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◆ Country guide · Scandinavia

Top 10s across Sweden

A country 1,600 kilometres long with two thirds of its people in the southern third, a coastline broken into tens of thousands of islands, and a legal right to walk across almost all of it. Sweden is expensive to eat in and remarkably cheap to be outdoors in.

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People
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Video guide
21
Counties
Region
Best months
Jun–Aug · Feb–Mar
Ideal length
8–12 days
Budget / day
$130–200
Language
Swedish, with English almost everywhere
Getting around
SJ trains & city travelcards

When to visit Sweden

Two good seasons, and they are opposites.
Full month guide →
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Best: the long light of June, and the snow-and-aurora window from February Peak: July is when Sweden takes its own holiday and the coast fills Good: shoulder months, cheaper beds, shorter queues Off: the thaw in April, and the dark wet weeks of late autumn
Quick answer · where to go in Sweden

Start in Stockholm for three or four nights, then pick which Sweden you want. West: Gothenburg is three hours away by train, with the archipelago and the shellfish. South: Malmö and the Skåne coast, with Copenhagen half an hour over the bridge. North: the night train to Abisko and Kiruna for the fells, the midnight sun in summer and the aurora from autumn. June to August is the long-daylight window. February and March are the reliable months for snow and northern lights.

2 Sweden city guides

Sorted by what travelers are saving this month.

Fun fact

One number worth knowing

Allemansrätten, the right of public access, lets anyone walk, cycle, swim and camp for a night on almost any land in Sweden, including private property, as long as they avoid gardens and crops and leave no trace. It is written into the constitution.

Stereotypes, sorted out

The clichés you have heard, what is actually true, and how to fit in.
"It is dark and freezing all year"

The realityLatitude cuts both ways. Stockholm in late June gets light that barely leaves, and above the Arctic Circle the sun does not set at all for weeks. The Baltic is warm enough to swim in by August.

"Swedes are cold and unfriendly"

The realityReserved is not the same as unfriendly. Nobody will make small talk with you in a queue, and the same person will give you twenty minutes of directions the moment you ask. Warmth here is offered, not broadcast.

"It is all IKEA, ABBA and meatballs"

The realityThose are the exports. Underneath them sits a Sámi reindeer-herding culture in the north, a Baltic island with a walled medieval town, a west coast built on shellfish, and one of the densest music-production scenes in Europe.

"Everything is unaffordably expensive"

The realityRestaurants and alcohol are. Almost nothing outdoors is. Trails, wild camping, swimming and the archipelago cost nothing beyond getting there, and the weekday lunch deal is the cheapest hot meal on any menu.

"Stockholm is Sweden"

The realityThe Stockholm region holds roughly a fifth of the population and none of the fells. Gothenburg has its own accent and its own opinion of the capital, Skåne sounds closer to Danish, and Norrland is more than half the land area.

Fika twice a dayShoes off at the doorA queue ticket for everythingMidsummer poles and pickled herringRed cottages with white trimFriday tacosA swim, then a sauna

Cultural notes that actually help

  • Take your shoes off indoors. It is not optional in a Swedish home, and nobody will tell you twice.
  • Take a queue ticket. Pharmacies, bakeries, government offices and Systembolaget all run on numbers, and standing in line without one gets you nowhere.
  • Do not tip out of habit. Service is included, rounding up is the whole gesture, and a percentage reads as foreign rather than generous.
  • Split the bill. Paying for the table is not a kindness here, and every card terminal is set up to divide.
  • Silence is comfortable. A long pause in a conversation is not awkward and does not need filling.
  • Use allemansrätten properly: one night in a spot, well away from houses, nothing left behind. The right survives because people keep to it.
  • Say hej. It covers hello from a shop counter to a stranger on a trail, and hej hej covers goodbye.

