There’s a steep learning curve when you move to a new country, even somewhere as foreigner-friendly as Sweden. There’s the language, transportation, and how can one survive without the local Swedish nautical weather report? We started this website as a means to give people access to Scandinavian culture and life but we can’t do it all. There are other brilliant websites with specialised tools that are useful for foreigners and locals alike.
Here are the best online destinations for weather info, language tools, shopping and transport maps in Sweden. Bookmark them all and thrive!
Travel
Omio
Omio is a travel search engine, that creates itineraries for air, train, bus and ferry to and from any location. You can easily compare prices and journey times. It’s fantastic for comparing prices, and travel times, especially in Scandinavia. For example, you can compare flights between Copenahgen and Stockholm, and also see the train options.
Skyscanner
There are a lot of flight comparison websites out there, but time and again I find myself returning to Skyscanner because of its clear user interface that shows you the different prices on graphs for each month. While there are many other fantastic flight comparison sights, none of the others have my favourite function that allows you to select “anywhere” as your destination.
Kilroy
Students can escape the textbooks and travel on the cheap thanks to Kilroy. It’s amazing how much you can save if you have a IYTC card (International Youth Travel Card), which are available if you’re aged 26 or under. The site also has lots of information on volunteering, and it’s full of tips for those interested in backpacking in Scandinavia.
SMHI
It’s time to partake in Scandinavia’s favourite pastime: talking about the weather. You will be a aficionado in no time with the SMHI website. Alternatively, turn to Norway, Sweden’s wealthy brother with all the money to invest in top of the line weather gear, who cover Scandinavia too.
For coastal information, check out this very trippy animated coast report.
Nautical Weather Report
Althother hidden gem of the Swedish netscape: the Nautical weather report. Don’t speak Swedish? No problem. These dulcet tones are better than any white noise machine for lulling you to sleep.
Pollenrapporten
Do you suffer from allergies? Find out what’s in store for you with Pollenrapporten. This site lets you know how much pollen is in the air, and they even graph the different types of pollen on their pollen calendar, so you know when it’s a good time to stock up on tissues!
Housing & Jobs
Residensportalen
Finding a place to live in Stockholm is a nightmare. I might have moved to Stockholm years ago, but unfortunately we’re missing the bureucracatic tolerance gene. A brief glance at the protocols required to find an apartment in Stockholm make us want to hide under our duvets for a while.
Residensportalen is the main website for finding sublets, both corporate and private, from small city apartments to large family homes. Andrahand is useful, but only available in Swedish. There’s also Hemnet and Booli.
Arbetsförmedlingen
Arbetsförmedlingen is the Swedish work agency that can help you find a job or start a business. Arbetsförmedlingen also provides information on asylum and a variety of work permits.
The Swedish Institute work page is a useful tool when looking for English speaking jobs. It explains how to look for work, what permits you need, and general information about what it’s like to live in Sweden. It generally gives off a vibe that they really care and want you to be happy, which is always a plus!
Blocket
Blocket roughly translates to notebook, like a posit block. It’s a popular hub for housing, vehicles and jobs. They also have a sneaky section for design items.
Shopping
Tradera
Trend Sales is an online marketplace for secondhand clothing and beauty products. This website full of gorgeous, unique fashion at a fraction of the price. It’s the most sustainable method of shopping. Tonnes of textile products are discarded as waste each year but now consumers have fewer excuses for throwing away unwanted garments. Check out their blog for some trendy style inspiration.
Apotea
Apotsea is Sweden’s first full-scale pharmacy that has no physical stores; just e-commerce. They sell drugs and healthcare products at fantastically low prices.
Bukowskis
I stumbled across this site while trying to find vintage Scandinavian flags and it’s been a favourite ever since. Bukowski’s is a Swedish auction house that specialises in interior products, Scandinavian design, furniture, fine art, and jewelry. If you want the item shipped overseas, give them a call to see if it’s possible: it depends on the seller.
Price Runner
Price Runner is a price comparison service that allows you to search for a product and compare the prices from various stores. We’ve used this site in the past for purchasing hard drives, keyboards, and card readers, although the site isn’t limited to electronics. It amalgamates the prices from all your other favourite online retailers, like Webhallen, Net On Net, El Giganten and Media Markt.
Language
Google translate
Google translate is an absolutely essential tool with the best online translations. It can also be the source of lots of amusement when it’s wrong. There’s a Chrome extension for translating whole pages, but if you want to learn Swedish, try to hold back a little!
Babbel
There at lots of way to learn Swedish when you have other shit to do, and one of the best ways is by doing a couple of Swedish language exercises with your morning coffee.
Babbel has some Swedish grammar exercises online as well. And for a good laugh, check out these suggested phrases to know!
