Sweden is long, wild and quietly welcoming, a country where a medieval old town sits an hour from thirty thousand islands, and a night train carries you from the capital to the edge of the Arctic. This is your guide to visiting Sweden, written for international travellers who want more than the obvious sights. Start with the essentials, then dive into the regions and experiences below.
Plan your trip
Before anything else, work out when to go, how to get around and what to budget. Sweden is one of the most cashless countries on earth, its trains are excellent, and English is spoken everywhere, which makes it an easy place to travel once you know the basics.
Planning a trip to Sweden
When to go, visas, money, and how to get around by train and ferry.
Budget travel in Sweden
Is Sweden expensive? How to keep costs down with local tricks.
The right to roam
Allemansrätten lets you walk, swim and camp across most of the country.
Cities and coast
Most journeys begin in Stockholm, spread across fourteen islands, then reach out to the island archipelago or west to the salty harbour city of Gothenburg.
Things to do in Stockholm
The old town, the Vasa Museum, the metro art and the green island of Djurgården.
The Stockholm archipelago
Thirty thousand islands, and how to reach them by public ferry.
Gothenburg and the west coast
Canals, seafood and the granite fishing villages of Bohuslän.
Nature and the north
Sweden’s wild north is where travellers chase the northern lights, sleep in an ice hotel and meet the Indigenous Sami culture. The whole country is laced with forests, lakes and thirty national parks open to all.
Swedish Lapland and the northern lights
Abisko, Kiruna, the ice hotel and when to see the aurora.
Food and traditions
To understand Sweden, eat its food and learn its rituals, from the daily coffee break called fika to the flower crowned maypoles of midsummer.
Swedish food and fika
Meatballs, herring, cinnamon buns and the all important coffee break.
Midsummer and Swedish traditions
Midsummer, Lucia, crayfish parties and the celebration calendar explained.
Why visit Sweden
Few countries combine a polished, easy going city break with such immediate access to genuine wilderness. You can spend the morning in a Stockholm cafe and the evening swimming from a deserted island, or watch the northern lights from a mountain that has no light pollution for miles. Add safe streets, fluent English and a deep culture of slowing down, and Sweden becomes a place that is as restful as it is exciting. For official, up to date information, the national tourism board Visit Sweden is the best starting point alongside this guide.