John L.
Yelp
Could this be the happiest museum in the world? After I finally tore myself away following three deliriously joyful hours and three complete circuits of the place, with a mile-wide smile on my face and a spring in my step, I'd suggest that it might just well be.
A deep and abiding childhood love of ABBA which sustained itself when they weren't cool and was re-energised by the 90's revival and the subsequent Mamma Mia mania meant that there was absolutely no way that I was going to pass through Stockholm without wallowing in nostalgia - a wet weather day made it all the more excellent a choice too.
Right from the darkened entrance room, where an excellent five minute clip of some of their best moments on film plays on a loop at a thunderous volume, the tone of deep aural joy was set and it never let up. I stayed in that first room for at least three showings on my first go-round and it was the last part of the experience before I finally left too!
Once into the main museum area itself, you are taken on a journey that tells the background story of the four band members, how they came to meet and become a band as well as two married couples and their emergence onto the world stage via the Eurovision song competition.
The little details of their success on that night, making up for a stumble in the previous year were a delight to read, especially when it came to the presentation of the award, when Bjorn and Benny were prevented by an officious steward from actually going on stage to collect it.
The museum is astoundingly well presented, with lots of looped video clips telling the story of ABBA at all levels, including various band members, studio technicians, and even the manager's PA, along with a recreation of the recording studio and the small island hut where most of the songs were written.
There's an opportunity to "play along" with the band in a couple of places - on stage alongside green screen versions, and in a recording booth looking into the studio area - but my voice and dance moves were not good enough to be recorded in this way!
As well as all that, there is a huge area set aside for costumes, gold discs, original albums and singles to wallow in - recognising the versions that you bought as a kid was a fun thing to do.
Finally, there is a full-on disco room with lights and a pounding looped soundtrack of the top hits to dance along to and a cinema room devoted to a non stop presentation of ABBA The Movie.
The one small criticism I might have is that the story of the band stops rather too soon - once they've "made it", there is less to be said about the stresses and strains of international fame and the toll it took on all of them, leading to the eventual break up in the mid-80's.
It would be quite possible to spend more than three hours in there, so much fun was there to be had. But once I'd gone round for the third time, I was quite convinced that I had seen it all, so it was time to exit through the gift shop and quite happily give the four of them even more of my money.
I spoke to my AirBnB hosts about the museum that night and they sheepishly said that they had never been, but thought that they might do one day. It's possible that Swedes may be a little embarrassed about ABBA, in the same way that Brits might be about One Direction.
But those songs are indestructibly happy pieces of perfect pop and I'd suggest that it would take a heart of stone to visit here and not leave as happy as a clam.