Sweden Country Guide

Sweden is a big country with few people. About 10.6 million of us share 450,295 km², which makes Sweden the third-largest country in the EU. Most people live in the south. The north is forest, mountains and long distances.

Nature in numbers

Sweden has 31 national parks, the newest being Nämdöskärgården in the Stockholm archipelago. Forest covers almost 70 percent of the land. There are around 100,000 lakes.

The highest mountain, Kebnekaise in Lapland, reaches 2,096.8 meters at its rocky north peak. The south peak used to be higher, but its glacier keeps melting. In September 2025, it measured 2,088.4 meters.

Words that open doors

Å, Ä and Ö are separate letters, not accents. They come last in the Swedish alphabet.

Swedes answer in English the second they hear an accent. Try the Swedish anyway. People notice.

Sweden is in the Schengen Area. Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland only need a valid passport or national ID card.

Many other nationalities can visit without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. This includes people from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Japan. Check the rules for your passport with the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) before you book.

New in 2026: the Entry/Exit System (EES)

If you are not an EU citizen, border staff now record your fingerprints and take a photo the first time you enter the Schengen Area. This replaces the passport stamp. Your first crossing takes longer, so plan extra time at the airport.

ETIAS is not here yet

ETIAS is a travel authorization for visitors who do not need a visa. As of September 2026, it has not started. When it does, you will apply online and pay €20. Only use the official EU website for ETIAS. Many fake sites charge extra fees.

Your passport

It must be valid for at least three months after you leave the Schengen Area. It must also be less than ten years old.

Sweden is expensive. I will not pretend otherwise. But you can plan for it.

Cards, not cash

Almost everyone pays by card or phone, even for a single coffee. Some cafés, museums and buses do not accept cash at all. Bring a contactless card and tell your bank you are traveling. Apple Pay and Google Pay work almost everywhere.

You will see the word Swish on signs at flea markets and small stalls. Swish is a Swedish payment app. It needs a Swedish bank account and BankID, so most visitors cannot use it. Ask: “Kan jag betala med kort?” (Can I pay by card?)

What things cost in Stockholm in 2026 (roughly)

Daily budget per person

These are my rough 2026 estimates for Stockholm. Smaller towns cost a little less.

How to spend less

• Eat your big meal at lunch. Look for dagens lunch (lunch of the day) on weekdays.
• Shop at budget supermarkets such as Willys and Lidl.
• Drink tap water. Restaurants serve it for free.
• Buy food in the supermarket. Since April 2026, the VAT on food in shops is 6 percent instead of 12. The lower rate runs until the end of 2027.
• Return bottles and cans. Most have a deposit called pant, 1–2 SEK each. Feed them into the machines in supermarkets and get a voucher.
• Use the free museums. Stockholm has several. I list them in my guide to museums in Stockholm by district.

Tipping

Service is included in the price. Nobody expects a tip. For a very good dinner, I round up or add about ten percent.

Sweden works well without a car. Trains are comfortable and public transport is reliable. I only recommend a car if you want to go deep into nature, far from train lines.

From Arlanda Airport to Stockholm

• Arlanda Express: The fastest option, about 18 minutes to Central Station. A standard single ticket costs around 340 SEK. It is cheaper if you book online or travel in a group.
• Flygbussarna airport coach: About 45 minutes to Cityterminalen, next to Central Station. Around 129 SEK online.
• Commuter train (pendeltåg): A normal SL ticket plus an extra airport station fee. Slower, but often cheaper.
• Taxi: Choose a company that shows a fixed price on the rear window. Expect 500–700 SEK.

Other airports and flights

The largest airports are Stockholm Arlanda, Göteborg Landvetter and Malmö Airport. For Lapland, you can fly north to Kiruna or Luleå, or take the night train and wake up in the mountains.

Public transport in Stockholm (SL)

SL runs the metro, buses, trams, commuter trains and some ferries. There are no ticket machines. You buy tickets in the SL app, load them onto an SL card, or tap a contactless bank card at the gate.

These are adult prices. People under 20 and over 65 pay a reduced price. When you tap a bank card, each tap buys a single ticket. If you travel more than four times in one day, a 24-hour ticket costs less. Each person needs their own card or ticket. Check current prices with SL, Stockholm public transport.

Trains between cities

SJ and a few private companies run trains between the big cities. Stockholm to Gothenburg takes about three hours. Stockholm to Malmö takes about four and a half. Book early for the best prices. Night trains run from Stockholm to Kiruna and Abisko in Lapland. I use the Resrobot app to plan journeys across the whole country.

Long-distance buses

FlixBus and Vy Buss are cheaper than trains but slower.

