Experience in Stockholm, Sweden by Priscila

What is it like to live in Stockholm? Would you recommend it? What is the city like?

Stockholm is one of the most beautiful cities I have been to. Since Stockholm is an archipelago, there are stunning views of the water landscape all around town. It is very safe to walk around and very easy to use the public transport too. The monthly transport card can cost about 55 € but it is worth it! You can take all the busses, metros, trains, trams and even boats. In case you need help to get around, Swedish people are very welcoming to give you information and most of them speak excellent english.

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I recommend coming to Stockholm because I can tell you that you will change your perspective of life forever. You will become even more independent. You will learn how to get out of your comfort zone but you will not regret it! It is a very developed city and it is a change in life style for many of you. You will have access to great public transport, great food, great culture and you will manage just fine with English everywhere. People in general are very respectful and they respect your privacy. No one will mind your business.

What is the student lifestyle like in Stockholm?

The study life, I can tell you from my perspective that it is quite chill compared to many other countries. You will probably not have classes everyday and you will have to do a lot of self studies, which means that you are fully responsable for your studies and homework. The teacher won't most likely come to you and ask if you did the readings or the homework that he/she asked. It is totally up to you. You make your own study schedule. That can be good system but it can be very demanding as well.

There are plenty of libraries in Stockholm that you can go to. They are very cozy and most of them offer very nice spaces to study. You can make a library card and borrow books for free and have access to wi-fi.

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Now, the fun part, I can tell you that there are always parties on campus on the weekends mostly that you can have a lot of fun and not spend too much. There very fun parties on campus and you will meet a lot of interesting people, from all over the world.

How much does it cost to live in Stockholm?

In general Stockholm is a quite costly place to live in. In terms of going out, you will pay about 10 € a meal, 5-10 € a drink if you go to a bar or club, 4-9 € if you go to a cafe. In terms of groceries, there are some cheaper supermarkets that you can do your groceries and it won't be expensive such as Lydil. The living cost for an student including accommodation can be about 850 € to 1000 € per month.

Is it difficult to find accommodation in Stockholm? Is there any advice you can give?

Unfortunately, yes. It can be difficult because the demand of student accommodations in Stockholm is quite high. However, there are Facebook groups that are very helpful when it comes to accommodation. Many people post on these groups if there are places available, so you can join the groups.

What is the food like? What are your favourite dishes?

In Sweden, it is very typical to eat a lot of salmon, potatoes, white fish and the typical Swedish meat balls. If you like meat, you can try some interesting meat balls, for example moose meat ball. The most famous Swedish dish is meat balls with potatoes, mushroom sauce and lingon sauce (lingon is a Scandinavian berry and the sauce is like a marmalade). It is quite tasty, I recommend it. However, those are just the typical foods, but you can find anything you like in the supermarket. There are a lot of Polish, Asian, Arabic shops and an international market in town where you can find food from all our the world. Stockholm is quite international when it comes to food.

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What places would you recommend visiting in Stockholm?

I recommend visiting the museums because a lot of them offer free entrance. There a couple of castles in Stockholm, and specially the one in town, and I really recommend visiting them. There are many parks around town that are beautiful and it is nice to see how they look different depending on the season. Autumn is my favourite. There are many nice small cities close by that you can get by public transport: Uppsala, Sigtuna, Vaxholm, etc.

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If you are really lucky, you can even see the northern lights in some places, including the Stockholm's University Campus. I can not guarantee you, but it could happen. So, it could be worth to check on a mobile app about the Northen lights and go hunt them!

Is it good to eat out in Stockholm? Can you tell us your favourite spots?

The average cost of a meal is about 10 €. However, the good part is that you can find any type of restaurant in Stockholm. For those of you who are vegan, you can find a lot of food options and good restaurants as well. There a lot of restaurants in Stockholm. Good food in most of them. There is place in Hötorget which is a food court which you can find many restaurants and have many options if you are not sure what you feel like eating.

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Is the nightlife good in Stockholm? Where is good to go?

Clubbing can be costly because alcohol is expensive and there are entrance fees for most of the clubs after midnight but... There are many clubs for all tastes. For example: techno, pop, latin music, etc. If you fancy some latin clubs, there are clubs for salsa, reggaetton, bachata and kizomba close to the city center. If you fancy for some techno and RnB, there are so good clubs close to Ericsson Globen. If you like more pop music, there are some good clubs in Östermalm. There are often a lot of events that are worth checking up on Facebook as well. During summer there are a lot of outdoor clubs and events.

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What advice would you give future students heading to Stockholm?

If you are coming to Stockholm, your first impression will be that Stockholm is beautiful! The sunset is breath taking by the way. You will make a lot of international friends because the international people here are very welcoming and willing to make new friends. You might find a bit weird in case you have more international friends than Swedish friends, but that is the case for many students here since the international people always stick together. You will have a great experience and you will love to walk around town. First thing, I recommend you to know the closest metro station. Once you are in the metro you can go anywhere and you will not get lost. The metro system is very simple and easy. The city is not very big, so you will be able to know where you are easily. For the record, T-centralen is central station and the meeting point for many people.

Another important thing, during winter it can be quite cold and very dark, starting from October and November. So it can be a big difference for many of you, but it can be very cozy as well. There could be a lot of snow or not, it depends of the year. It can get dark around 15 h starting from October. During summer, you will see that the sun goes down very late in the afternoon. I love it, personally. It is the best season of the year, summer! That would be from end of May to beginning of September. Lots of events around town, lots of outdoor bars and the city is very lively.

Sweden is very welcoming in general and you won't regret doing your exchange semester here.

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