Stockholm http://www.stockholmtown.com/ is the capital of Sweden. The city is made up of 14 islands connected by some 50 bridges on Lake Mälaren, which flows into the Baltic Sea and passes an archipelago with some 24,000 islands and islets.

The city's a very lively, cosmopolitan place with both modern Scandinavian architecture including lots of brass and steel, along with fairytale towers, a captivating Old Town (Gamla Stan) and lots of green space. Over 30% of the city area is made up of waterways and another 30% is made up of parks and green spaces, giving Stockholm perhaps the freshest air and widest lungs of any European capital.

Get in

By plane

• Arlanda Airport http://www.arlanda.se/en/ (IATA: ARN; ICAO: ESSA) is the main international airport (served by SAS http://www.flysas.com, BA http://www.ba.com and many others) and is situated 40 km (25 mi) north of the city.

  There are several methods for travelling between Stockholm and Arlanda.

  • By taxi: Major taxi companies operate on a fixed price basis between Arlanda and central Stockholm. Prices at the taxi stands currently range from 450SEK (Transfer Taxi) to 495SEK. Generally, you can freely choose among the waiting taxis or ask the operator for a specific company. A taxi ride to central Stockholm takes approximately 40 minutes. With some companies, you can get a lower price if you pre-book your ride. With Airport Cab (+46 8 25 25 23 http://www.airportcab.se/) the cost is 430SEK from Arlanda to Stockholm, 390SEK from Stockholm to Arlanda. With Taxi Solna (+46 8 280 280 http://www.taxisolna.se/) the cost is 445SEK from Arlanda to Stockholm, 350SEK from Stockholm to Arlanda. See the Taxi section below for some general advice on taxi travel in Stockholm.
  • By dedicated rail: The Arlanda Express Train http://www.arlandaexpress.com/, which leaves from the lower level (basement) of each terminal (Arlanda South/Södra and Arlanda North/Norra), costs 240SEK one-way (children, youth up to the age of 25, and ISIC card holders 120SEK, two adults 250SEK during weekends and holidays), but gets you to the Central Station in 20 minutes and departs every 15 minutes during the day. Tickets can be bought from kiosks at the platform and online (50SEK extra is charged when buying a ticket on board.
  • By regular rail: Regular trains serve the airport through a third station, Arlanda Central, located under Sky City between terminal 4 and 5. Services include the Uppsala commuter rail (Upptåget) which goes northwards to Uppsala and Tierp and sometimes Gävle, but also Upplands Väsby, which is a connection point to Stockholm suburban trains to central Stockholm. This option takes 35 minutes and local transport tickets can be used and bought at the entrance to the station, though you have to pay a station access fee of 60 SEK (or 40 SEK for people under the age of 20). There are also regional trains on the Linköping - Stockholm - Gävle route, which costs 95 SEK (2nd class) to central Stockholm and takes 20 minutes, like the Arlanda Express. The problem is that this service only operates once every other hour, but frankly, if you are on time there is no reason whatsoever to take Arlanda Express, as the regional train is much cheaper, though not as cheap as local transport. Finally, long-distance trains from Stockholm operate to points in central Sweden, like Sundsvall, mora or Östersund. It is not, however, permitted to use these trains to travel from the airport to central Stockholm. See http://sl.se/en/Visitor/ for local transport tickets and for regional/intercity rail tickets
  • Airport coaches (Flygbussarna) http://www.flygbussarna.se/Default.aspx?lang=EN run frequently to and from the City Terminal, just next to the Central Station (approx. 40 minutes) and cost 110SEK (79SEK for people under 25). You can't buy tickets with cash on board, but credit cards are accepted. They make a few stops in the northern suburbs, as well as Vasastaden, along the way.
  • The company airportshuttle.se http://www.airportshuttle.se runs a minibus shuttle service to selected hotels in central Stockholm. The price is 190SEK when pre-booking at least 12 hours before departure. Ticket can also be bought at the Arlanda information desks.

• Bromma Airport (IATA: BMA; ICAO: ESSB) is a smaller airport, located inside the city about 10 km (6 mi) west of the center, mainly used for domestic flights and inter-European hops to cities like Brussels and Paris. Airport coaches http://www.flygbussarna.se/Default.aspx?lang=EN offer an extremely expensive connection to the City Terminal at 79SEK.
  • A cheaper option (40SEK, 26SEK with pre-bought ticket coupons) is to either take local bus 152 to Sundbyberg station, and from there a suburban train to Stockholm Central.
• Skavsta Airport (IATA: NYO; ICAO: ESKN) mostly used by Ryanair and Wizzair. Located 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Stockholm, near the town Nyköping.