Famous Swedish faces

The names behind Sweden's music, screen, sport, science, writing, art, business and public life. Pick a field.
ABBA

ABBA

The Stockholm quartet that won Eurovision in 1974 and never left the charts
Ingmar Bergman, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Ingmar Bergman

Director of The Seventh Seal and Persona, and the reason Fårö is on film maps
Greta Garbo, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Greta Garbo

Hollywood's most famous recluse, and the face of the silent-to-sound transition
Astrid Lindgren, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Astrid Lindgren

Created Pippi Longstocking and Emil, and shaped how Sweden thinks about childhood
Alfred Nobel, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Alfred Nobel

Invented dynamite and left his fortune to the prizes that carry his name
Zlatan Ibrahimović, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Zlatan Ibrahimović

Sweden's all-time leading goalscorer, and its loudest export
Björn Borg, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Björn Borg

Won Wimbledon five years running, then walked away at 26
Ingvar Kamprad

Ingvar Kamprad

Founded IKEA at 17, naming it after himself, his farm and his village
Avicii, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Avicii

Tim Bergling, the producer who took Swedish house onto global radio
Max Martin, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Max Martin

The Stockholm producer behind three decades of American pop number ones
Robyn, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Robyn

Left the majors and released Body Talk on her own label
Swedish House Mafia

Swedish House Mafia

The trio that made Stockholm a capital of dance music
Zara Larsson, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Zara Larsson

Pop export who started by winning Talang at ten
First Aid Kit

First Aid Kit

The Söderberg sisters, who took Swedish folk-country international
José González, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

José González

Gothenburg songwriter whose fingerpicked covers travelled further than the originals
Jussi Björling, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Jussi Björling

The tenor every other Swedish voice is still measured against
Ingrid Bergman, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Ingrid Bergman

Casablanca and Notorious, and three Academy Awards
Max von Sydow, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Max von Sydow

Played chess with Death for Bergman, then worked for sixty years everywhere else
Alicia Vikander, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Alicia Vikander

Won the Academy Award for supporting actress for The Danish Girl
Stellan Skarsgård, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Stellan Skarsgård

Four decades of work, from Breaking the Waves to Dune
Noomi Rapace, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Noomi Rapace

The original Lisbeth Salander
Lasse Hallström, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Lasse Hallström

Directed My Life as a Dog, and most of ABBA's music videos before it
Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Ingemar Stenmark

Won 86 Alpine World Cup races, still the men's record
Annika Sörenstam, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Annika Sörenstam

Ten major titles, and the first woman to play a PGA Tour event since 1945
Armand Duplantis, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Armand Duplantis

The pole vaulter who keeps raising his own world record for Sweden
Charlotte Kalla, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Charlotte Kalla

Cross-country skier with Olympic gold across three Games
Peter Forsberg, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Peter Forsberg

Won the 1994 Olympic final with a shootout goal that ended up on a stamp
Henrik Lundqvist, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Henrik Lundqvist

Vezina-winning goaltender, and Sweden's face in the NHL for a decade
Carl Linnaeus, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Carl Linnaeus

The Uppsala botanist who gave every living thing a two-word name
Anders Celsius, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Anders Celsius

The Uppsala astronomer behind the temperature scale
Svante Arrhenius, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Svante Arrhenius

Nobel chemist, and the first to calculate how carbon dioxide warms the planet
Selma Lagerlöf, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Selma Lagerlöf

First woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature
August Strindberg, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

August Strindberg

Playwright, novelist and painter, and where modern Swedish prose starts
Stieg Larsson

Stieg Larsson

Wrote the Millennium trilogy, published after his death
Henning Mankell, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Henning Mankell

Created Wallander, and put Ystad on the map for a generation of readers
Tomas Tranströmer, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Tomas Tranströmer

Nobel laureate poet, and a working psychologist for most of his life
Carl Larsson, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Carl Larsson

His watercolours of a Dalarna house exported the Swedish interior
Anders Zorn, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Anders Zorn

Portrait painter from Mora who worked for three American presidents
Hilma af Klint, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Hilma af Klint