Driving

Winter tires are required from 1 December to 31 March when there are winter road conditions. Watch for moose, especially at dawn and dusk. Speed cameras are common. The speed limit is usually 30–50 km/h in towns, 70–90 km/h on country roads and up to 120 km/h on motorways. Signs always win. In cities, parking is expensive. Most people pay with an app such as EasyPark.

Cycling

Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö have good bike lanes and city bikes to rent. Helmets are not required for adults, but I wear one.

Each season shows you a different Sweden. The change in daylight is the first thing I explain to my guests.

Summer (June–August)

Temperatures of 15–25°C in the south. Stockholm has up to about 18 hours of daylight, and the far north has the midnight sun. This is festival season, with Midsummer in late June. It is also the busiest and most expensive time, so book early. Bring an eye mask. In July, many Swedes go on holiday, and some small restaurants and shops close for weeks.

Autumn (September–November)

Colors in the forest, berries and mushrooms, and fewer tourists. September is often mild and clear. Then the rain and the dark come quickly. The clocks go back on the last Sunday of October.

Winter (December–February)

Stockholm gets about six hours of daylight in December. In the south, temperatures stay around −5 to +2°C. In the north, they can fall below −30°C. This is the time for the northern lights in Lapland, Christmas markets and candles in every window. Lucia, on 13 December, fills churches and schools with songs and candlelight.

The dark is real. Many Swedes take vitamin D in winter, and some use light lamps at home. My advice: go out at midday when the light is there, and spend the dark hours the Swedish way, with candles, fika and museums.

Spring (March–May)

The light comes back fast, but snow can still fall in April. On 30 April, Valborg, towns light big bonfires to welcome spring. Cherry trees bloom in Kungsträdgården in Stockholm in April.

People often ask me how many days they need. My answer is usually: more than you planned. Here are three routes I suggest.

If you love museums, look at a city card such as the Stockholm Pass or the Gothenburg City Card. Count what you will really visit before you buy one.

Book early for summer and Midsummer. The prices below are my rough 2026 estimates for one night in Stockholm. Outside the big cities, prices are often lower.

Places to sleep that you will remember

• Icehotel, Jukkasjärvi: Artists build new rooms from Torne River ice every winter. Part of the hotel stays frozen all year.
• Treehotel, Harads: Rooms built high in the trees, each by a different architect.
• A ship in Stockholm: af Chapman, an old sailing ship on Skeppsholmen, is an STF hostel.
• Manor houses: Old country estates with gardens and long dinners.

• The Stockholm archipelago: About 30,000 islands, rocks and skerries. Take a Waxholmsbolaget boat, swim from the rocks and eat at an island café.
• The Vasa Museum: A warship that sank on its first voyage in 1628. It was lifted from the seabed in 1961, and almost all of it is still there.
• Gamla stan: Stockholm’s old town, with narrow lanes, the Royal Palace and Stortorget, the oldest square in the city.
• Northern lights in Abisko: Clear skies make Abisko one of the best places to see the aurora, from about September to March. The Aurora Sky Station sits on a mountain above the village.
• Abisko National Park and Kungsleden: Mountains, the midnight sun in June and July, and the start of Kungsleden, a trail of about 440 km to Hemavan.
• Visby on Gotland: A medieval town inside its old town wall, on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In August, Medieval Week fills the streets.
• The Göta Canal: 190 km of canal and locks, opened in 1832. Travel it by boat, or cycle the old towpaths.
• Icehotel, Jukkasjärvi: Worth a visit even if you do not sleep there.

Stockholm is my home, but Sweden has more to show. These are the five largest municipalities.

Smaller towns are often the nicest surprise. Helsingborg looks across the water to Denmark, Jönköping sits on Lake Vättern, and Norrköping has old textile mills along a waterfall.

Mobile coverage is good, even in much of the countryside. EU visitors can use their home plan with no roaming fees. Other visitors can buy a prepaid SIM or eSIM from Telia, Tele2, Telenor or Tre. Most cafés, hotels and trains have free Wi-Fi.

Apps I suggest

• SL: Tickets and journeys in Stockholm
• Resrobot: Public transport across all of Sweden
• SJ: Train tickets between cities
• Waxholmsbolaget: Archipelago boats around Stockholm
• EasyPark: Parking
• Too Good To Go: Leftover food from cafés and shops at a low price
• A translation app: For menus and signs

Swedes can seem quiet at first. It is not coldness. It is respect for your space. Once someone invites you home, you are welcome.

Values you will feel

• Fika: A coffee break with something sweet. It is a small social ritual, at home and at work. On 4 October, Sweden even celebrates Cinnamon Bun Day.
• Lagom: Not too much, not too little. Just right.
• Jantelagen: A quiet rule against showing off. People are proud of their work, but they rarely say so loudly.
• First names: Everyone uses first names, even with a boss or a doctor.

