Swedish Christmas Markets are brimming with the holidays’ sweet smells, and their wooden huts are full of incredible and unique gifts. Travelling during the Christmas season is such an excellent time to travel. One of the benefits is that you can bring home with you some fantastic gifts for your friends and family as well as some souvenirs to commemorate your trip. You can use these year after year always to recall those precious memories. This year, sitting at home, taking out all my Christmas decor, I was overjoyed when I pulled out my Swedish Christmas decorations. Souvenirs I purchased on my last trip to Sweden. Holding those little trinkets in my hands made me remember the beautiful outdoor markets and wishing I could be back there right now!
Christmas Markets are one of the best parts of travelling to Europe during the holiday season. But with so many different things you can buy, it can be a little overwhelming. And before you know it you’ve bought so much stuff on impulse you can’t fit it all in your suitcase! (Not that I’d know anything about that *winky face*) In the hopes you wouldn’t find yourself in such a predicament, I wanted to create this guide to help you navigate all the treasures found in Stockholm’s Christmas Markets. What are the best things to buy and, most importantly, what to leave behind.
Pepparkakor or gingersnaps are one of those Swedish Christmas treats I found everywhere in the city. The thin cookies have been eaten in Sweden as early as the 1300s but it wasn’t until the 1800s that it began to be associated with Christmas. You can find these delicious desserts made with gourmet ingredients in specialty cafes, sample traditional homebaked treats in the Christmas markets or just buy yourself an entire box inside the charming tins found on every shelf in the grocery store!
Unlike other gingersnaps I’d had before in Canada or even in the UK, these were SPICY! Not like temperature spicy but filled with spices. The cookies aren’t just overpowered by sweetness, they have so much real flavour. In fact, the reason they are called Pepparkakor is that they indeed contain pepper! I loooooved them. Their flavouring is almost so strong it could wake you up like a cup of coffee. They were even better dipped into a glass of glögg.
Although the cookies are eaten throughout the year, they are most popular at Christmas. Beautifully crafted tins and boxes of the cookies can be found at the market, and they make the perfect gift for those at home. You can also just buy one or two cookies to eat, dipped into your warm glögg while walking around the market.
Many Christmas markets also sell larger, non-edible versions of the cookie, decorated with brightly coloured icing sugar. The icing sugar spells out different Christmas greetings making them almost like a giant cookie Christmas card. These are great souvenirs and look adorable hung on the Christmas tree.
Another item to buy for your julbord (literally Christmas table) is Knäckebröd or Swedish crispbread. These dry crackers are HUGE, almost the size of a large dinner plate. They are usually made with rye flour, and although they are pretty delicate, the crackers can keep forever! At the Christmas markets, they are packaged in beautiful red Christmas wrapping paper and look like a gorgeous present under your tree.
Although you might know them better as “candy canes” in Sweden, they are called ‘Polka Pig‘ or Polkagris. Polkagris was actually invented in Sweden around the 1800s. The name comes from the polka dance craze, which swept through Scandinavia at the time. The fast-paced dance matched the frenzied process required to create these twisted and twirled candies. These red and white peppermint sweets are made fresh for the market, but while they might look like the same thing you can get back home, I found they tasted much more refreshing and they had a more prominent punch!
While all the bins of candies might seem like a Christmas gimmick to get tourists to buy cheap candy for inflated prices, eating candy in Sweden is a real tradition. Smågodis means “little candies”. Visit any grocery store, convenience store or gas station and you’ll always find a series of bins filled with pick & mix Smågodis candies. Take a bag and filler’ up! You can get a little bit of everything to divide up for everyone’s stocking!.
The tradition started as something called Lördagsgodis, meaning “Saturday candy” in Swedish. Every Saturday, Swedish children were allowed to visit their local store and buy as much candy as possible. But the tradition locked itself in the heart of Swedes into adulthood. Today, the average Swede eats about 23 pounds of candy every year! And yet somehow they remain so slim….baffling. Christmas time is even more special when it comes to Smågodis, and filling your bag up in the marketplace is a great way to take part in this tradition, Saturday or not!
One of the most iconic images of Christmas in Sweden is the Julbock. The Julbock, or Yule Goat, goes back to Sweden’s Pagan origins. Swedes worshiped the god Thor, who rode a chariot drawn by two regal goats. This cemented goats being seen by Swedes as godly beings ever since. In the 19th century, the Yule Goat’s role shifted to becoming the giver of Christmas gifts.
It wasn’t until the 20th century that Swedes adopted the image of Santa Claus. Despite Santa becoming more and more popular, the Julbock is still a cherished Christmas decoration. These goats are made of straw and always feature a bright red ribbon. They come in all different sizes, from large table-sized versions to little Christmas tree ornaments. These are a must-buy for anyone visiting Sweden at Christmas time.
