Stockholm On A Budget – 10 Tips On How Not To Spend Your Entire Salary In Sweden
/In general, the Scandinavians have it all arranged well as the people here like to go for quality instead of quantity. However, everything here has a price tag if you get what I am saying. Sweden is not a cheap holiday destination: the average prices here are pretty much higher than in most of the European countries. Where you can get a nice “luxury” lunch in Paris for just 15-20 euros, here you have to spend a little more money. Yet a limited budget does not have to be a reason to avoid the Scandinavian countries. Stockholm is also excellent for travelers on a budget. Here are some tips for enjoying the city in an advantageous way.
1 City Library - the Stockholm Library is located in the Vasastan district. The building is impressive from the outside alone. Once inside, however, it is even more beautiful. It is designed in a circle and looks very large. All narrow stairs in the building remind you a bit of a maze. There is also a café in the building which is not on the expensive side of things. Admission is free!
2 Fast Food – here I not talking about McDonalds/KFC but food trucks which many times serve a multitude of international dishes for affordable prices. But I know what you are going to say: that is all good but how do we find them? there an app called Street Kak that lists many of them and also you have several Nordic Cities available from Olso to Copenhagen.
3 Lunch – To stay on the foodie side, try to schedule your meal in such a way that you have lunch at a restaurant at a typical Swedish restaurant. Most of them offer preset menus or buffets for lunchtime which are most of the times cheaper than a la carte and also you can taste delicious food.
4 Stadshuset - Stockholm City Hall is located on the island of Kungsholmen. It is located on the water and therefore offers a nice view. Because the building simply functions as a workplace for civil servants during the week, it is not freely accessible. Guided tours are offered, for which you pay 70 SEK (just over € 7), and you can view the entire building, including the room where the dinner will be held after the annual Nobel Prize Award Ceremony and Banquet.
5 Moderna Museet - Stockholm's museums are increasingly free. The Moderna Museet has also made the largest part of the museum accessible free of charge. For an artistic afternoon, you can go here. The building also offers a nice view over the Stockholm harbor!
6 Tunnelbana - the underground of Stockholm is also seen as the largest art exhibition in the world. Various artists decorated the metro stations with all kinds of paintings, mosaics, poems, and texts. For this purpose, mainly bright and cheerful colors were used. The only thing you need to bear in mind is a ticket for the metro! The green, blue and red lines offer the most beautiful works of art but in case you don’t want to see all of them I would suggest doing a bit of research in advance as some of them can be a bit further away from the city center.
7 Slussen / Södermalm - Because Stockholm consists of several islands, it’s full of bridges. These are almost all accessible to walkers and often offer a nice view. From Slussen it is possible to walk up to Söder Mälarstrand, from where you have a beautiful view over Kungsholmen. The path eventually takes you to a picnic area on the rocks. In the winter quite cold, but in the summer certainly good for a sultry, cozy evening!
8 Getting around – I would suggest renting a bike, especially if you are visiting during a summer when the weather is perfect. A 3-day pass on a City Bike costs 165 SEK (15EUR) vs. the equivalent public transportation pass which would set you back 250 SEK (23 EUR).
9 Islands hoping - Definitely not one of the cheapest tips, but pretty affordable I would say – island hopping. It’s an interesting experience and you get to see some wild forests with towns of less than hundreds of habitats. Sounds like a once in a lifetime experience, don’t you think?
10 Tours – Last but not least, I would encourage you to try a free walking tour which would give you a bit of context to everything you see versus minimal cost. Also, I know it is free but try to leave something to the tour guides in case you liked the tour.
What are your tips for Stockholm on a budget?
Interesting to read about Stockholm
