Discover Stockholm’s natural reserves through outdoor running.
As the gentler light of Autumn gives way to the cold winter brightness, November is a time for outdoor running and making the most of what the daylight in the Swedish capital offers. I hit the trail.
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For now, it’s all about crisp air. It’s the time of the year to get stronger and enjoy the most natural light. Mid-November arrives with subzero temperatures, and the darkest season grips the Swedish capital for months in shades of grey and white.
The days with snow are the ones illuminating your existence. The polar nights, which continue for around 28 days, may soon be experienced by those who live in the Arctic. It’s a time to stay indoors, but it’s also a chance to develop physical and mental resilience outside. Here we are heading for the annual test in perseverance.
Let’s focus on the Swedish capital, which still enjoys short daylight hours. The city is a runner’s paradise with clean, crisp air, open space, and well-kept paths. Stockholm takes sports seriously, so if you want to keep up your running outdoors schedule while you’re here, you’ll have plenty of options.
There are more running routes than cafés. Yet, if you prefer to stay indoors, there are many cool places. Focusing on the running paths, you can map out the ones you want to explore. Follows my favourites:
Djurgården is one of the areas I enjoy the most for outdoor running. It’s more or less the lung of Stockholm, and this fantastic area on the edge of the Östermalm neighbourhood is a heady mixture of paths running along the water, across open fields, and through deep forests. Start at the Blue Gate.
If you run around the entire island, it’s about 10 km — although you can extend this by running along roads and paths passing the many attractions that dot the island. The best part of Djurgården is you’ll be amongst like-minded people: this is where many Stockholmers go to walk, hike, cycle, and run.
A few steps from the Drottningholm palace lies a vast natural reserve — the Judarskogens naturreservat. Here you can find Judarn lake in the heart of the forest. The nature around the lake varies from open meadows to hilly forests.
The trail around Judarn lake enables you to experience how the last ice age has shaped the landscape. You will also find De Geer moraines, long ridges of boulders formed when the inland ice melted 10 000 years ago. The primary purpose of the reserve is to ensure biodiversity and promote the friluftsliv. For the friluftsliv concept, I invite you to read my writing Friluftsliv: Seasonal Ways To Embrace Nature.
The area invites various running tracks, depending on the length you aim for. You could start at the Akeshofs Slott, move towards the lake, circle around it to enjoy the views, and end at Södra Ängby or Norra Ängby. Else, you can always explore more minor routes and rest as you go. There are plenty of areas to relax in lush green and complete silence. It’s incredible how close you are to the city; it feels like you travelled back to ancient times.
While you enjoy these natural areas, November is a great time to gain strength in the cold and rain. Winter gives you the energy of reflection as the Earth lies deep and fallow. The forest is a great place to reflect on your current year in a peaceful environment. You pour oxygen and feel more at ease, in flow with your physical and mental body.
Your energy system becomes more connected. You sync with the vision you see in yourself to grow, aligned with your goals for the following year and part of the system you build to achieve your life purpose.
These are my preferred areas to run outdoors. Hopefully, it inspires you to discover your way through, embrace and strengthen your energy and resilience until the end of the year.
