Cost per day · Sweden
Stockholm on $55, $150 or $450 a day
How much does Stockholm cost per day? Budget travellers get by on about $55 a day, mid-range trips run around $150, and luxury starts near $450 — accommodation, food, transport and activities included.
That makes Stockholm the 26th most expensive of 100 cities for a mid-range trip — see all 100 ranked.
Built across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic, Stockholm is a city of water and light: the medieval lanes of Gamla Stan, a seventeenth-century warship raised whole from the harbour, and thirty thousand archipelago islands starting at the end of the ferry line.
Stockholm is expensive, but the essentials are not: the metro art, the islands and the parks are free, a weekday dagens lunch includes bread, salad and coffee, and a transit pass covers the harbour ferries too.
🗺️ What to Do
Gamla Stan with a guide, from the Royal Palace to the bloodbath square
Get tickets on Tiqets →Costumes, recordings and a stage to sing on, with audio guide
Get tickets on Tiqets →A guided boat out among the inner skerries and their wooden summer houses
Get tickets on Tiqets →🏨 Where to Stay
Big, design-led hostel near the central station with a bar and private rooms
Sleep aboard a 1888 full-rigged ship moored off Skeppsholmen
Small, simple hotel in Södermalm close to the metro
Sample 3-Day Itinerary
Day 1: Old town and the palace ~$55
Day 2: Djurgården by ferry ~$60
Day 3: Islands and cafés ~$45
Eat your main meal at lunch — the dagens rätt is the best value in the city. The Djurgården ferry is on the normal transit pass. Many state museums are free; the Vasa is not, but is worth it.
Mid-range buys a design hotel in Södermalm or Norrmalm, the Vasa and Skansen, a day on an archipelago boat and a long fika at every chance.
🗺️ What to Do
Costumes, recordings and a stage to sing on, with audio guide
Get tickets on Tiqets →Photography museum in a customs house on the water, with a top-floor café
Get tickets on Tiqets →The world's first open-air museum — old Swedish farmsteads, workshops and Nordic animals
Get tickets on Tiqets →🏨 Where to Stay
Outdoorsy design hotel with a rooftop pool and sauna near Brunkebergstorg
Benny Andersson's art-deco hotel on Mariatorget in Södermalm
A converted girls' school on Sveavägen, warm and quiet
Sample 3-Day Itinerary
Day 1: Royal Stockholm ~$170
Day 2: Djurgården museums ~$190
Day 3: Into the archipelago ~$200
Buy the Vasa ticket online and go at opening. An archipelago boat to Vaxholm or Sandhamn is the best day out in summer. Book restaurants for Friday and Saturday — the city eats early, around 7pm.
Luxury Stockholm is a waterfront suite at the Grand, a private boat into the archipelago, a tasting menu at Frantzén and a sauna on the water.
🗺️ What to Do
A guided boat out among the inner skerries and their wooden summer houses
Get tickets on Tiqets →Two hours paddling the canals and bays of central Stockholm with a guide
Get tickets on Tiqets →The prize, its laureates and their ideas, in the old Stock Exchange on Stortorget
Get tickets on Tiqets →🏨 Where to Stay
Strandvägen art-nouveau building with views over the harbour
The 1874 waterfront landmark facing the Royal Palace, home of the Nobel banquets
A private Arts and Crafts townhouse with twelve rooms and a home-cooked dinner
Sample 3-Day Itinerary
Day 1: Stockholm in style ~$1100
Day 2: Private archipelago ~$1300
Day 3: Palaces and fire ~$900
The Grand Hôtel faces the Royal Palace across the water; the Lydmar and Ett Hem are the intimate alternatives. Frantzén books out months ahead. A private boat to a skerry for a sauna and swim is the summer luxury.
