Sweden Transportation Tips by Sjalen Top 5 Page for this destination

Across the water

Now that there is the magnificent Öresund Bridge from Copenhagen you can drive. There is a fee, so if you will do it regularly, you might want to look into discount passes at the website below.

The trains from Copenhagen also use the Öresund Bridge and there are regular commuter trains across to Malmö (via Copenhagen airport) and fast trains to Stockholm a few times a day. www.sj.se

The same can be said for the buses. www.eurolines.com are the biggest from the continent to Sweden via Copenhagen, but there are also www.safflebussen.se and the Danish Grahundbus which can take you first from Berlin to Copenhagen and then Copenhagen to Malmö: http://www.graahundbus.dk/

You can also still take the car (or just yourself of course) on the ferries across from Denmark if you fancy the nostalgic way (or are on a budget as you can sometimes get good deals) north of Copenhagen (Elsinore/Helsingør) with www.scandlines.se or http://www.hhferries.dk/

From northern Jutland (Frederikshavn) in Denmark, Stena Line runs ferries to Gothenburg. www.stenaline.se

DFDS Scandinavian Seaways runs a ferry from Oslo to Helsingborg if driving seems too boring (but this is quite expensive - more of a cruise) and the same company also runs the ferries from Newcastle to Gothenburg. http://www.dfdsseaways.com/

There are also ferry crossings from Germany (Travemünde and Rostock) and Poland (mainly Gdansk) straight to various southern ports such as Ystad, Trelleborg and Karlskrona with the following:
www.scandlines.se
www.stenaline.se
http://www.ttline.se
http://www.polferries.se
http://www.unityline.se

You can get to Stockholm by ferry from Gdansk (see Polferries above), and of course from Finland (Helsinki, Åbo/Turkku, Vaasa and Åland islands) with http://www.silja.com
http://www.vikingline.se
http://www.eckerolinjen.fi/en/
All very cheap if you are a foot passenger.

And from Tallinn and Riga, there are www.tallink.se and http://www.rigasealine.lv/en/index.asp

Mode: TO

Type: Ship/Boat

Budget flights

There are several ways to fly cheap to Sweden and even Scandinavian airlines has lowered some of their fares these days. Just ask for Snowflake deals on their major European routes. www.flysnowflake.se

Designated budget carriers are:

Ryanair which flies from London Stanstead to several destinations in Sweden and from Brussels (Charleroi), Paris (Beavuais), Glasgow, Frankfurt Hahn and Hamburg (Luebeck really) to Stockholm. www.ryanair.com

Malmö Aviation is worth trying for their route Brussels to Stockholm City (Bromma, a more central airport than Arlanda). www.malmoaviation.se

Air Baltic flies from Riga to Stockholm and Malmö. www.airbaltic.com

Fly Nordic can take you to Stockholm from Barcelona, Tallinn, Copenhagen, Munich, Berlin and Dublin. www.flynordic.com

Germania Express flies to Stockholm from Berlin, Cologne/Bonn, Munich and Düsseldorf. www.gexx.de

Sterling has lots of flights to both Stockholm and Gothenburg from Barcelona, Alicante, Athens, Bologna, Budapest, Mallorca, Gran Canaria, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Nice , Montpellier, Faro, Paris, Prague and Rome. They are also a good alternative if you want to visit the far south of Sweden as they have plenty of flights to Copenhagen from all over Europe. www.sterlingticket.com

Another one for the far south of Sweden is Transavia which flies Amsterdam to Copenhagen, but also to Stockholm. www.transavia.com

If you are going to smaller towns in mid Sweden, Skyways is an option from Copenhagen. They also fly Stockholm to Birmingham. www.skyways.se

From Hannover, Hapag-Lloyd flies to Stockholm. http://www.hlx.com/

For flights between Stockholm and Oslo, there is Norwegian Air Shuttle. www.norwegian.no

Finally, from Poland (Warsaw, Kracow and Katowize) and Budapest, there are flights to Stockholm and Malmö. http://wizzair.com

Mode: TO

Type: Airplane

Inland Railway

The Inland railway runs for miles and miles through the backbone of Sweden, from Kristinehamn to Östersund and onwards to Gällivare above the Arctic Circle. It has been closed due to lack of funds and then only run as a freight line, but since some decades, it is open summertime for tourists. The line has a special "Inland card" which is very cheap considering that you can cover more than half of Sweden! You can buy package tours or hop on and off as you like. There are guides on board the trains, pointing out special sights, and the train makes a special "photo stop" at the Arctic Circle itself. There are stops in places such as Vilhelmina with its old church village, and Jokkmokk with its Sami museum and proximity to World Heritage Laponia national parks. At Gällivare, you can head up mount Dundret ("Thunder") for a view of 1/11th of Sweden, and the midnight sun if you are in time for that. Check their page for more details. I haven't yet done this but it is a dream of mine.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Train

Website: http://www.inlandsbanan.se

Getting around

The roads are not as well maintained as they used to be (especially in the north and in forested areas where snow melting and heavy timber lorries take their toll) but still rank among the best in Europe - especially the motorways such as E4. Trains are reliable apart from in exessive snow conditions. They go to most places of interest but can be expensive. However, this can be solved either by booking well in advance or by getting an InterRail or Scanrail pass in your home country. The trains are very comfortable and some have play areas for children. You also automatically get a seat reservation when you book an InterCity or fast train (X2000) fare in Sweden although you must make your own reservations if you have an InterRail card (only compulsory on X2000 trains where they cost SEK 50). Coaches are also popular and from Stockholm Coach Station (by the railway station) they go to most places in the country and you don't always have to book.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Train