, that can be mixed & matched: ‘Runseeing‘ Tour, Kungsholmen, and Södermalm. Djurgården is Stockholm’s most popular recreation area… and is 3x the size of Central Park!  Hagaparken is another nice park for running. East of the city, there’s nice running on Lidingö and the Hellasgården area. In southern Stockholm, there’s nice running around the Skärholmen area waterfront and inland forest paths. Head just west of Stockholm for a run on the gorgeous grounds of Drottningholm Palace, which can be combined with Judarskogen Nature Preserve for a longer route!

Stockholm has an excellent public transportation system consisting of bus, tram, local train (pendeltåg) and subway (tunnelbana; look for a T-sign). Runners should note that the weather can be unsettled at any time of year. Winters can be cold, but paths are usually well- maintained and lit to compensate for the short days.

Location Author:
Hannu Koski

Editor's Picks

Some of our favorite runs in Stockholm, Sweden

Kungsholmen

A residential island where the spectacular City Hall is located. Mostly along the water. Highlights include a... more...

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stockholm-climate-graph

One of the defining elements of running in Stockholm is its latitude. In summer, running late at night is a particular treat due to 18+hours of daylight. In winter, Stockholm makes up for short days in part by providing good lighting along most of its paths. Despite its northern location, Stockholm has relatively mild weather compared to other locations at similar latitude, or even farther south — receiving more sunshine per year than Paris or London, but also precipitation on about half the days through the year. It can snow from November to April, and winter running will likely involve snow or ice so bring your Yak-Traks. Summers are mild but rarely warm. You’ll almost always need an extra later for morning runs, even in July.

Stockholm has a wide selection of hotels in the downtown area and all of our iconic routes are located within a few mile radius. To have a fast access to the Stockholm Highlights loop, Djurgården and Södermalm routes, look for hotels in Östermalm and Gamla Stan areas. If you want to stay closer to Hagaparken route, then the Vasastan is a good option. It is still very close to Central loop and Södermalm routes, but a bit further from Djurgården. In addition to big international chains see also the following options:

Radisson Blu. Chain of well equipped hotels. Several locations in downtown.

Scandic. Another chain, several locations in downtown.

Nordic Light Hotel. A nice hotel with great location.

Running Stores

Runner’s Store is the biggest running specialty store in Sweden. Located downtown.

Löplabbet is another running specialty store with knowledgeable staff.

XXL. Price-driven big box retailer which has disrupted Scandinavian sporting goods retailers recently. One location in downtown on Hamngatan, another in Bromma airport.

Asics Flagship Store located in downtown on Hamngatan

Group Runs

Run With Me Stockholm offers a variety of private guided running tours covering main sights and attractions of the city. Has free group runs, too.

Stockholm Running Tours is another group combining sightseeing and running.

Nike+ Run Club offers several group runs to runners of all speeds.

Hash House Harriers is a Stockholm chapter of this globally spread “Drinking club with a running problem”. Meets every Wednesday night and every second Saturday afternoon for running, beer and fun.

Stockholm Frontrunners is running and walking group for LGBTQ people and their friends. Meets every Tuesday for group runs.

Stockholm Marathon is the main marathon race in the city, taking place annually late May or early June. Consists of two loops around the city and the finishing line is located on track of the Olympic Stadium.

Stockholm Half Marathon. September. This race has been in its current form since 2007 but its roots date to the 1920’s.

Midnattsloppet. August. The “midnight run”, is a 10k race which has been run in Stockholm since 1982. As the name suggests, around 20,000 runners hit the streets of the city after the sunset. The same event is organized annually also in Malmö, Göteborg and Helsinki.

Women’s Health Half Marathon is the biggest half marathon exclusively for women in Europe. Offers also a possibility to run as a pair and split the distance with your friend. Website available only in Swedish — to learn more in English, contact [email protected]

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