Swedes love candles! It’s part of their hygge lifestyle. Hygge is Scandinavian words for “creating cozy and conformable spaces”, which leads to a sense of wellness and contentment. Winters in Sweden get really cold and really dark, but one of the best ways to combat the winter darkness is by lighting inviting candles throughout the home.
Christmas candles in Sweden often feature five candles to represent the four Sundays leading up to Christmas with one candle in the middle for Christmas day. The most famous candelabras seen in windows all across Stockholm feature a stepped ladder design. These candles are so beautiful and would make a gorgeous centrepiece on the Christmas table. Or place one in your window box to feel like you’re living in Stockholm.
Before the Swedes adopted Santa Claus, they had Tomte or Nisse. Tomte is a little forest gnome who is said to live under the house to protect children from misfortune. His defining features are his tiny stature, long grey beard, and large, pointed hat. The Christmas garb for Tomte features a bright red cap. At Christmas time, children leave out a bowl of porridge out for Tomte to ensure he creates no mischief. Tomte’s visage is replicated all over the market as hand-sewn felt decorations, sculptures, wooden figures, paintings and more. These make great gifts or an excellent addition to your own Christmas tree.
The Julstjärna is the Swedish Christmas star. These paper decorations are seen hung in the home and in window frames all across the country. The shape of the Julstjärna resembles a Christmas poinsettia flower. These darling stars make any darkened room alit with the Christmas spirit! These stars are so famous they have even made it into the popular culture around the world and used year-round. Anyone who has stepped into an Ikea has definitely seen these lights. You can find amazing handmade versions of the starts in the Christmas markets as well as in gift shops around Sweden.
Lovikkavantar are hand-knitted mittens originating from the village of Lovikka in northern Sweden. The exact pattern that is still made today dates back to 1892. It features a white and grey hand-knitted glove with yellow, blue and red embroidered tassels around the wrists. These are not only quintessentially Swedish, they are great for keeping your warm in the winter!
The Dalahäst or Dala Horse is a carved, wooden figure, originating from Dalarna, in the center of Sweden. Deep in the forests of Dalarna, during the long dark winters, farmers would use rudimentary tools to carve little horse toys for their children. Why horses, you ask? Well, perhaps for the same reason kids love to play with toy cars these days. Horses back then were one of the most essential parts of life. They transported you from place to place, helped plough fields, moved lumber, and of course, were a great animal companion.
The traditional designs of the Dalahäst features a bright red coat with an embroidered harness painted in white, green, yellow and blue around its neck. The Dalahäst is known to be a symbol for good luck. Many souvenir shops are known to sell Chinese mass-produced knockoffs which are anything but handmade or authentic. In fact, they use plastic which is heat wrapped around the wood to replicate the hand-painted appearance. But in the Christmas markets which ensure only Swedish products are sold, you find mind authentically hand made one. They even have them in smaller sizes which are perfect to use as Christmas ornaments!
A Danish tradition that has made its way to Sweden is the Kræmmerhuset. These upsides down cones are Christmas decorations hung on the tree, which are then filled with candies. After Christmas is over, children are encouraged to help take the ornaments off the tree. As their reward they can eat the sweets they find within the Kræmmerhusets. The cones are often designed to resemble the shape of Tomte’s Christmas cap. This was such an exciting new tradition for me to discover and I was so excited to bring it home to teach my family!
Sami jewellery comes from the northern Lapland region of Sweden. This Nordic handcraft is a form of indigenous jewelry passed down from generation to generation. The designs of Sami jewelry feature intricate braids made from silver threads. They are framed against a reindeer hide band. These simple but elegant styles are a beautiful gift and the perfect stocking stuffer!
Although it might seem redundant to mention buying Christmas ornaments at a Christmas market, I found the decorations for sale at these Swedish markets to be some of the most charming and adorable decorations I’d seen anywhere. It’s incredible how all of Sweden seems to have gotten behind the colour of Christmas decorations being only red, white and grey. Swedish Christmas decor is much more restrained and rustic. But they use a myriad of different materials which creates a gorgeous textural effect everywhere you look. There are glass-blown bobbles, wooden carved stars, hand-knit stockings, felt Santas, wheat shaped into snowflakes and more! You are sure to find the perfect complement to your Christmas tree anywhere you look.
I had such a blast visiting the Swedish Christmas Markets. Even when I didn’t buy anything, it was such fun to just explore and look at all the wonderful things people had on display. The atmosphere at these markets is brimming with excitement and joy, and they are an experience not to be missed.
Let me know in the comment if you’ve ever visited a European Christmas Market before and where was your favourite!
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