Vikings rule OK!

It is summertime in Sweden and we are on a Viking walking tour in Stockholm, shaking our fists at parties of enemy tourists. "Vikings were dominated by WAR," shouts one of our two female costumed tour guides.

"Awesome," shouts my seven-year-old son Jack, dressed in a blue horned hat.

"Give us all your money," our guide, known as Sigrid the Small but Dangerous, demands. The rival tourists cheer and take our photos, and we realise we have become the tourist attraction.

"They are all very scared, you can tell," the guide observes to us. "Let's storm the palace now."

The theatrical tour, which is a lot of fun, takes us through the cobblestoned streets of Stockholm's Old Town, Gamla Stan, which dates back to the 13th century.

The two boys, our son Jack and his 10-year-old mate Inca, are happy - the tour guides have given them the hats to wear. The kids don't know it, but while they are pretending to chop off heads, they are soaking up centuries-old history.

Jack and Inca beside a guard at the Royal Palace

Besides Viking lore, taking our son to the Land of the Midnight Sun yields other delights. The main surprise is that Sweden is now more affordable, following a 10 per cent drop in the value of the Swedish kronor in the past year against the Australian dollar, according to travel website Expedia.

Sweden also turns out to be a child-friendly destination in a wholesome Scandinavian, calm and outdoorsy sort of way. They know how to make the most of the short few weeks of summer here.

During our six days in Stockholm, we visit the fun park on the water, Grona Lund, on a freezing day, but the boys love it and we spend seven long hours there, eating hamburgers, mini cinnamon donuts and huge fairyfloss sticks and going on endless rides which look out over Stockholm Harbour.

Stockholm Harbour

Another day which is pleasantly hot, we visit stunningly beautiful Skansen, the world's largest open-air museum, where we see Nordic animals such as reindeer, wolves and bears and speak to live actors dressed in period costume.

But it is the Viking factor which is a continuing theme. We take a ferry through the Swedish archipelago, past sauna holiday houses on Stockholm's 14 islands, to historic Birka Island, a former Viking port and World Heritage site which dates back to the 8th century.

There the boys get to shoot a real bow and arrow into a target, to make coins over an open fire and see leather items being made by hand. On another walking tour, we see Viking graves and crosses. "Being called beardless was an unforgiveable insult among the Vikings," says our guide. "It could start them off killing each other."

Another day, we visit the Historiska Museet, where the boys dress up as Vikings and spend an hour pillowfighting on suspended logs, before being dragged away for some culture. They get to bake bread over an open fire, to carve runes, play a pentathlon game and take part in an archaeological dig.

But it's Gamla Stan Viking walking tour proves to be the real winner with them, because it is the most entertaining and because they are allowed to keep their hats, which they wear for the next two days all over Stockholm, till we leave.

Most of the tourists taking the popular daily tour, run by the all-girl Gallivant Productions, are in fact Australian families, according to "Sigrid", who hails from Brighton in England and who set up the business with an Australian and a Swede.

The tour takes us past the 608-room Royal Palace, the harbour, the Nobel Museum, Stockholm's narrowest alleyway, a souvenir street and some rune stones carved in a wall. The commentary, "from the Ice Age to Ikea", is aimed both at children and adults and covers a wide range of subjects, from smelly Vikings washing once a week whether they need it or not, to smorgasbords, to the Stockholm Bloodbath of 1520, women in Parliament, high Swedish taxes and state alcohol sales.

"We estimate that 10 per cent of Europeans today were conceived on Ikea beds," Sigrid says cheerfully, describing the frugality of the head of Ikea, 77-year-old Ingvar Kamprad, who is Europe's richest man and the world's fifth-richest, according to Forbes magazine in 2009.

"Ikea is like a church here. Everyone goes there on Saturday and Sunday," quips Sigrid.

There's also detail about famous Swedish inventions ("simple things that make a fortune", says our guide) such as the tetrapak, dynamite, ultrasounds, matches, personalised number plates for prams and the adjustable wrench.

The other good value proposition for visiting Sweden in summer is the amazing length of the days, which means we can do so much more than usual with our time. After all, we have come to the Land of the Midnight Sun, where there is only three hours of darkness, between 11pm and 2am.

So on warm nights, we indulge in summer walks and bike rides until 10.30pm near where we stay in suburban Saltsjobaden, looking for berries and feeding ducks. Whole families are still out picnicking and fishing until that time.

"Don't the children here ever get to bed?" I wonder aloud. "The children here have all winter to sleep," declares my Australian friend Anna, who has lived in Sweden for 20 years and is Inca's mother.

We do notice that our son only sleeps eight hours a night here, compared to 10 hours at home. But there is no problem getting him to bed by 10pm most nights, even though is still light outside, because he is worn out.

Overall, we find it is easy travelling here. Stockholm does not have the chaos, crowds and expense of London or Venice, or the language problems of Paris. Seemingly all Swedes speak fluent English, so language is never a problem, as it can be in much of Europe.

The Swedes are also known as a reserved, practical people and they have a collective national devotion to organisation and order (ordning och reda), which means that things for the most part function efficiently.

Happily, food does not cause dramas with children either. From the hot dogs sold on the street to the Swedish kid's meatballs plus lingonberries, and pizza everywhere, there is no problem feeding our fussy eater for a change. He loves all the brightly coloured licorice on sale on the street as well.

For lunch we take advantage of the Swedish institution of the all-inclusive buffet, where you can have a main meal, salad buffet, tea and coffee for about $10-$15 each.

Our son cries for two days after leaving Stockholm, where he had so much fun. Maybe he's not such a big bad Viking after all.

If you go

AIRLINE: Finnair flies to Stockholm and passengers can use Qantas frequent flier points on Finnair. www.finnair.com

ACCOMMODATION: www.expedia.com.au

www.gallivantproductions.com
www.skansen.se
www.historiska.se/home/

Vikings video (pillowfighting): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRPdmnX5XU4