It has to be said that Sweden is not a very cheap country for traveling. So how can a student visit Stockholm with a minimum budget? We have gathered several tips on how to save money on public transport, how to find a cheap accommodation, how not to pay the extra money for lunch and how to find a lot of free entertainment.
How to use public transport wisely on a budget?
The SL Access card (Stockholm Public Transport) is the best friend for anyone who had decided to visit Stockholm. You can obtain it for a certain number of days or load an amount of money on the card to pay for each trip, saving in comparison to single journey tickets. (31 SEK per journey when you charge your travel card balance, and 44 SEK when you pay a single ticket).
When you are a young student full of energy, it is predictable that you are going to move a lot during a day. For this, you can buy a card with an unlimited quantity of travels on a public transport. They are available for 24 hours, 72 hours or 7 days.
The Swedes also adore bicycles. You can meet a student or a minister on a bike… It is a very ecological and comfortable travel mode. You can find city bikes in every turn of Stockholm, and the bike parking is situated near basically all main places of interest.
Where to live?
You can stay at a hostel in Stockholm without worries. Even the most budget variants will have rather a high level of service and comfort. Some of them may become an adventure for you. Like the famous hostel, Jumbo Stay, which has been built inside an old aeroplane or the hostels situated on the water – Röda Båten, Af Chapman or M/S Birger Jarl.
To live in Stockholm on a budget, you could also choose camping in nature. Beside bringing your own tent, you can also rent a small wooden house or cottage on the seaside or by a lake.
If you have dreamt of living in a bright flat with a wooden floor, white walls and vintage furniture, you can rent a fabulous example of Scandinavian design at the home of local inhabitants through AirBnB. This international service is growing actively in Sweden. If you choose a flat that is not in the middle of the city, it may be as cheap as staying at a hostel.
A gratuitous alternative to all these variants is Couchsurfing. 15 000 Stockholmers are registered on this site. Even though there is a cliché that the Swedes are cold and unsociable, you can find they are very warm and welcoming people, who respect their privacy but are still always ready to share the list of their favorite places in the city and to accompany you in the bar.
Free museums and excursions
Since 2016 the entrance is fee to many important state-owned museums in Sweden. Museum of Modern Art, the Ethnographic Museum, the National Museum, the Centre of the Architecture and Design and a lot of other interesting places and museums are free for the Swedes and the tourists. Here you can find a travel guide of all the free museums of Stockholm.
However, the most popular places to visit in Stockholm among tourists – The Vasa Museum, ABBA The Museum and Skansen open-air Museum are not on the list of free museums. The museum card Stockholm Pass will help you to visit them and to save a some money from the entrance fees.
The enthusiasts from the project Free Tours Stockholm organize free excursions in the most popular districts of the city. The excursions are held in English and you will be joined by other foreign tourists. The schedule is always updated on the website.
If you are looking for more free things to do in Stockholm – you can head to the Parliament House (Riksdag) in the weekdays in the summer and all weekends. Here you can explore centenarian corridors and learn something about the Swedish parliament absolutely for free.
The public transport system of Stockholm also includes ferries, which allow you to get a beautiful excursion on the water, using a regular travel ticket. The blue line and a part of the red line of the metro have such unusual stations that they deserve an underground tour.
If you are not totally tired of anything to do with studies, you can visit a local university or college to see how they function.
Festivals and concerts
There are a lot of free urban events, festivals, and celebrations with a splendid cultural program.
If you come in April, your trip will coincide with the Night of Culture. In August you’ll find the Culture Festival, and in February the Stockholm Design Week. There are many more free events that are open to a wide public.
As you can see, a trip for students can be full and fascinating without spending a big amount of money.
Melissa Cartew is a professional writer for https://customwriting.com/. After college, during several years she used to work as a journalist for some small journals in her native town in California. Then she decided to work as a freelancer and to see the world. During 2 years she has visited more than 20 countries – 10 of them in Europe. In her articles, she shares insights about traveling from her own experience. Stockholm was her last residence for living and working in her 1-year tour through Europe.