Everyday manners

• Be on time. On time means on time.
• Take a queue number. At pharmacies, some shops and service desks, pull a nummerlapp from the machine and wait for your number.
• On escalators, stand on the right and walk on the left.
• Take off your shoes when you enter someone’s home.
• Keep your voice low on public transport. Many trains have a quiet carriage (tyst avdelning).
• Sort your waste. Paper, plastic, glass, metal and food waste often go into separate bins.

Opening hours

Most shops open around 10:00 and close at 18:00 or 19:00 on weekdays, earlier on Saturdays. On Sundays, many small shops open for fewer hours or stay closed. Large supermarkets are often open every day until 21:00 or 22:00.

Traditions I love

• Midsummer: A maypole, flowers in the hair, herring, new potatoes, strawberries and songs before every snaps.
• Christmas Eve: The julbord buffet, warm glögg, and Donald Duck on TV at 15:00, a tradition since 1960.
• Easter: Children dress up as Easter witches and go door to door for candy.
• Valborg: Bonfires and songs to welcome spring. Students in Uppsala and Lund celebrate all day.
• Crayfish parties: In August, people eat crayfish outdoors, wear paper hats and sing.

Holidays that change opening hours

On public holidays and on Midsummer, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, many shops close or open for fewer hours.

This is my favorite Swedish law. Allemansrätten, the right of public access, lets everyone use nature, including privately owned land, as long as you respect it.

You can

• Walk, cycle, ski and swim almost anywhere in nature
• Pick berries, mushrooms and most wildflowers (not protected species)
• Camp for a night or two, out of sight of homes

You cannot

• Enter private gardens or walk close to houses
• Walk across fields with crops
• Light a fire during a fire ban. In summer, check the local rules before you light anything.

National parks and nature reserves have their own rules. Read more at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s page on the right of public access. The Swedish saying is simple: don’t disturb, don’t destroy. I see this right as a responsibility too. The forest is shared. We borrow it.

Swedish food is simple, seasonal and honest. Much of it comes from long winters: things that are pickled, cured and kept.

Dishes to try

• Köttbullar: Meatballs with potatoes, cream sauce and lingonberries
• Gravlax: Cured salmon with a sweet mustard and dill sauce
• Sill: Pickled herring, a must at Midsummer and Christmas
• Räksmörgås: An open shrimp sandwich, a summer classic
• Ärtsoppa och pannkakor: Pea soup and pancakes, traditionally eaten on Thursdays
• Janssons frestelse: A potato and anchovy bake
• Toast Skagen: Shrimp in a creamy dill sauce on fried bread, often a starter
• Pytt i panna: Fried cubes of potato and meat, with a fried egg and pickled beetroot
• Renskav: Thin slices of reindeer meat, a dish from the north with roots in Sami food culture
• Västerbottensost: A hard, sharp cheese from the north. Try it in a cheese pie.
• Tunnbrödsrulle: Street food: soft flatbread rolled around mashed potato and a sausage
• Surströmming: Fermented herring. Open the tin outdoors. You will understand why.

Something sweet

• Kanelbulle and kardemummabulle: Cinnamon and cardamom buns
• Semla: A cardamom bun with almond paste and cream, eaten in late winter
• Prinsesstårta: A green, marzipan-covered cake
• Chokladboll: A no-bake chocolate oat ball
• Kladdkaka: A sticky chocolate cake
• Pepparkakor: Thin ginger cookies, everywhere at Christmas
• Lördagsgodis: Saturday candy. Children, and many adults, pick loose candy from big walls in the shop.

Drinks and alcohol

Swedes drink a lot of coffee, and it is strong. Grocery stores sell light beer (lättöl) and medium beer (folköl), up to 3.5 percent. Anything stronger to take away is only sold at Systembolaget, the state-owned alcohol shop. You must be 20 to buy there, and 18 to drink in bars and restaurants.

Most stores close at 19:00 or 20:00 on weekdays and at 15:00 on Saturdays. They are closed on Sundays and public holidays. At Christmas and Easter, try julmust and påskmust, sweet malt sodas.

Special diets

Vegetarian and vegan food is easy to find, and menus often mark it clearly. Halal food is easiest to find in the larger cities.

Where and when to eat

• Food halls: Östermalms saluhall in Stockholm and Stora Saluhallen in Gothenburg
• Lunch: Weekday dagens lunch often includes a salad bar, bread and coffee.
• Dinner: Swedes eat early, often between 18:00 and 20:00. Book popular restaurants ahead.
• Fine dining: Stockholm has several restaurants with Michelin stars.

Stockholm is expensive, but some of its best moments cost nothing.

