Look out for city and regional discount cards, which often give free use of local transport, free museum entry and other discounts.
Other than flying, train travel is the quickest and easiest way of covering Sweden’s vast expanses. The service is generally excellent and prices are not that high. At holiday times and between mid-June and mid-August, trains are often heavily booked; it’s worth making reservations (often compulsory) as far in advance as you can. The national train operator is SJ (t 0771 75 75 75, w sj.se) which runs an extensive network across the whole of Sweden. For train and connecting bus information visit w resrobot.se. Many station names in Sweden carry the letter C after the name of the city, for example: Stockholm C; this is a “railspeak” abbreviation of Central.
Individual train tickets are rarely cost-effective and visitors doing a lot of touring by train may be better off buying a train pass such as InterRail. A one-country InterRail pass for Sweden allows up to eight days’ travel in one month and starts at £153. Full details can be found at w interrailnet.com. If you do need to buy an individual ticket, it’s worth knowing that the sooner you buy it the cheaper it will be. The cheapest tickets, limited in number, cost 95kr on most SJ routes (195kr on express trains) and are available up to ninety days before departure. Reserved seats on Swedish trains are not marked, so although it may appear that a seat is free it may not be so.
The Inlandsbanan
If you’re in Sweden for any length of time, travelling at least part of the summer-only Inlandsbanan (Inland Railway; t 0771 53 53 53, winlandsbanan.se), which runs through central and northern Sweden, is a must. The route takes in some of the country’s most unspoilt terrain – kilometre after kilometre of forests, and several lakes (the train usually stops at one or two of them for passengers to take a quick dip), and offers a chance to see real off-the-beaten-track Sweden. For more information, For more information, see Mora. The length of the operating season varies from year to year, but trains generally run from some time in June through to August; check the website for the latest details.
By bus
Although bus travel is a little less expensive than going by train, long-distance buses are generally less frequent, and so much slower that they aren’t a good choice for long journeys. Most long-distance buses are operated by one of two companies, Swebus (t 0771 218 218, w swebus.se) and Nettbuss (t 0771 15 15 15, w gobybus.se). Departures on Friday and Sunday cost more than on other days; a standard single ticket from Stockholm to Gothenburg, for example, costs from 240kr.
Regional buses are particularly important in the north, where they carry mail to isolated areas. Several companies operate daily services, and their fares are broadly similar to one another’s (usually 250–350kr for a 1–2hr journey). Major routes are listed in the “Destinations” sections within each chapter, and you can pick up a comprehensive timetable at any bus terminal.
By plane
The main players on the Swedish domestic airline market are: SAS (w sas.se), Norwegian (w norwegian.se) and Nextjet (w nextjet.se). When booked well in advance, one-way fares on most routes begin at around 450kr.
By ferries and boats
In a country with such an extensive coastline and many lakes, it’s only natural that domestic ferry services in Sweden are many and varied. The main route is between Visby, on the Baltic island of Gotland, and Nynäshamn, on the mainland near Stockholm. Departures are very popular in summer and you should try to book ahead.
Many of the various archipelagos off the coast – particularly the Stockholm archipelago with its 24,000 islands – have ferry services which link up the main islands in the group. There’s also an extensive archipelago off Luleå which is worth visiting.
