Advent outings – four weekends, four outings and the daylight where you live

Advent is four weekends that easily disappear into Christmas shopping and cleaning. One way to hold on to them is to give each weekend an outing – something small and outdoors that the children can look forward to and that needs no more planning than a thermos.

In 2026 the Advent weekends are 28–29 November, 5–6 December, 12–13 December and 19–20 December. Here is one outing for each of them, and a table of how long it is light where you live, because that is what shapes the day in December.

Plan around the daylight

Between the first and fourth Advent the day shrinks by another half hour in the south and by more than an hour in Luleå. On the fourth Advent the sun sets just before three in Stockholm, just after two in Östersund and just after one in Luleå. In Kiruna the polar night has already begun, and the sun does not show itself at all until January.

That means two things. Outings that need daylight – the forest, the tree, a barbecue spot – are best planned between eleven and one. And outings that get better in the dark, like the star walk and the Lucia procession, can start as early as four, long before bedtime. The table above shows sunrise and sunset on each Advent Sunday in seven towns.

First Advent: a star walk in the dark

On the weekend of 28–29 November the Advent stars and candlesticks are lit in the windows, and that is the easiest destination of all. Take an evening walk around your own neighbourhood or a nearby village once it is dark, and let the children count: one point for every star, two for a candlestick, five for a house with fairy lights in a spruce in the garden. Whoever spots the first red star gets to choose the evening's dessert.

The walk often follows roads, and then reflectors matter. A driver on dipped headlights sees a child with a reflector from about 125 metres away, but a child in dark clothes without one only at 20–30 metres. A high-visibility vest over the snowsuit is easiest, and a head torch makes the walk more fun for the children.

Many Christmas markets open the same weekend – Skansen's Christmas market is open Friday to Sunday from 27 November. Which markets suit children and when they are open is covered in Christmas markets in Sweden.

Second Advent: a decoration hunt in the forest

On the weekend of 5–6 December you head into the forest with a basket. The mission is to find material for the Advent decorations: cones of different sizes, straight sticks, a crooked twig and perhaps a little moss or lichen for the candlestick.

The Swedish right of public access is generous, but it has a few limits worth knowing:

• Anything that has already fallen – cones, sticks and dry twigs – is free to take home.
• Moss and lichen are fine in small amounts for your own decorations. Take from places where there is plenty, a piece here and there, instead of tearing up a whole mat.
• Spruce branches and twigs from living trees may not be broken off without the landowner's permission. Buy the branches or ask whoever owns the forest.
• Mistletoe is protected throughout Sweden.

At home the sticks become a star made of sticks, the cones a decoration in a bowl with candles, and the crooked twig a branch to hang baubles on. If it is cold you can also freeze ice ornaments of berries and twigs out on the doorstep overnight.

Third Advent and Lucia: a Lucia procession outdoors

The weekend of 12–13 December has the earliest sunsets of the year in southern Sweden, and Lucia, which in 2026 falls on the Advent Sunday itself. Start with a Lucia morning at home – roles, costumes and songs are in Lucia with kids.

Saturday is good for a lunchtime outing to a barbecue spot or a shelter nearby. Leave at eleven, grill sausages or heat soup in a pan, and be home before dusk. On Sunday afternoon, when it gets dark, the Lucia procession can go round once more outdoors: around the house or through the neighbourhood with lanterns and battery candles, perhaps past a snow lantern if there is snow.

In northern Sweden it is now almost all twilight, and on clear evenings it is worth looking for the northern lights before the children go to bed.

Fourth Advent: the Christmas tree and the birds

For most children, the weekend of 19–20 December is the first weekend of the holidays, since the Christmas break starts around 18 December in most municipalities. It is also the last chance to get the tree in good time. Drive to a Christmas tree farm and choose your own, or cut one with the landowner's permission – how it works and how to make the tree last all Christmas is in cutting your own Christmas tree.

Once the tree is on the car roof, you can take a detour into the forest and hang up a Christmas meal for the birds: fat balls, sunflower seeds and half an apple in a tree you can see from the window. How to make your own bird cakes and which birds will come is in bird feeder for the winter.

If there is no snow

In large parts of southern Sweden, Advent is more often grey and wet than white. All four outings still work – the stars shine just as well in the rain, cones are easier to find without snow and trees are sold whatever the weather. Put rain gear on over the warm clothes, so you don't have to turn back because the children are soaked after half an hour.

The full Christmas calendar for 2026 – from the first Advent to St Knut's Day – is in Christmas with kids.