If you think that money is not the most important thing in the world, I warmly invite you to move to Stockholm immediately and feel its unique atmosphere and to plan your own trip. However, if you are a simple homo oeconomicus, like most of us, read on and you will get to know how much does a weekend in Stockholm cost.
Before the trip to Stockholm some people told me that going there means risking an immediate personal bankruptcy. I was also thinking to myself (what a wonderful world) if this weekend won’t ruin our home budget if Sweden is really so expensive as everybody says.
Ok, seriously now… Don’t believe these fairy-tales. It’s not so expensive at all. I can’t say that Sweden is a cheap country, because I would be significantly mistaken. But don’t panic. It is possible to see Stockholm and other places in Sweden, like Gothenburg (curious what to see in Gothenburg now? 🙂 ) without going bankrupt. Let’s answer the crucial question:
How much does a weekend in Stockholm cost?
1. A plane
Flights: Cracow – Stockholm Skavsta – Cracow: 78 PLN = 18 EUR or 20 USD
2. Getting to the city centre from Skavsta airport
Don’t let the airport’s name fool you. “Stockholm Skavsta” is located 100 km from the city. The easiest way to get from there to the city centre is Flygbussarna coach. Return ticket costs 278 SEK, which is around 30 EUR or 32 USD. Our time there was quite limited so we decided to use this option. It’s possible to take a train from a town of Nykoping and it may be a bit cheaper, but takes more time. We didn’t want to waste it in order to save a few euro 🙂
3. Accomodation
Here the prices can really make you look at your wallet with deep concern. Prices of a place in a hostel’s dorm start from 40 EUR or 45 USD minimum. That is A LOT for Polish standards. We used Couchsurfing – and I strongly encourage you to do the same, if only you don’t treat Couchsurfing only as a way to find free accommodation. Remember that it’s a site for finding interesting people with whom you would like to meet and spend time. We were lucky enough to find one – cheers, Avi! 🙂 If you want to be successful on Couchsurfing, you need to pay a lot of attention to the message. Check this post on how to write a Couchsurfing request your host will love? Message example. If you are not lucky with Couchsurfing, try cozycozy.com where you can compare the prices of every type of accommodation.
4. Public transport
We bought a 24-hours ticket, which costs 115 SEK (around 12 EUR or 13 USD). In addition to that it’s necessary to buy a card on which our ticket is loaded and which we can re-load later on with next ones. It costs 20 SEK (2,14 EUR or 2,33 USD).
5. Coffee shops, restaurants
The biggest shock for me! I was expecting that we will have to survive this weekend eating close to nothing at all. But actually, if you look around carefully, the prices don’t differ too much from those in Western Europe. Right in the middle of Gamla Stan we found a café called Café Muren, where for 49 SEK (5,24 EUR or 5,70 USD) you could treat yourself with a typical Swedish fika – a break for coffee and a traditional cinnamon bun. Wow, that’s even not much more expensive than in Poland!
We also had dinner in Kryp In restaurant. We had typical Swedish veal meat balls and a pasta with reindeer meat, plus a carafe of water and a coffee. For such meal we paid 300 SEK (32 EUR or 35 USD). For two people. Tip included! I mean… WOW again. That’s the same price you pay in Poland in a fancy restaurant. And the food was local and so tasty!
If you want to spend less for food though, there’s other option for you – Nysekt Stromming. It’s a food truck and you can eat a fried herring there for a really low price. The most expensive option cost 75 SEK (8 EUR or 9 USD) if I remember correctly, but there were many cheaper ones. I read that it’s really tasty, we planned to try it, but eventually we decided on Kryp In.
6. Museums
Museums in Stockholm are quite expensive, but actually if you have only two days for sightseeing, there’s not enough time to see them. We chose only Miedieval Museum, which is free of charge. I strongly recommend it.
7. Sum up
Ok, let’s sum our spendings per person
Coach from/to the airport: 30 EUR or 32 USD
Public transport: 12 + 2,14 = 14,14 EUR or 13 + 2,33 = 15,33 USD
Coffee shops: fika tempted us twice, so it sums to approximately 10,50 EUR or 11,50 USD
Restaurant: 16 EUR or 17,5 USD
In addition to that we did one shopping for around 11 EUR or 12 USD, which per person will be…. (please wait, advanced mathematical processes in progress)….. 5,5 EUR or 6 USD
TOTAL SUM: 94,14 EUR or 102,33 USD per person
And now, dear homo oeconomicus, when you’ve already counted your money and you know how much does a weekend in Stockholm cost, I think you can afford to feel Stockholm’s unique atmosphere and strat planning your own trip 🙂
A very informative article regarding cost, I wonder though what might prices be for say more expensive accommodations. i would also be interested in know approximately amount of the average day wage for a Swedish citizen. That way I’d know if pricing is as a result of the economy or other reasons. And wonder if it’s affordable for the average citizen who actually lives there.
I would say the accomodation prices in Stockholm are comparable to America. When we still didn’t know if we’ll manage to find a host on Couchsurfing we checked the prices and it was around 50 USD for a bed in a common room for 12 people in a hostel. The wages in Sweden are high (but I don’t know the exact amounts) so the prices result from the economy I think.
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