A tourist visiting Sweden or Stockholm for the first time is bound to have several questions running through his/her mind about the public transportation in Stockholm. Well, the local transportation system in Stockholm is so smooth and efficient that no foreigner has to worry about anything related to traveling around Stockholm. There are a number of rational reasons behind this country being known for its excellent local transportation system.
The segments of Stockholm’s public transportation include- buses, trams, trains, metro, ferries, commuter rails and subways (T-bana). The bus,train, tram and some ferry line systems are operated by Stockholm Public Transport or SL (Storstockholms Lokaltrafik). There are also Archipelago boats, ocean buses or boats and separate systems for airport transportation. With an SL Access Card, you can purchase an SL Travel card or a single-ticket debit card, which allows you to travel in every bus, train, tram and all the SL operated Ferries throughout Stockholm. These tickets can be bought either from the official SL app, at Ticket centers and other online websites, or at metro and commuter rail stations around Stockholm County.
SL Access Card ( SL Card)
The SL Network consists of the subway ( Tunnelbana ), boats, buses, trains and trams. Purchasing Stockholm’s SL Access Card, a digital and reusable smart card, allows you to access almost all public transportation systems spread in the city without having to purchase tickets individually for every single ride or journey. This SL card can also be registered online through SL’s official website. It provides you the facility of enjoying cost-effective and hassle-free journeys, along with discounted fares. After purchasing an SL Access card, you can either load a Travelcard and have free access to all public transportation services till the card’s expiry date, or you can load single travel tickets for every journey.
You can easily purchase Stockholm travelcards, tickets or SL Access Cards from any of the SL centers or at Metro and commuter railway stations. Many also buy travelcards from kiosks or ticket booths. An easy way to purchase SL cards is to buy it online through the Official SL website or SL smart phone app.
For a tourist wanting to travel and explore around Stockholm frequently for a certain period of time, the best option would be loading a Travelcard onto the SL Access Card, adhering to the traveler’s needs. This card offers unlimited journeys and tours within a fixed time period. Through this card, you can load a single-journey ticket which is valid for 75 minutes after the purchase. That is, you can ride all the trams, buses, trains and SL operated ferries as many times as you want in these 75 minutes. Similarly, you can also buy 24-hour, 72-hour, 7-day and 30-day tickets with a validity of the mentioned periods. Other than these, there are long-term travelcards with a validity of 90 days and even 1 year. You can purchase these travelcards and tickets from the SL smart phone app, which can be downloaded free of charge from the App store or Google play store.
Besides, there’s a facility for parents with a carriage that they get free rides for any of the Stockholm buses.
Prices
There are fixed adult rates for people aged between 20 and 64 years, along with a discounted rate for specific people. Senior citizens over 65 years of age, a student with a Swedish student Identity card with the SL logotype and teens under 20 are all eligible for the discounted fare.
- The green SL Access Card costs SEK 20 to register online or in SL centers and Ticket booths.
- A single- journey ticket for adults costs SEK 42, and a discounted fare of SEK 26 for senior citizens, children,teenagers and students under 20 years.
- A 24- hour ticket costs an adult fare of SEK 175 and a discounted fare of SEK 110 . This travelcard is valid for traveling for 24 hours.
- A 72- hour ticket costs an adult fare of SEK 350 and a discounted fare of SEK 220. This travelcard remains valid for traveling for 72 hours.
- A 7- day ticket has an adult fare of SEK 455, and a discounted fare of SEK 290. This card is valid for 7 days, from the day the card is activated until 4:30 on the night after the last day of validity.
For more information, visit the official website of SL Stockholm- https://sl.se/en/in-english/fares–tickets/
- A 30- day ticket costs an adult fare of SEK 1,020 , and a discounted fare of SEK 650. This card is valid for 30 days, from the day the card is activated until 4:30 on the night after the last day of validity.
For more information, visit the official website of SL Stockholm- https://sl.se/en/in-english/fares–tickets/
- A 90- day ticket comes with an adult fare of SEK 2,960 , and a discounted fare of SEK 1,880. This card is valid for 90 days, from the day the card is activated until 4:30 on the night after the last day of validity.
For more information, kindly visit the official website of SL Stockholm- https://sl.se/en/in-english/fares–tickets/
- An Annual ticket costs an adult fare of SEK 10,710 , and a discounted fare of SEK 6,830. This card is valid for exactly 365 days, from the day the card is activated until 4:30 on the night after the last day of validity.
For more information, visit the official website of SL Stockholm- https://sl.se/en/in-english/fares–tickets/
These SL tickets grant you access to every tram, bus and train service across Stockholm and certain SL operated ferry lines too. You can travel anywhere at any time on any bus, tram, commuter train, subway, underground train as you like with an SL travelcard or ticket. As for the commuter ferries, SL has 4 commuter ferry lines at present to help you get around the city of Stockholm and its mesmerizing islands and archipelagos.