Painted abstract canvases years before Kandinsky, then asked that they wait
Daniel Ek, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Daniel Ek

Co-founded Spotify in Stockholm and rebuilt how music gets paid for
Markus Persson, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Markus Persson

Wrote Minecraft alone before selling it to Microsoft
Erling Persson

Erling Persson

Opened the shop in Västerås that became H&M
Dag Hammarskjöld, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Dag Hammarskjöld

Second Secretary-General of the United Nations
Raoul Wallenberg, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Raoul Wallenberg

Issued protective passports in wartime Budapest and saved thousands
Olof Palme

Olof Palme

Prime minister, assassinated on a Stockholm street in 1986
Greta Thunberg, Sweden (portrait via Wikimedia Commons)

Greta Thunberg

Started a school strike outside the Riksdag that spread worldwide

Must-try Swedish food

The classics, then the sea, the north, and everything fika covers. Pick a category.
Pyttipanna, Sweden (Wimup)

Pyttipanna

Diced potato, onion and leftover meat fried hard, topped with a fried egg and beetroot.

Janssons frestelse, Sweden (Wimup)

Janssons frestelse

Potato, onion and sprats baked in cream, and a fixture of every Christmas table.

Raggmunk, Sweden (Wimup)

Raggmunk

Potato pancakes fried crisp, served with fried pork and lingonberries.

Falukorv, Sweden (Wimup)

Falukorv

A thick mild sausage, sliced and fried or baked whole with cheese and mustard.

Kroppkakor, Sweden (Wimup)

Kroppkakor

Potato dumplings stuffed with pork and onion, from Öland and Småland.

Kanelbulle, Sweden (Wimup)

Kanelbulle

The cinnamon bun: cardamom in the dough, pearl sugar on top. Fika's default order.

Kardemummabulle, Sweden (Wimup)

Kardemummabulle

The cardamom sibling, and the one Swedes order when nobody is watching.

Chokladboll, Sweden (Wimup)

Chokladboll

No-bake oat and cocoa balls rolled in coconut or pearl sugar.

Prinsesstårta, Sweden (Wimup)

Prinsesstårta

Sponge, jam and cream under a dome of pale green marzipan.

Semla, Sweden (Wimup)

Semla

Cardamom bun filled with almond paste and whipped cream, eaten through the weeks before Lent.

Lussekatt, Sweden (Wimup)

Lussekatt

Saffron buns curled into an S, baked for Lucia in December.

Pepparkakor, Sweden (Wimup)

Pepparkakor

Thin ginger snaps, snapped in the palm for luck at Christmas.

Kebabpizza, Sweden (Wimup)

Kebabpizza

Sweden's own invention: pizza under kebab meat and a garlic sauce.

Glögg, Sweden (Wimup)

Glögg

Mulled wine with almonds and raisins in the bottom of the cup, from Advent onward.

Snaps, Sweden (Wimup)

Snaps

Spiced aquavit taken in small glasses, and never without a song first.

Köttbullar

Small pork and beef meatballs with cream sauce, lingonberries and pressed cucumber.

Ärtsoppa

Yellow pea soup with pork, eaten on Thursdays, with pancakes after.

Kalops

Slow beef stew with allspice and bay, and pickled beetroot on the side.

Gravad lax

Salmon cured with salt, sugar and dill, sliced thin and served with mustard sauce.

Inlagd sill

Pickled herring in a dozen dressings, always with new potatoes and dill.

Toast Skagen

Prawns in dill mayonnaise piled on fried bread, with roe on top.

Löjrom

Vendace roe from the Kalix coast, served with sour cream and finely chopped red onion.

Kräftor

Crayfish boiled in dill, eaten outdoors in August with paper hats and drinking songs.

Surströmming

Fermented Baltic herring, opened outdoors and eaten in a flatbread roll. A tradition, not a dare.

Räksmörgås

An open prawn sandwich built high enough to need a knife and fork.

