Sweden: It's a Wrap! - Explorer Genes

In Summary

Time Spent: 9 nights

Money Spent: $378 or $42/day USD/two people. This breaks down to:

Our itinerary:

Favorite place: Stockholm

Would we return? Yes. Likely to see the same friends again, and we’d also consider housesits in Stockholm and in other parts of the country.

Cut our accommodation price to zero by using 15k in Chase points to cash in for three nights at the Hyatt, and we stayed with friends the rest of the time
Chose a hotel with breakfast
Had only two meals out. One was at IKEA ($18 for two meals and ice cream) which is good value and a popular option for even locals, and we shared our other meal.
Did not buy alcohol
Ate from the salad bar at Willy’s grocery store or bought discounted ready-made meals
Drank tap water (obviously, almost everywhere in Europe)
Relied on the cheaper (and longer) bus options rather than trains.

Weather-wise it wasn’t a total fail because we had four nice days on the east coast, followed by four bad ones on the west coast. But still, it made us wonder if we should have stuck with what we know works here…coming in June or July, like our last climate-perfect visit.
Not a lot. We planned this one well.

Digital payments are accepted for everything. No cash is needed anywhere.
Gummy candies. No one does these like Scandinavia
Shrimp is a form of life
Reconnecting with old friends
The stunning natural and green forested areas and foot paths
Striking seascapes and coastlines
It’s pedestrian-friendly pretty much everywhere you go.
Stockholm exceeded our expectations…way more and charming and tranquil than we thought.
It may be a more expensive country but it’s relatively easy to save money.
For example, Too Good to Go is very prevalent. We just didn’t have a kitchen to use it in.
Also grocery discounts are everywhere. You just have to scan for the markdown sections.
You can also find absolutely anything you want.
Public transport is organized, efficient and completely integrated with Google. You can also pay for it with your digital wallet. No cards or apps required…unlike Norway.
Of course, everyone speaks perfect English. In fact, we noticed most places of businesses used it as their first language, even for employee communication.
The air is cool and crisp
You barely have to worry about sunscreen with the low UV.
All in all, it just seems to be an easy life.

Most of the time, you’ll have to pay for public restrooms
Very pricey local public transport…~$4.50 a pop, some of the highest in the world
Long distance trains and buses also expensive though buses are less
Overall, simply the cost of living is quite high
The rain and gloom can be super depressing
Bla Bla car was available but didn’t really seem to be used
Prohibitively expensive to eat in restaurants
Alcohol not only expensive, but you have to go to a special store.