How expensive is it to visit Sweden?

I went to Stockholm a few years ago. Not as much of a rip-off as London but still very expensive. I would say it's by far the most touristy of the Scandinavian cities. I don't know about the rest of the country. It's not a cheap region to visit. I wouldn't spend an entire vacation in Sweden unless I had family there.

r1 again. Copenhagen is surprisingly affordable, I would take another look at going there. Lots of cheap food and tourist attractions. Out of Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo and Helsinki, I think Copenhagen is the most fun. You're right about Oslo, way too expensive considering how uninteresting it is.

Sweden is more $ than Denmark. And Norway is more $ than Sweden. You'll be shocked at how little your dollar buys there.

[quote] I wouldn't spend an entire vacation in Sweden unless I had family there.

We are starting at a conference in Dublin, and were looking for someone where else to visit because we've been to Ireland many times.

What is there to see in Stockholm?

I will argue in favor of Stockholm. It's a gorgeous city and vastly more interesting than Copenhagen. The geography of the city and the architecture is stunning, and it feels more distinctly Swedish than Copenhagen feels distinctly Danish, to me at least. Granted Copenhagen is indeed very nice, but more in the way of a nice, comfortable place to live than an exciting place to visit. Neither city is inexpensive. Restaurants in particular are very expensive in both places. Alcohol is famously expensive in Sweden. If you want to eat out well in a restaurant two or three times every day and have lots of alcoholic drinks, the cost can be very high. I found Stockholm to have more choice in hotels and hotel prices, and found those prices to be relatively more in line with other European countries generally. The indices I can see put the cost of visiting Copenhagen and Stockholm at about the same, which is my experience as well.

Everyone you will meet in Stockholm or Copenhagen will speak fairly faultless English, some switching between American and English accents easily depending on audience and with a very solid knowledge of idiomatic speech, and a few other languages besides.

Thanks a lot, r5--this is really helpful.

How many days would you slot for Stockholm? And is either uppsala or Goteborg worth visiitng, and if so, for how long? we would take trains rather than drive.

If you're on a tight budget, I'd go to Iceland. It's a quick, cheap flight from Dublin and easy to get back to the US.

r7 is messing you, OP. Iceland is famously expensive.

Don't go off to any small villages with new friends.

My friend and I have no interest in visiting Iceland. We like cities with art and pretty urban spaces--Reykjavik does not appeal to us.

p.s.--I meant to write "Gothenburg," not "Goteborg," at r7.

You should really look into Delaware, op.

Ugh, I wrote a really long post with recommendations for Stockholm which I then lost.

Anyway, I would also recommend Stockholm. It’s beautiful in the summer, it has got a ton of culture (it’s a great museum city), has a really good food scene, and lots of fun potential day trips.

Quick museum recommendations: The Vasa Museum - quite possibly the best museum in the world that’s not like a British Museum or Vatican Museum. It holds a perfectly preserved 17th century warship. Trust me, its amazing.

Nationalmuseum - paintings, sculpture and art objects. A great collection of art, which is beautifully displayed in a newly renovated 19th century museum building.

Historiska Museet - has the worlds largest viking exhibition.

Stockholm Palace - one of the biggest royal palaces in Europe.

For day trips, I would recommend the archipelago (30,000 islands dotted with beautiful houses and quaint villages, served by steamboats built more than a century ago) and Drottningholm Palace (the royal residence, UNESCO World Heritage Site).

Uppsala is also a great day trip from Stockholm. Very historical, with the largest cathedral in Scandinavia. It’s a university town, so pretty empty in summer. Go over the day and return to Stockholm for dinner and evening activities.

Sweden may be a bargain right now - the CDC has them at Level 4 today and advises "Avoid Travel to Sweden".

And yet the NYTimes has them at one of the lowest case risks in all of Europe, so i doubt that level status will stand for much longer, r13.

R6/OP: With 3 full days in Stockholm you can get a sense of the historic core of the city, visit mist of the major museums, and get a feel of the character of the main neighborhoods in the center. Less than that would be a lot of hard choices and a rushed visit. You could add another day easily if you like a relaxed approach and explore by central neighborhoods.

In summer there are loads of cultural events, at least worth seeing what is available and checking some out. Agree with the other poster who suggested Uppsala over Gothenburg as a day trip and back, though in my case I know only the former so my view is biased.

Monday is the day that many museums are closed, so you might verify and plan accordingly. It's a city great for walking and wandering about.

OP/r10 Goteburg and Gothenburg is the same place. Wouldn’t spend more than a day there.

I hope you like being bored and spending lots of money for it.

Thanks r15. Our plan is to spend five nights there, which amounts to four days of sightseeing--we'll take a daytrip to Uppsala, and probably an afternoon on one of the ferries seeing the Stockholm archipelago. We also now plan to see the Vasa Museum, the palace, the modern art museum, ABBA the Museum, the Nobel Prize Museum, and the Modern Art Museum.