  There are two competing bus services between Stockholm and Skavsta. The travel time is about 80 minutes.

  • Airport coaches http://www.flygbussarna.se/Default.aspx?lang=EN go to/from the City Terminal in Stockholm every 20 minutes. 89SEK one way, 178SEK round trip. Tickets can be bought on-line or from the cashier at the bus terminal.
  • Fly by coach (Ryanair) https://www.flybycoach.com started a new bus service to/from the City Terminal in Stockholm (one level above the ground) in May 2009. 90SEK one way, 170SEK round trip. There is a new campaign, that 2 people can travel use one ticket. This makes it 50% cheaper than Flygbussarna, if you are 2 people traveling. There is also a free WiFi service on-board the buses. Fly by coach web page informs travelers that from 17 April all traffic is cancelled until further notice.

• Västerås Airport (IATA: VST; ICAO: ESOW) is situated 100 km (62 mi) west of Stockholm near the town Västerås. Serves Ryanair flights to/from London (Stansted). Airport coaches http://www.flygbussarna.se/Default.aspx?lang=EN go to/from the City Terminal in Stockholm. 150SEK one way, 249SEK round trip, takes about 75 minutes.

By train

The main station, Stockholms Central, serves both commuter and long-distance routes. It is located in the city centre, with an underground connection to T-Centralen, the central hub for the subway system. The major national rail company, SJ, has a travel planner and ticket booking service on its web page http://www.sj.se/. Internationally, there are daily services to Copenhagen (Denmark) (5 hours), Oslo (Norway) (6 hours), Narvik (Norway) (14 hours), Brussels (Belgium) (as from June 2010), and Trondheim (Norway) (requires a change in Östersund).

By bus

The City Terminal (Cityterminalen http://www.cityterminalen.com/) is the main bus terminal, centrally located and directly connected to the main train station, Stockholms Central and the T Centralen metro station. There are multiple daily departures to most other cities in Sweden, as well as a few international routes. Swebus Express http://www.swebusexpress.se/default.aspx operates routes to Copenhagen and Oslo with several daily departures, and a twice-weekly service to Berlin. Eurolines http://www.eurolines-travel.com/ has some departures to Copenhagen. Smaller operators offer connections with Prague, Budapest, Zagreb, Banja Lukahttp://www.autoprevoz.org/engleski/redvoznje.php among other cities.

By boat

Cruise-ferries link Stockholm to Helsinki, Mariehamn and Turku in Finland, Riga in Latvia and Tallinn in Estonia every day. Stockholm is the main Swedish terminal for the Baltic Sea cruises - over 12 million passengers pass through the city's port each year, making the boats one of the main ways to get into the city. They are by far the cheapest way to get to and from these cities from Stockholm. If you intend to use the boats to travel to- or from- Stockholm, it is almost always cheaper to book a cruise (kryssning), or even two head-to-head cruises and discard the returns, rather than buy one-way tickets. Tickets can be had for as low as 80 SEK for a full 4-person cabin (making it practically the cheapest accommodation one can find virtually anywhere in the world - at 10 SEK/night/person) for a two-night Stockholm-Helsinki return cruise (provided you book early and/or last minute during the weekdays), and should almost never (even for a weekend cruise in high season) exceed 400 SEK for the cheapest type of 4-bed cabin. A one-way ticket, for a shared berth, in comparison, will almost always exceed 1000 SEK.

Booking may be hard to do from abroad, as international websites of both Tallink-Silja and Viking Line do not have on-line booking. The simplest and cheapest way to book a ticket is to simply use the local website of the shipping line in the country where you intend to start your journey, and check for "Red tickets" or "Last minute offers" for cruises reaching Stockholm. Note that both Viking and Tallink Silja have a problem with accepting international credit cards. That is not a problem in practice, as you can make a booking and pay it in the port with only a token extra charge (3-5 euro).

• Tallink http://www.tallink.se/ ferries to Mariehamn and Tallinn in Estonia depart from Värtahamnen port, and ferries to Riga in Latvia from Frihamnen port. For both ports, take subway T13 to Gärdet (direction Ropsten). At Gärdet, for Värtahamnen, walk 500 meters over the walking bridge. For Frihamnen, from the subway stop, either walk about 1 km, or take blue bus 1 to Frihamnen (direction Frihamnen). Another alternative to get to Frihamnen from downtown is to take bus 76 (direction Ropsten) from Slussen, Gamla Stan or Karl XII:s Torg in Kungsträdsgården straight to the port. From Frihamnen, the direction you should take bus 76 to get to downtown is Norra Hammarbyhamnen.

