Getting Around Stockholm

Stockholm is a relatively compact city and best seen on foot. That said, the city boasts a quick, safe and efficient public transport system operated by Statens Lokaltraffic (SL, www.sl.se).

It consists of the Stockholm Metro (Tunnelbana); three regional/suburban rail systems: commuter rail (pendeltåg), Roslagsbanan, and Saltsjöbanan; three light rail systems: Nockebybanan, Lidingöbanan, and Tvärbanan; a large number of bus lines, and an inner-city boat line.

Tickets and Travel Passes
SL has a common ticket system in the entire Stockholm County, which allows for easy travel between different modes of transport. The tickets are of two main types, single ticket and travel cards, both allowing for unlimited travel with SL in the entire Stockholm County for the duration of the ticket validity. Starting April 1st, 2007, a new zone system (A,B,C) and price system applies for single tickets. Single tickets are now available in forms of cash ticket, individual unit pre-paid tickets, pre-paid ticket slips of 10, sms-ticket and machine ticket. Cash tickets bought at the point of travel are the most expensive and pre-paid tickets slips of 10 are the cheapest. A single ticket is valid for one hour. SL’s 24-hour (90 Skr), 72-hour (190 Skr), seven-day (230 Skr) and 30-day (620 Skr) travel passes allow unlimited travel on metro, trains, city busses and the Slussen-Djurgarden ferry service.

Metro (Tunnelbana)
Stockholm’s underground rail network is the quickest, easiest way to get around town, except if you’re heading to the islands of Djurgarden and Skeppsholmen, where buses and ferries are your main options. Each Tunnelbana line is market by a colour (red, green or blue) and final destination, with all three lines intersecting at T-Centralen.
Services are frequent and generally operate from 5am to 1am Sunday to Thursday and 5am to 3am Friday and Saturday. Single-trip tickets (20 to 80 Skr, depending on zone crossed) are available from SL centres, vending machines and train stations, and are valid for one hour from when the trip begins. Generally, the SL travel passes are the best value. For travel information and timetables, visit the main SL Information Centre inside T-Centralen.

Bus
Stockholm’s bus network is extensive and efficient. Most routes operate between 5am and midnight daily. After midnight, night buses operate a reduced service. The main night bus station are Odenplan, Slussen, Gullmarsplan, Fridhemsplan and T-Centralen. Tickets can not be purchased on buses.

Ferry
Djurgardsfarjan city ferry services connect Grona Lund on Djurgarden with Slussen and Nybroplan as frequently as every 10 minutes in summer (less frequently in the low season). A single trip costs 30 Skr for adults and 20 Skr for seniors and ages 7 to 19 (free with the SL Travel Passes).

Tram
From late March to mid-December, vintage trams (www.ss.se/djurgardslinjen) rattle from Norrmalmstorg to Waldemarsudde on Djurgarden. SL travel cards are accepted onboard. Single trips cost 30 Skr for adults and 15 Skr for seniors and ages 7 to 19. Trams usually depart every 10 to 12 minutes.

 

Taxi
Taxis are readily accessible and can be booked online or over the phone, or simply hailed on the street. The flag fall is 45 Skr, with charges calculated at around 8 Skr per Km plus another 5 Skr per minute. This rate increases in the evenings and on weekends. Avoid unscrupulous drivers operating unofficial taxi services from unmarked cars. Reliable companies are Taxi 020, Taxi Kurir and Taxi Stockholm.

Roads
Stockholm has a congestion pricing system, in use on a permanent basis since August 1, 2007 and the city centre is within the congestion tax zone. All the entrances and exits of this area have unmanned control points operating with automatic number plate recognition. All vehicles entering or exiting the congestion tax affected area, with a few exceptions, have to pay 10–20 Skr (1–2 EUR) depending on the time of day between 06:30 and 18:29. The maximum tax amount per vehicle per day is 60 Skr. Payment is done by various means within 14 days after one has passed one of the control points; it’s not possible to pay at the control points.