About Stockholm
Cool continental: mild summers (20–23°C by day, light until 10pm), cold dark winters (around 0°C, six hours of daylight in December). Snow is likely January to March.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -1° | -1° | 2° | 7° | 12° | 17° | 19° | 18° | 13° | 8° | 4° | 1° |
| 9d | 7d | 7d | 6d | 7d | 8d | 8d | 9d | 8d | 9d | 10d | 10d |
| low | low | low | mid | mid | high | high | high | mid | low | low | mid |
Superb public transport on one ticket: the tunnelbana (whose stations are decorated caves of art), trams, buses and the commuter ferries across the harbour. The Arlanda Express reaches the airport in twenty minutes.
A travel eSIM gets you online the moment you land in Sweden — data plans start at $4 — no roaming bill, no queue for a local SIM, and nothing to swap in and out of your phone. Install it before you fly.
The old town island with the palace and cathedral. Beautiful and walkable to everything, but touristy, and its few hotels are small and pricey.
Best for midrangeThe big southern island: SoFo's boutiques, vintage shops, bars and the cliffs above the water. The best place to eat and drink cheaply.
Best for budgetThe modern centre around the station and Drottninggatan. Practical rather than charming, with hotels at every price and the airport train.
Best for midrangeGrand nineteenth-century blocks along Strandvägen, the food hall and the best restaurants. Calm, smart and close to Djurgården.
Best for luxuryThe royal park island with the Vasa, Skansen and ABBA museums. Green and peaceful, with very few places to stay.
Best for luxuryNorth of the centre, quiet streets of neighbourhood restaurants and parks. Good-value rooms with the metro at the door.
Best for budget- ✓Take fika — a coffee and a cinnamon bun — seriously, every day
- ✓Stand on the right on escalators and walk on the left
- ✓Carry a card; many places do not take cash at all
- ✓Take your shoes off when entering a Swedish home
- ✓Queue properly, often by taking a number
- ✓Use the right to roam — swim from any public rock
- ✗Talk loudly on the metro or in cafés
- ✗Expect to buy wine or spirits outside the state Systembolaget shops
- ✗Be late; Swedes are punctual
- ✗Skip the queue number at a pharmacy or bakery
- ✗Book dinner for 9pm and expect a lively room; Stockholm eats early
- ✗Underestimate winter darkness — plan sights for the middle of the day
Travel Insurance for Stockholm
Travel insurance is strongly recommended for any trip to Stockholm. Safety is rated Very safe. Pickpockets work Gamla Stan and the central station in summer. Sweden is close to cashless — many places refuse cash entirely. — even in safe destinations, unexpected medical emergencies or trip cancellations can be costly. Make sure your policy covers emergency medical treatment, hospitalisation, trip cancellation, and emergency evacuation.
Visa note: Schengen area — visa-free for 90 days for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports; ETIAS pre-authorisation applies from its rollout.. Some countries require proof of travel insurance as part of the visa application.
Get travel insurance for Stockholm →FAQ: Stockholm Travel Questions
Is Stockholm safe to visit? ▾
Very safe. Pickpockets work Gamla Stan and the central station in summer. Sweden is close to cashless — many places refuse cash entirely.
When is the best time to visit Stockholm? ▾
June–August for long light evenings and the archipelago; Midsummer (late June) is the great festival. December has the Christmas markets and very short days. Cool continental: mild summers (20–23°C by day, light until 10pm), cold dark winters (around 0°C, six hours of daylight in December). Snow is likely January to March.
How much does a trip to Stockholm cost per day? ▾
- budget: $55–$90/day
- midrange: $150–$260/day
- luxury: $450–$900/day
Do I need a visa to visit Sweden? ▾
Schengen area — visa-free for 90 days for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports; ETIAS pre-authorisation applies from its rollout.
How do I get around Stockholm? ▾
Superb public transport on one ticket: the tunnelbana (whose stations are decorated caves of art), trams, buses and the commuter ferries across the harbour. The Arlanda Express reaches the airport in twenty minutes. Stockholm has a metro system. Taxi base fare ~$6. Day pass ~$16.
Is tipping expected in Stockholm? ▾
Service is included in prices. Rounding up or adding 5–10% for good table service is appreciated but never expected.
What currency is used in Sweden? ▾
The local currency is SEK, and the official language is Swedish.