• Silja Line http://www.silja.fi, owned by Tallink, has ferries to Mariehamn, Helsinki and Turku departing from Värtahamnen port in North-Eastern Stockholm. See directions above.

• Viking Line http://www.vikingline.fi/index.asp?lang=en ferries to Mariehamn, Helsinki and Turku depart from the eastern part of Stadsgårdsterminalen port in eastern Södermalm, close to Slussen and thus downtown. Expensive buses shuttle passengers to the Slussen subway station (60 SEK for a 1-2 minute, less than 1 km journey, that takes 10 minutes by foot - such a distance may actually cost less in a taxi), so most people walk on foot by following the coastline west for about 10 minutes. Slussen is a major public transport node, with access to all three trunk subway lines, so from there many options are available to wherever in the city you may want to go. If you are driving to the boat, follow the signs to Slussen, then Stadsgårdsterminalen (note that Slussen is confusing for even locals, so don't feel embarrassed if you end up spinning in the intersection a few times) and then Finland/Viking Line

• Birka Cruises http://www.birka.se/ ferries to Mariehamn in Åland depart from Western Stadsgårdsterminalen, about 700 meters from Slussen (right in front of Viking's terminal). See above for instructions.

• Holland America Cruises also use Stadsgårdsterminalen in eastern Södermalm. See above for instruction.

A lot of European cruises have day long stops in Stockholm.

Get around

Public transport

Stockholms Lokaltrafik, SL (Stockholm Public Transport) http://www.sl.se/english runs an extensive subway, commuter train and bus system as well as some tram, light rail and ferry services, all using an integrated ticket system based on coupons. The minimum amount of coupons needed is 2, and the maximum 4, depending on how many zones the trip goes through. There are passes available for 24 hours (100SEK), 72 hours (200SEK), or 7 days (260SEK), stripes of 16 coupons (förköpsremsa) for 180SEK and the slightly confusing single journey tickets. Single tickets are cheaper when bought in advance (15SEK in advance, 20SEK from the clerk for adults, 9 / 12 for seniors and children), effectively making one trip in one zone at least 30SEK for adults. Single tickets are valid for one hour. Stripes can be shared as long as you go to the same destination and in most cases they are the most cost effective option for tourists. When you purchase the 72-hour pass, you also receive free admission to Gröna Lund (see "See" below). If you are going to be in Stockholm for a while, go ahead and purchase a 30-day card, which allows unrestricted access to all of the buses, trams, subways, and commuter trains, as well as the Djurgården ferry, for 690SEK.

The Stockholm Card http://www.stockholmtown.com/stockholmcard allows free public transport as well as free admission to 75 museums and sights in Stockholm, free sightseeing by boat and other bonus offers. Adult 24 hours 395SEK, adult 48 hours 525SEK, adult 72 hours 625SEK. Children 24 hours 180SEK, children 48 hours 210SEK, children 72 hours 230SEK.

The SL website has detailed ticket and price information, and a journey planner.

The standard of quality among the public transportation services is very high but there are still are a few older trains running during rush hour.

Subway

There is an efficient metro system called the Tunnelbana (sometimes abbreviated T-Bana or just T on signs). With exactly 100 stations, it is quite extensive for a city of this size and will get you around almost all the downtown places as well as most nearby suburbs. Trains run from 5AM to 1AM on weekdays and all night on weekends.

Commuter train

The commuter train (pendeltåg) in Stockholm covers much of Stockholm county, as well as some locations in bordering counties. There are currently 51 stations. The busiest routes are along the Kungsängen to Västerhaninge and Märsta to Södertälje lines, with departures every 15 minutes during the day, and every 30 minutes in the evening, and with extra cars during rush-hour. On the other lines, the service is less frequent. Commuter trains use the same tickets and passes as the subways and public buses.

