As a former dancing queen (I’m not 17 anymore, hence the ‘former’) I obviously visited ABBA The Museum on the island of Djurgården in Stockholm. Noblesse oblige. That my visit coincided with the release of the ‘Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again‘ movie is a coincidence.

ABBA, of course, is a phenomenon. Some of the songs are cultural heritage. The fact that the band stopped on a high note, helped create a legend. So how does that translate into a museum?

Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad are still alive, so they all collaborated. The museum is not huge. In around two hours you have seen the exhibition. It starts with the pre-ABBA years, tells the story of ABBA and ends with what happened afterwards. That is no surprise.

What was nice?

The exhibition as a whole is well conceived and well done. You get a complete story, obviously from their own, positive point of view. What did you expect.

Thé main attraction is the audioguide narrated by A, B, B and A. We chose English. My guess is the band narrated in English and Swedish. Other languages, including Spanish, French and Dutch will probably be dubbed.

What wasn’t nice?

The system of the audioguide is frustrating. You don’t have to insert a number and press play, but swipe or tap some surface. It took me 9 of the 18 stations to get it right from the first tap.

There are interactivities to do, like sing or dance. But it’s so crowded you don’t want to wait your turn.

Exit goes through the giftshop, where you find the gayest of gay merchandise: pink ABBA caps and magenta ‘Dancing Queen’ mugs.