• Walk through Gamla stan, the old town, early in the morning before the groups arrive.
• Watch the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace. It starts at 12:15 Monday to Saturday and at 13:15 on Sundays and public holidays. It is free. Check the Royal Guard schedule from the Swedish Armed Forces for the day.
• Visit free museums such as the Swedish History Museum (Historiska museet) and the Royal Armoury (Livrustkammaren). The collection at Moderna Museet is also free. Sweden has more museums per person than any other country. Read my article on Sweden’s museum record.
• Ride the metro for the art. Most of the 100 stations have art. Start with the blue line at T-Centralen and Kungsträdgården.
• Take the Djurgården ferry from Slussen. It takes a normal SL ticket. Longer archipelago boats (Waxholmsbolaget) need their own tickets.
• Watch the sunset from Monteliusvägen on Södermalm, over the water and the city hall.
• Go into nature. Tyresta National Park is about an hour from the city by public transport.

Sweden is a safe country to visit. Use normal city sense. Watch your bag in crowded places, such as Central Station and the busy streets of Gamla stan. Sweden is also a good country for women who travel alone.

• Police, not urgent: Call 114 14.
• Drink-driving: The limit is 0.2 per mille, much lower than in many countries. Do not drink and drive.
• Ticks: From spring to autumn, check your skin after walks in grass and forest. Ticks can carry TBE and Lyme disease. If you will spend a lot of time in the Stockholm archipelago, ask a pharmacy about the TBE vaccine.
• Cold water: Lakes and the sea can be cold, even in July. Swim where others swim.
• Northern winter: In Lapland, it can go below −30°C. Dress in layers and tell someone your route.

Health

Call 112 in an emergency. For medical advice, call 1177 or visit 1177, Sweden’s health care guide, which has information in English and several other languages. For medicine, look for the word Apotek. Grocery stores sell some basic painkillers in small packs. EU visitors should bring their European Health Insurance Card. Everyone else should have travel insurance.

LGBTQ travelers

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Sweden since 2009, and discrimination is illegal. Stockholm Pride takes place every summer, usually in late July or early August. As a queer woman, I feel at home in Stockholm. Smaller towns are often relaxed too, just less visible.

Accessibility

Most metro stations in Stockholm have lifts, and most city buses are low-floor. The cobblestones and steep lanes in Gamla stan and parts of Södermalm are hard for wheelchairs and strollers. Museums vary, so check each one before you go.

1. Packing for the month on the calendar instead of the weather forecast.
2. Bringing a lot of cash.
3. Planning to buy wine on a Sunday.
4. Waiting until May to book a room for Midsummer.
5. Expecting shops to open late on Sundays and holidays.
6. Standing on the left side of the escalator.
7. Seeing only Stockholm. Uppsala is less than an hour away by train, and small towns such as Nyköping are easy day trips.
8. Staying indoors. Nature is free, close and yours to use.

Sweden rewards visitors who slow down. Take the long fika. Sit by the water without a plan. Let the silence on the train be restful.

Which Sweden will you meet: the bright one in June, or the dark, candlelit one in December?

Välkommen till Sverige.

For the curious. I checked every number against official sources in September 2026. Numbers change, so the year is next to each one.

People

Travel and tourism

Work and money

Taxes

Family and society

Sweden in Europe and the world

Curious facts

• Donald Duck at Christmas: Millions of Swedes watch the same Disney cartoons at 15:00 on Christmas Eve. The tradition started in 1960.
• Saturday candy: Lördagsgodis comes from health advice in the 1950s: eat candy once a week, not every day.
• Names need approval: The Swedish Tax Agency must approve a child’s first name. In 1996, parents protested the law with a 43-character name. It was rejected.
• Julmust: This Christmas malt soda is often reported to outsell Coca-Cola in Sweden in December.
• Swedish inventions: Dynamite (Alfred Nobel), the three-point seat belt (Nils Bohlin at Volvo, 1959) and the first implanted pacemaker (Stockholm, 1958).

Read next

• Museums in Stockholm by district
• The Nobel Prize Museum in Gamla stan
• Private tours with Zayera in Stockholm

All photos on this page were taken by Zayera Khan. Zayera Khan is the photographer and copyright owner. Please do not reuse them without permission.

Sources: Statistics Sweden (SCB); SL; EU Travel to Europe (EES and ETIAS); Sweden’s national parks; Tarfala Research Station on Kebnekaise; Arlanda Express; Flygbussarna.

Sources for the facts section: SCB, population 2025; SCB, life expectancy; SCB, people born abroad; SCB, labor market 2025; SCB, local income tax 2026; Visit Sweden, guest nights 2025; Swedish Tax Agency, food VAT; National Mediation Office, unions and agreements; Ekonomifakta, tax as a share of GDP; Avfall Sverige, household waste.