Bus, light rail and ferry

Stockholm has an extensive bus system which reaches areas the Tunnelbana does not. Four inner city main lines numbered from 1 to 4 are operated by large blue buses, the other, generally less frequent lines, by red buses. Tvärbanan is a semi-circular light rail line running from the west to the southeast part of the city. A few other light rail lines connect various suburbs to the metro system. There are also ferries going to Djurgården and Skeppsholmen. Bus and light rail is included in any SL ticket or pass, and ferry travel is included with any 24- or 72-hour pass, 7-day pass as well as the monthly pass. (The ferries to the archipelago, the airport buses, the Arlanda Express train and the SJ regional trains to Uppsala, Västerås, Eskilstuna and other destinations are not part of the SL network and thus not included in any of these tickets.)

Bike

Cycling is an attractive option. On a bike, a journey across central Stockholm' will take no longer than 30 minutes and can be faster than travelling by subway or car. There are cycle paths along most major streets and drivers are generally considerate towards cyclists. In winter, when paths can be covered by ice, extra care should be taken.

• Stockholm City Bikes http://www.stockholmcitybikes.se/. In the summer months, you can use the city-operated bike loan service by purchasing a key-card. Bike stands throughout the city allows you to pick up a bike in one stand and leave it in another. A three-day (minimum period) key-card costs 125SEK and a season pass costs 200SEK. You may not use a bike for more than three hours at a time, but it is possible to switch to a new bike when returning a used one. Key-cards can be bought at an SL Center. http://www.sl.se/templates/Page.aspx?id=1897.

Bikeguide-Stockhom (http://www.bikeguide-stockholm.se/eng.html) Bikeguide-Stockholm offers a variety of high quality bikes in the center of the city. From mountainbikes to childrens bikes and city bikes. Child carriers and child seats are available. Helmets are included in the rental price. The bikes have at least 7 gears and are maximum of two seasons old. 3 hours 200SEK. Full day from 250SEK. Narvavägen 13-17. Open 10-18 April-October. Call to rent bikes off season +46(0)733- 09 56 26

• Cykel- & Mopeduthyrningen, Strandvägen, Kajplats 24 (T Östermalmtorg or T Karlaplan). Only open in the summer months.

• Djurgårdsbrons Sjöcafé, Galärvarvsvägen 2 (on Djurgården, just to the right as you cross Djurgårdsbron) http://info.aos.se/E/V/STOSE/0000/35/50/6.html. Only open in the summer months. Rents bikes for 250SEK per day. Also rents roller blades and kayaks.

• Gamla Stans Cykel, Stora Nygatan 20 (T Gamla Stan) http://www.gamlastanscykel.se/index.php?p=140. Open all year. Rents three speed city bikes for 190SEK per day or 500SEK for 3 days.

• Servicedepån - Cykelstallet, Scheelegatan 15 (T Rådhuset) http://cykelstallet.se/. Open all year. Rents 3 speed city bikes, 21 speed mountain/hybrids (200SEK/day), and racers. They have metal-stud snow tyres for winter ice use, but you will have to ask in advance. Helmets are free with the bike, other accessories like panniers can also be rented. Rental period is from 10AM-6PM, full 24 hours, or several days.

Taxi

Taxis are on the expensive side. The Stockholm taxi market was deregulated several years ago, which made it considerably easier to find a taxi, but no pricing regulations are in effect. This means that small operators can, and sometimes will, charge outrageous prices. Try to stick with the major companies (Taxi Stockholm, +46 8 15 00 00; Taxi Kurir, +46 8 30 00 00; and Taxi 020, 020 20 20 20 - free number, national calls only) to avoid being ripped off. (Note that many minor companies use "Stockholm" in their names to mimic their competitor, so look for the phone number 15 00 00 which appears below the logo on all Taxi Stockholm cars.)

If you hail a taxi from any other company it might be a good idea to ask for a price estimate before commencing your journey. Expect to pay about 100SEK for a 5 minute trip. All the major taxi companies accept credit cards.

Authorized taxis have yellow license plates. Late at night in the city centre, you may be offered a ride with an unauthorized taxi, svarttaxi (literally "black taxi"), usually by discrete whispering of "taxi". Most of the time this will get you home for roughly the same cost as ordinary taxis, just don't ask for a receipt. These cabs are usually controlled by organized crime, and some unpleasant episodes have been known to happen to passengers, so try this at your own risk, and preferably not alone.

It's often possible to negotiate a price with a licensed taxi driver before entering the cab. In this case, it's implied that you won't receive a receipt, and the driver won't be paying any taxes or his employer. The money (paid in cash) will go straight into the driver's pocket, which means that you can often get a cheaper ride. However, if you don't know the area well enough to estimate the regular metered price you might get ripped off.

