By Jane Wilson, Founder & Editor, The Wellness Traveller
They gathered in glitter and gaiety, wishful lookalikes in knee-high boots and bell-bottoms, topped with sparkly hats and wrapped with capes, queuing outside a black marquee in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with the anticipation of people about to see something impossible. Inside revealed a 3,000-capacity arena built for one purpose – to bring Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Frida back, frozen at the peak of their songs, for a 100-minute performance that dances between eras and emotions.
This is ABBA Voyage. Since it opened in May 2022, it has become a unique entertainment phenomenon in London – accessible and high energy. Digital versions of the band, “ABBAtars,” have been created from motion-capture performances and rendered with startling clarity. Together with an in person, ten-piece live band, they belt out non-stop hits from “I Still Have Faith in You” and “Don’t Shut Me Down.” Waterloo. Money, Money, Money to Fernando and Dancing Queen.
But, hey, when you stop to think about it, this is not real at all. ABBA Voyage has developed the formula to engage with the band as if they are live on stage in front of you. Standing or sitting, stare into their eyes and sing out of tune, the show tricks you into thinking they are real. So, for many leaving the arena still humming and buzzing, it begs the question – where did the true story actually start? And, more to the point for anyone craving a proper wellness travel escape this year, doused in music, where do you go to slow right down and feel it for real?
Sweden is ABBA’s home, the country which also introduced the flat-pack retailer, IKEA, Volvo and H&M. Fly out on direct flights to Stockholm from London’s Heathrow and within a few hours you’re in a city built on water, with around 30,000 islands making up its archipelago, a proportion inhabited, all threaded together by bridges. The best way to explore is a sightseeing boat gliding past waterside homes and letting the shape of the city reveal itself – a gentle, unhurried start to any Stockholm wellness break.
A Slow Stay at the Rival Hotel
I stayed at the Rival Hotel in Slussen, on the edge of the Old Town, owned by band member Benny Andersson, who occasionally drops in to play the piano. (I’m assured it is him in person, not a hologram.) It’s a creative and colourful 99-room boutique hotel and has a quiet Hollywood feel about it. This may be due to its theatre downstairs, a public entrance that projects a hint of glamour and a theatre foyer check-in area with welcoming efficiency, while a carpeted staircase leads from a bar to a brasserie in warm reds and browns. My room was comfortable and spacious with a balcony decorated with flower boxes overlooking the public square. And on a thoughtful note, a teddy bear in every room to avoid any guest feeling alone – a gesture initiated by Benny himself, and honestly, a small act of self-care that says a lot about the place.
Slussen itself sits in the district that has introduced a slow fashion hub, a sustainable travel initiative started by three women selling vintage, second-hand and redesigned clothing. The Old Town’s cobbled lanes are walking distance away, as is the Royal Palace, a working royal residence with opulent State Apartments open to visitors. Time your visit for 12.15 to watch the changing of the guard. Fika, the Swedish refreshment tradition and arguably Sweden’s answer to mindful eating, is never far away, serving cinnamon buns which are, frankly, impossible to resist.
Where Björn Sleeps (and Where You Can Too)
Backstage Hotel, ten minutes from central Stockholm, is co-owned by Björn Ulvaeus, with 57 individually designed rooms, lofts and suites, each one dressed in rich materials and details reflective of music, theatre, and life behind the curtain. He also owns Hotel Slottsholmen on Water in Västervik. Inspired by his own hotel stays worldwide during his ABBA tours, he wanted to create a meeting place that was sustainable, in the place he grew up in. Today it’s run by his family. Of the 43 rooms, there’s a suite called the Mamma Mia Suite, complete with two floors and three balconies, and, naturally, ABBA vinyls in every room.
Digital Detox, Djurgården Style
A short ferry ride away is Djurgården island, where the museum-hopping happens, and it’s worth a full day on its own – the kind of screen-free, feet-on-cobbles day that makes for a proper digital detox. The Vasa Museum is the headline act, a 17th-century royal warship decked with 700 statues and carvings, astonishingly and grandiosely intact, having spent centuries on the seabed after sinking on its maiden voyage in 1628, just metres from shore. It is the only surviving ship of its kind in the world. Next door, the Viking Museum fills in what you didn’t know about Vikings, and the Junibacken brings Swedish children’s fairy tales to life for younger travellers. Elsewhere in the city, the Nobel Prize Museum holds around 200 artefacts from laureates – freedom fighters, scientists, and adventurers – a reminder that Stockholm’s reach runs well beyond pop music. Walk on to City Hall for the banquet hall, browse the market stalls at Hötorget, or wander around Nybroplan, where the gilded columns and art deco style of the Royal Dramatic Theatre sit in the well-heeled Östermalm district.
And then, of course, there’s the ABBA Museum, which is, in its way, ABBA Voyage’s opposite. The sign outside says you walk in and dance out, and I did, skipping the whole way. Inside I auditioned to be the fifth member, practised in a booth, singing my heart out but to no avail. I tried on the outfits and watched the preview of the Voyage hologram technology, here on Swedish soil. This museum is a high-performance exhibition, showcasing Mamma Mia! The Musical, 25 years on from that 1974 Eurovision win, and now staged in around 440 cities worldwide. And Chess, ABBA’s other collaboration with Tim Rice. And then a spotlight on the 1979 benefit concert during the International Year of the Child. ABBA donated Chiquitita, and its royalties, to UNICEF Sweden – a piece of ABBA history no hologram sings about.
The ABBA Museum: Voyage’s Gentle Opposite
Back in London, the ABBAtars will keep performing exactly the same set, exactly the same way, for as long as the arena stands, untouched by time. But Stockholm is where it all began, a city sitting in an archipelago, with ABBA’s actual costumes displayed under exhibition lights, not as pixels in an arena three hours’ flight away. Sweden is what made the legend possible, while technology preserves it forever. And for anyone in need of a wellness travel reset, that’s exactly the point – the real thing, slowly savoured, beats the polished replica every time.
ABBA Voyage was created with Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Frida Lyngstad. The concert is directed by Baillie Walsh and produced by Svana Gisla and Ludvig Andersson.
ABBA is one of the world’s most successful music acts of all time. Ever since their breakthrough with “Waterloo” back in 1974, ABBA’s music has drawn fans from all over the world. Today, the songs they created were written and produced by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and interpreted vocally with passion and commitment by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad. They have sold nearly 400 million albums worldwide, have 17 No. 1 hits and over 16 million weekly global streams. In the 21st Century, ABBA is more popular than ever. ABBA Gold, originally released in 1992, recently passed its 1000th week on the UK Album Chart, the first album in history to reach this milestone. ABBA was inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, and “Dancing Queen,” one of their most beloved songs, was added to the GRAMMY Hall of Fame in 2015.
Q&A: Planning Your Stockholm Wellness Break
Is Stockholm a good destination for a wellness travel break?
Yes. Between the archipelago boat rides, cobbled Old Town walks, fika culture and museum-hopping on Djurgården, Stockholm suits slow travel and a proper digital detox just as easily as it suits pop pilgrims.
How do I get to Stockholm from the UK?
Direct flights operate from Heathrow to Stockholm
Can I stay in a hotel connected to ABBA?
Yes – Benny Andersson owns the Rival Hotel in Slussen, and Björn Ulvaeus co-owns the Backstage Hotel in Stockholm as well as Hotel Slottsholmen on Water in Västervik.
Jane Wilson founded The Wellness Traveller to cover slow and wellness-led travel, with a focus on destinations that reward unhurried exploration. Her recent trips include Stockholm’s archipelago and Sweden’s south-east coast.
