Sweden
Vimmerby
Astrid Lindgren's birthplace where Pippi Longstocking's world is built at child-scale in the woods.
Astrid Lindgren's world begins at life-size scale in the woods outside Vimmerby — Villa Villekulla with its crooked porch, the Katthult farmhouse with Emil's woodshed, all built to be walked into rather than looked at. The surrounding Småland landscape of red barns, stone walls, and forest lakes is the same one Lindgren wrote about. She made nothing up.
Vimmerby is a small town in Småland that became internationally significant because Astrid Lindgren was born here in 1907. Astrid Lindgren's World, a theme park on the edge of town, recreates the settings of her stories at full scale — Pippi Longstocking's Villa Villekulla, the Bullerby houses, and Emil's Katthult farm. Performances run continuously through the park, and children walk into the stories rather than watching from a distance. The town itself — wooden houses, a church, and a single main street — reflects the small-town Sweden that Lindgren described in her books with affectionate precision.
Family
Astrid Lindgren's World is designed for children who have read the books — or are about to. The performances are immersive, the buildings are real, and the forest setting is the same landscape that inspired the stories.
- Astrid Lindgren's World recreates Pippi Longstocking's Villa Villekulla and Emil's Katthult at life-size scale.
- The surrounding Småland landscape of red barns, stone walls, and forest lakes is exactly what Lindgren wrote about.
- Performances run continuously across the park — children walk into the stories rather than watching from seats.
- The town itself is small enough that the Lindgren connection feels personal rather than theme-parked.
Pancakes and lingonberry jam at Katthult-style farmhouses in the theme park.
Traditional Småland ostkaka — a baked cheesecake served warm with cloudberry cream.
Hirosaki
Japan
Apple orchards surrounding a moat where cherry blossoms form a pink floating carpet.
Ouchi-juku
Japan
Thatched-roof houses lining a mountain highway frozen since the samurai stopped passing through.
Karatu
Tanzania
Iraqw families still dig homes below the earth here, under coffee canopy at Ngorongoro's doorstep.
Isla Socorro
Mexico
Giant manta rays gliding in to be cleaned by divers, a hundred miles from land.
Läckö Castle (Kinnekulle)
Sweden
A white baroque castle reflected in Lake Vänern, rising from fossil-studded limestone.
Visingsö
Sweden
A car-free island in Lake Vättern where oak forests planted for warships never sailed.
Dalarna (Lake Siljan Region)
Sweden
Midsummer pole dancing on the shores of a meteorite lake, where Sweden feels most Swedish.
Smögen
Sweden
A wooden boardwalk stretched over granite, where prawn peeling becomes a competitive spectator sport.