Stadsparken – a park for everyone

People visit the Jönköping Stadspark for a number of reasons. Here you can have a Swedish fika, dance, play at the large playground, watch animals, hike, play minigolf, feed the ducks, eat ice cream, have a grillparty or just enjoy the exquisite view of the western part of Jönköping. Regardless of age or preferences, there’s bound to be something here for everyone to enjoy.

We decided to experience the park together with Noomi and Esther, both ten years old. Later, we will check out the Bird museum in the background but first the girls would like to try out another part of the park.

The grand playground is divided into smaller areas for children of different ages. “It’s good because they have something for both old and young kids. The big jungle gym is fun because it has a lot of challenges”, the girls says and agrees that it’s suitable for children ages six and up.

“When I was younger I always thought that the big slide was scary, now it’s just fun”, Esther proclaims.

Another tunnel, another adventure.

There is a large lawn in the middle of the park, perfect for a picnic, a barbeque or just a lovely afternoon in the sun. If you don’t have a blanket there are benches and tables for everyone to use. During our fika a big bus arrives at the dance court. There looks to be one of the famous dancing evenings tonight at Fröjden.

Filled with energy we are taking a walk through the park with untouched trees and bushes. The girls are enjoying it and think that it’s very cozy. “You can walk for a while and maybe have a picnic. This park is wonderful; you can really feel relaxed here”.

We walk past the “old village”, as the girls are calling it. The “Friluftsmuseet”, roughly translated into the “Outdoor Museum”, consists of old cottages and sheds which are several hundred years old. They are open from time to time and allow visitors to witness how one used to live, but today no one seems to be at home. Instead, we direct our route towards the animal pastures

“Look at that, he is so beautiful! I think he is showing off because he noticed us “ Noomi says. Further into the big pasture we also notice a peahen and three small, cute peacock chicks.

Is that a lama or an alpaca? Either way, they’re cute and the longer we’re watching the more animals in the tall grass we notice. They girls comment on the animals, it seems that they are happy with their homes in Stadsparken. In another meadow there are small Shetland ponies grazing

Our visit has almost come to an end but we don’t want to miss the Bird museum. It doesn’t look all that big from the outside but inside there are almost 1 500 stuffed birds and 2 500 eggs. We got a tour from a very talented guide named Lisa who, among other things, told us why some eggs are white and others have spots. We feel that we could stay here for a long while.

The mandatory finish to a visit to Stadsparken is ice cream at the magnificent viewpoint. Of course there’s coffee among other things in the café. Now it’s time to give Stadsparken its final score. “All thumbs up, we believe that anyone could spend a whole day here. Young ones can play at the huge playground and old ones can enjoy the old cottages and the many majestic animals.”