Most taxi firms operate a fixed price regime from central Stockholm to Arlanda airport, mirroring the rates for the journey into town of around 450-500SEK. It is a good idea to check with the driver that you will get the fixed price before you set off - the meter price for the same ride may cost twice as much.

Car

Cars driving into or out of central Stockholm between 6:30AM and 6:29PM are charged a congestion tax http://www.transportstyrelsen.se/sv/Vag/Trangselskatt/ of 10 to 20SEK. Some car rental companies charge their customers separately for the cost of toll passages, while others don't. Foreign-registered cars are exempt from the tax.

Boat

There are two hop-on/hop-off boat tours that run loops between various sites in Stockholm. Both cost approximately 10 Euro for a day long pass and have approximately 8 stops, including the cruise terminal, Gamla Stan, the Vasa Museum, Skansen, and Skeppsholmen.

Get out

• Drottningholm— Although the Royal Palace is situated in the center of the city, the Royal family actually lives at Drottningholm Palace on the Lovö island in Lake Mälaren, about forty minutes from the city centre by public transport. The 18th century palace is beautiful, and much of it is open to the public. The surroundings are well worth a walk as well. Take the subway (T-bana) to Brommaplan, change to one of the buses 301-336, or 176 or 177 to Drottningholm. In the summertime, there is also regular boat service from Stadshuskajen (the City Hall Quay) to Drottningholm operated by Strömma Kanalbolaget http://www.strommakanalbolaget.com/index-EN.htm (130SEK for a return ticket). Consider the combination return ferry ticket (210SEK, includes the palace and the Chinese Pavilion). But, if you are a student with an ISIC card, don't buy the combo ticket because you won't get the discounts offered by the Palace and Chinese Pavilion. Sadly, there are no interpretative signs in the Palace or in the Chinese Pavilion. So, catch a (free) guided tour, offered nearly every half hour in Swedish and English, and you'll get a lot more out of it. Or, buy a guide book (50SEK). If you use Talk of the town http://www.talkofthetown.se/en-start.html the mobile audioguide for Stockholm. You can listen at six sights spread over Drottningholm Royal domain in six languages.

• Birka— For the real Viking buff, there's Birka http://www.raa.se/birka_eng/index.asp, the site of a former Viking city of about 1,000 inhabitants situated on Björkö, an island in Lake Mälaren. Today, however, traces of the settlement are hard to spot and the small museum (+46 8 56051445, closed during winter) is really only worth the ride if you are genuinely interested in the subject. Boats to Björkö are operated by Strömma Kanalbolaget http://www.strommakanalbolaget.com/index-EN.htm. Birka can also be reached by driving to Ekerö (Ekerövägen/road 261), taking a car ferry to Adelsö, and finally taking a short ferry to Björkö. The car ferry to Adelsö is free and takes approximately 10 minutes. Immediately after driving of the Adelsö ferry, you should turn to the left. Drive until you see a church, Adelsö Church, and park in the parking lot located across the street from the church. Walk across the road (that you just arrived on) and follow the country road that is paralell to the church (i.e., walk towards the lake). After a five-minute walk, you will see a gate on the left. Open it and let yourself in to the field, but do not forget to close it behind yourself. The rocks and rune stone on the field are remains from a royal residence. Continue along the path until you reach a jetty. The Björkö ferry leaves Adelsö jetty at 11:30 (during the summer), and the crossing to Björkö takes approximately 15 minutes. There is a pleasant cafe across the street from Adelsö Church.

• Uppsala— A lively and very old university city located 45 minutes north of Stockholm (trains every hour for 62-72 SEK one way). There you can see the biggest cathedral in Scandinavia, Linnaeus' botanical gardens as well as Viking royal burial mounds and temple remains from the time when Uppsala was Sweden's capital. Currently fourth largest city in Sweden, but still doable as a day trip.

• Sigtuna http://www.sigtunaturism.se/— Oldest medieval town in Sweden. Streets are small here and dotted with low built wooden houses. Lies north of Stockholm and makes an excellent daytrip.

• Bornsjön— For a real wild animal safari close to Stockholm, Bornsjön is the best spot. It is a nature reserve 30 minutes drive south of Stockholm. The natural environment is perfect here for watching mammals like moose, roe deer and wild boar. Stockholm Outback offers tours down to the reserve every evening during the summer. For further information call +46 73-6578708 or visit their homepage http://www.sthlmoutback.se/.

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