Welcome to your Sweden guide!

Unique Stays

Sweden offers a variety of accommodations including manor homes, castles, and even ice hotels.

Hotels

In Sweden, you’ll find hotels of every standard from independent to global brands, boutique and countryside hotels to luxury options. Breakfast and taxes are always included in the room rate. Sweden hotels do not use the star rating, and even the best hotels in the country may not offer amenities such as room service and porterage.

Comfort Food – Traditional Swedish cuisine is basic comfort food: meat, potatoes, boiled vegetables, pea soup and crisp bread, and of course, their famous meatballs. Cuisine has evolved with international influences, and chefs are creating new recipes with local ingredients, as well as putting a twist on traditional dishes.

Michelin Stars – Sweden currently has 19 restaurants with one or more Michelin stars; five located in Gothenburg and 10 in Stockholm, including the 3-star Frantzén.

Trends – New food trends are emerging, including street food and plant-based food, and ethnic restaurants can be found all over the country.

Smörgäsbord – Or buffet, really is a thing in Sweden, often during Midsummer as well as other times, and open-faced sandwiches are typical for breakfast or lunch.

Aquavit – Snaps that are flavored with herbs and spices, has a long history in Sweden (Norway and Denmark, too) and is paired with pickled herring and other dishes. Locally brewed craft beer is incredibly popular.

Seafood – It’s abundant and prepared in many ways. Herring is very popular and you’ll find it fresh and pickled, as well as fermented, which is a delicacy called surströmming,

Fika – Have you heard of Fika? This is when Swedes slow down to enjoy a break with coffee and a pastry (such as Cinnamon or Saffron buns) or a sandwich. It’s deliberate and mindful and often enjoyed with others.

Outdoors

• Abisko National Park Aurora Sky Station for excellent northern lights viewing.
• Thirty national parks.
• Stockholm archipelago, and Bohuslän archipelago on the west coast, and 2000 miles of coastline.
• Mountains in northern Sweden, inland lakes, and forests throughout the country.
• Midnight sun & northern lights.

Arts & Culture

• Sami culture and traditions in northern Sweden
• Traditional Swedish handicrafts and the famous orange Dala horse in Dalarna
• The Glass District continues the tradition of glassworking while modernizing designs.
• The ABBA Museum in Stockholm

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

• Naval Port of Karlskrona
• Agricultural Landscape of Southern Öland
• Hanseatic Town of Visby
• Grimeton Radio Station, Varberg
• Rock Carvings in Tanum
• Skogskyrkogården (The Woodland Cemetery) in Stockholm
• Royal Domain of Drottningholm
• Birka and Hovgården

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

• Engelsberg Ironworks
• Mining Area of the Great Copper Mountain in Falun
• Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland
• The High Coast/Kvarken Archipelago
• Church Town of Gammelstad, Luleå
• Laponian Area/Swedish Lapland
• Struve Geodetic Arc (Also on Norway and Finland’s UNESCO list)

Architecture

• Oresund Bridge – links Sweden with neighboring Denmark
• Stockholm City Hall
• IceHotel in Jukkasjärvi-the world’s first Ice Hotel that is re-created each year out of ice from the local river
• Turning Torso, Malmö
• The Jewel, Uppsala
• Solar Egg Sauna, Kiruna
• Swedish stone cities: Sundsvall, Malmö, Stockholm

History & Museums

• Vasa Museum – Swedish Imperial fleet warship salvaged from the Stockholm harbor.
• Skansen – open-air museum representing the history of farmsteads found throughout the country
• Göta Canal, built in the early 1800s and stretching from the west to the east, the original ships are still operating and carrying passengers. Göta Canal exhibition in Motala.
• IKEA Museum, Älmhult
• Nordic Museum, Stockholm
• Modern Museum, Stockholm
• National Museum, Stockholm