Renskav

Shaved reindeer fried with mushrooms and cream, over mash and lingonberries.

Suovas

Cold-smoked reindeer from Sámi kitchens, sliced into a flatbread wrap.

Palt

Dense potato dumplings from Norrbotten, boiled with cured pork inside.

Hjortron

Cloudberries picked from the northern bogs, warmed over ice cream or soft cheese.

Kladdkaka

A chocolate cake taken out of the oven early on purpose, still sticky in the middle.

Tunnbrödsrulle

Flatbread rolled around mash, sausage, prawn salad and crisp fried onion.

Korv med bröd

The grilled sausage in bread that every kiosk and ferry terminal sells.

Julmust

A dark malt soft drink that outsells cola in Sweden every December.

Punsch

A sweet arrack liqueur, traditionally drunk warm alongside Thursday's pea soup.

Kaffe

Sweden drinks more coffee per head than almost anywhere, and fika is the reason.

Sweden travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Sweden?+
Eight to twelve days covers a first trip. Give Stockholm three or four nights, add Gothenburg or the Skåne coast by train, and keep three days spare if you are going north, because Lapland is a night away and rewards more than a look.
When is the best time to visit Sweden?+
Two answers, and they are opposite seasons. June to August for the long light, the archipelago and the swimming, with July the busiest month by some distance. February and March for reliable snow, the ski season and the best odds on the northern lights.
Is Sweden expensive?+
Eating and drinking out are the expensive parts, and alcohol especially so. Being outdoors costs close to nothing: allemansrätten covers wild camping, the trails are public, and the weekday lunch deal is the cheapest hot meal in the country.
Can you see the northern lights in Sweden?+
In the north, yes. Abisko has the reputation because a gap in the mountains leaves it unusually dry and clear. The season runs from roughly September to March, it needs a dark clear night, and no operator can promise one. Stockholm sits too far south to plan a trip around.
Do you need cash in Sweden?+
Rarely. Cards and phone payments are taken almost everywhere, including buses and market stalls, and a growing number of places accept nothing else. Bring a card with a PIN rather than notes.

Know before you go

The essentials for planning a Sweden trip.
Currency

Swedish krona (SEK)

Sweden is not in the euro and is close to cashless. Cards and phones work everywhere, including buses and market stalls, and a fair number of places take nothing else. You can travel a fortnight without touching a note.

Language

Swedish

English is spoken almost universally and taught from early school, so signage, menus and staff will meet you in it. Sámi, Meänkieli and Finnish are recognised minority languages in the north.

Emergency

112

One free number for police, ambulance and fire, from any phone, with English-speaking operators. 1177 is the separate line for non-urgent medical advice.

Visa

Schengen · 90/180

Sweden is in the Schengen area, so most Western passports enter for 90 days in any 180 without a visa. The EU's ETIAS authorisation for visa-exempt nationalities has slipped more than once, so read the official page rather than a summary before you book.

Getting around

SJ trains

One rail network runs the length of the country, from the Öresund crossing in the south to the night train that reaches Abisko. City transport is regional, SL in Stockholm and Västtrafik in Gothenburg, each on its own app. Distances in the north are long enough that a domestic flight sometimes buys back a day.

Tipping

Not expected

Service is included and rounding up is the whole convention. Card terminals sometimes offer a tip line, and leaving it blank is normal.

Alcohol

Systembolaget

Anything above 3.5 percent has to be bought from the state monopoly's shops, which keep short hours and close on Sundays. Supermarkets carry weaker beer, and licensed bars and restaurants are unaffected.

Right of access

Allemansrätten

The right of public access lets you walk, cycle, swim, forage and pitch a tent for a night on most land, private property included, as long as you stay clear of homes and crops and leave nothing behind.

Sweden by theme

Themed Top 10s across the country.
All themes →

Sweden on Wimup Videos

Films to watch before you book.
YouTube ↗
1:44:18

Gothenburg on Foot

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