The ferry lines which are operated by SL and can be accessed with an SL ticket or travelcard are 5 in number at present –
- Commuter Ferry Line 82 – the Djurgarden Ferry, running between Stockholm Slussen Kajen, the area of Gamla Stan, royal palace, and the Djurgarden Island next to Grona Lund Amusement Park and also ABBA Museum.
This line contains ticket barriers, except on Skeppsholmen. There’s an SL ticket post on Skeppsholmen.
This route has a total trip duration of approximately 25 minutes.
- Commuter Ferry Line 80 – First stop is Ropsten and last Stop is now Frosvik. This route has no ticket barriers and most of their jetties have no semaphores either. A semaphore is a round foldable sign on the jetty, used to signal the captain that a passenger wants to board. Some jetties have semaphores, like Lidingö/Dalénum, Blockhusudden, Kvarnholmen, Finnboda, Saltsjöqvarn and Frösvik.
The total trip of this line takes approximately 29 minutes.
- Commuter Ferry Line 83 – This one is the longest line from SL, whose first stop is Stromkajen (Stockholm) and last stop is Grenadjarbryggan (Vaxholm). Although ferries of this line have SL flags to indicate they are SL commuter ferries, line 83 is actually operated by Waxholmsbolaget ferries. You can book the tickets from the official website –
This line has a long total trip duration of almost 92 minutes.
- Commuter Ferry Line 84 – This ferry line starts from Alstaket Brygga and ends at Stockholm Stromkajen. There are no ticket barriers on this line either. You just have to show your ticket while boarding.
This line takes approximately 40-60 minutes for a full trip.
- Commuter Ferry Line 89 – The first stop of this line is Klara Malarstrand and the last stop is Tappstrom.
If you want to get on or get off the ferry at Kungshättan, you have to notify the crew in advance, at least 2 hours before the journey.
This route has a total trip duration of approximately 55 minutes.
For further details, please visit the website – https://sl.se/
Other than these SL facilities, there’s another wonderful facility available in Stockholm, which is the Ocean boat service. These ocean boats give you the opportunity to explore the islands and serene water bodies surrounding the full city. These boats or boat tickets can be rented or purchased from the official website of Stromma and also the official website of Waxholmsbolaget.
Getting To and From Airports in Stockholm
For traveling to airports like Arlanda, Bromma, Visby, Malmo airport, etc , you can take Flygbussarna airport coaches from Stockholm. You can buy your airport bus tickets from the website of Vy Flygbussarna- https://www.flygbussarna.se/
This company offers comfy bus rides from different parts of Sweden to all main airports in Sweden. Their service includes bus rides to Arlanda Airport (ARN), Bromma Airport (BMA), Landvetter Airport (GOT), Malmo Airport (MMX), Skavsta Airport (NYO), Visby Airport (VBY) and Vasteras Airport (VST).
The ticket prices for each airport varies in terms of location and age of the passenger. There are variations of prices for adults(18+) and youngsters (8-17 years). Up to 2 children under 8 years can travel free of charge with a paying parent or adult.
All the details regarding ticket availability, prices, return tickets and travelcard plans can be viewed thoroughly by visiting the following website –
You also have the option of booking a cab or taxi to travel to your desired airport from any part of the country. It’s also possible to reach the airports by a combination of bus and train ride.
Taxi & Ride-Sharing
Stockholm Taxi is a reliable and 24/7 available taxi company in Stockholm. This is the most trusted and the largest taxi service company in Stockholm, although almost all the leading taxi companies are trusting here. You can easily book a taxi from the official website of Taxi Stockholm or from their smartphone app.
Website – www.taxistockholm.se
Contact -For booking taxi: +46 8 15 00 00
There is also Cabonline which is another leading taxi company in Stockholm under Cabonline Group. It owns 7000 cars for providing taxi services for individuals to and from airports, in and around the Stockholm region.
You can book taxis by signing in with an email address on the official website of Cabonline.
Website – www.cabonline.com
There is another option for safe and comfortable cab journeys in Stockholm. This is also a taxi service in Stockholm called cabtaxi.se . You can use this website for booking cabs too.
Website – www.cabtaxi.se
UBER is the most popular and preferable ride-sharing service for people or tourists in Stockholm. You can install the UBER App on your smartphone from the Apple store or Google Play and book their cars or even bikes for any journey according to your needs and likings. You can also contact the drivers through the app and get to any destination within a fixed time through this service.
To learn about UBER or to download the app, visit their website – www.uber.com
A suitable alternative for UBER would be BOLT. You can download the BOLT App on your mobile phone to book a taxi and get picked up by any nearby driver. For further details visit their website or Mobile App.
https://bolt.eu/en/cities/stockholm
Electric scooter: There are several companies offering electric scooters and bicycles available in the city area. For example
Voi
Lime
Bolt
You can rent these scooters and cycles with their relevant apps.
