With the design world cooing over bright, blocky Swedish furniture and college students donning knock-off designs from H&M, Scandinavia’s largest nation has earned a reputation abroad for its chic, mass-marketable style. At home, Sweden’s struggle to balance a market economy with its generous social welfare system stems from its belief that all citizens should have access to education and health care. This neutral nation’s zest for spending money on butter instead of guns has also shored up a strong sense of national unity, from Sámi reindeer herders in the Lappland forests to bankers in bustling Stockholm.
Facts And Figures Official Name: Kingdom of Sweden. Capital: Stockholm. Major Cities: Gothenburg, Malmö. Population: 9,045,000. Time Zone: GMT +1. ...more
Summer employment is often easier to find than long-term work, since Sweden has fairly strict regulations governing the employment of foreigners. For more info on opportunities across Europe, see Beyond ...more
☎ 08 Stockholm The largest city in Scandinavia’s biggest country, Stockholm (pop. 1,250,000) is the aptly self-titled “capital of the north.” A focal point for culture and design, the elegant ...more
☎ 018 Uppsala The footbridges and side streets of Uppsala (pop. 127,000) teem with almost 40,000 undergraduates. Archbishop Jakob Ulvsson founded Uppsala University in 1477, but the Reformation wrested ...more
☎ 0498 Gotland Along the shores of Gotland, Sweden’s largest island, families head to beaches in the east before returning to Visby, a town that recalls the Middle Ages with its winding alleyways ...more
A fiercely contested no-man’s-land during 17th-century wars between Sweden and Denmark, this region bears the marks of its martial past with well-preserved castles and forts. Today, the only invaders ...more
Central Sweden extends from foothills along the Norwegian border to lakeside villages in the heart of the country. Many of the region’s counties are known for their handicrafts; stylized religious ...more
Sweden’s Gulf of Bothnia region is known for its dark pine forests and pristine coastline. Unlike the metropolitan centers to the south, the area’s quiet cities serve as bases for wilderness excursions ...more
Lappland (Sápmi) Mountains and alpine dales sprawl across Lappland, known as “Europe’s last wilderness,” a frontier that extends through northern Finland, Norway, Russia, and ...more
 |
 |
 |
 |
For 50 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
Overview