Transport
Stockholm Journey Planner
The SL website is pretty handy. Not only does it show you all the public transport options between any two points in Stockholm, it also details the number of zones traveled, price, and even gives you the option of sending the route to your mobile phone.
For longer train travel, check out the SJ website.
Livemap24
If you take public transport a lot, this live map shows where all the trains, buses, ferries and more are on the transport network in real time. Great for occupying yourself when you’re running late.
To see where all the trains are in Sweden, check out Tagkarten.
News & Entertainment
The Local
Commonly read Swedish newpapers are Dagens nyheter (DN) and Svenska Dagbladet (SvD). But if you’re looking for the news in English, The Local Sweden will keep you up-to-date. Swedish Radio provides news in English too.
8Sidor
8Sidor is a Swedish news website written in easy-to-understand Swedish. This is a great way to read the latest Swedish news as a beginner so you can eventually graduate to SvD.
In addition, Swedish Radio has a “simple Swedish” section of their site that has both audio and text reports on the latest national and global news.
SF
Sf allows you to search for movie showings across Sweden. You can search by film, by cinema (biograf) or by day. Although the site is in Swedish, it’s fairly simple to navigate. Some smaller cinemas, however, aren’t represented on this site. Don’t forget about Bio Rio and Zita Folkets Bio for classic, cult and independent films.
AOS
AOS is a great site for keeping up-to-date with what’s going on in Stockholm. The site is in Swedish, so if you can’t read Swedish (yet), Google Translate will be useful. There’s info on concerts, clubs, food, and guides to different activities.
Scandinavia Standard
Not to toot our own horn, but toot toot! We have a monthly calendar of events for all the best markets, music, films, and quirky goings-on around Stockholm. It’s in English, it’s easy-to-use and there’s something for everyone. Need to know about the best cafes and bakeries? You’re covered! Don’t forget about our neighborhood guides, like this one for Södermalm.
Visit Stockholm
This is the official tourism website of Stockholm and, boy, have they done a great job. They cover festivals, attractions, and provide cultural information about Sweden. Visit Sweden is equally fantastic for planning trips, and has loads of information on outdoor activities like hiking, kayaking and more.
Communications
Hitta
Hitta is a great website for when you need to find an address, name, phone number or post box anywhere in Sweden. I used this recently when trying to figure out where to find a post box in Stockholm and bam! Worked like a charm.
No Advertising Thanks
Sick of finding your postbox overflowing with junk mail? I am! And so are lots of Swedes. There’s a fanatic Swedish websites called ‘Ingen Reklamer Tack’ meainging ‘No Advertising Thanks’. They proclaim: “Tack, men det räcker nu,” which means “Thank you, but that’s enough now,” a fantastic phrase to add to your arsenal of Swedish comebacks. With the help of google translate, the site explains the real negative consequences of junk mail in Sweden, and sells stickers for you to put on your mailbox to prevent unnecessary waste. Alternatively, there’s Box Art, with even more options. Just affix them to the front of your mailbox and you’re good to go!
Compare Mobile Plans
This website called Mobilabonnemang, which means Mobile Subscription, takes the hard work out of comparing the prices and data of mobile phone plans. It’s a great overview but make sure you look at the fine print! Also, not all plans are equal. Some allow better roaming internationally, and others have visual voicemail for iPhone, and faster 4G speeds. Personally, I’m a big fan of 3-mobile for its fantastic international data roaming and the fun ringtone, but others swear by others for their cheaper deals and not the ringtone. This site is updated regularly. Also, Pricerunner Sweden now has a similar gig.
Food
Linas Mat Kasse
This is a meal service that sends you recipes each week as well as all the ingredients that you need to cook them. They have an ecological, vegetable-based focus produce, and all their meat and fish is local. A favourite with Stockholmers!
Coop.se
Coop is the main online supermarket in Sweden, and they pretty much have everything. There are other smaller ones, like Natlives, Hemkop and Willys, but they’re sometimes limited to just Greater Stockholm. Pop in your postcode on each site to find out!
Food delivery service
Food delivery serviceI would love to give you some suggestions for online takeaway food delivery in Sweden, but currently the jury is out at the moment. Given the ongoing reports of exploitation of delivery cyclists in an ongoing cycle of “creative destruction,” it’s hard to make a recommendation. Maybe it’s not as bad in Sweden? I’ll leave it up to you to make a suggestion! If you know more, leave a comment or get in touch!
Naturskyddsförreningen
Naturskyddsförreningen is a society that protects nature and wildlife in Sweden. They have a page on seasonal food, making it easy for you to figure what fruits and veggies are currently available and most fresh. This is the go-to page for all things nature in Sweden.
Thank you to Albin Blomkivst and Bettina Werner, our Swedish cultural advisors.
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