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How to travel dirt-cheap by train and bus in Sweden in summer 2023

Richard Orange
Richard Orange - [email protected]
How to travel dirt-cheap by train and bus in Sweden in summer 2023
Travelling by train can be one of the best ways to see the Swedish countryside. Photo: Tina Axelsson/imagebank.sweden.se

If you want to tour Sweden's countryside this summer, one of the cheapest and greenest ways to do it is by taking advantage of one of the special summer tickets sold by regional travel companies.

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For adults, the best deals are those offered in Skåne, Blekinge and Halland in southern Sweden. Holders of these regions' summer tickets can travel unlimited on public transport from the start of June until mid-August, for around 820 kronor, 769 kronor and 655 kronor respectively. 

Västra Götaland, Uppsala, and Kalmar also offer summer cards for adults, but they are fairly stingy in comparison. 

Stockholm, and the nearby regions of Sörmland and Västmanland, also offer summer tickets, but only for those under the age of 19. 

Here's the low down on what's on offer: 

Stockholm 

SL, Stockholm's regional traffic operator, is this year sending out letters containing a special code to anyone born between 2005 and 2011, which they can use to get the free sommarlovsbiljetten, or "summer holiday ticket", on the SL app on their phone or on their existing SL card. 

This gives free travel on SL's trains, buses and underground throughout the school summer holidays. 

The letters will be sent out to young people's addresses by the end of May and will be valid between June 5th and August 27th. 

If you are born between 2005 and 2011 and have not received a letter by June 5th, contact SL's customer service team. 

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If you are over 16 and have BankID you can register the ticket yourself, and if you are under 18, you need to get someone responsible for you to use their BankID to register the app. 

If your parent or guardian does not have BankID, you can get the code registered at SL's customer service department on Sergels Torg or Stockholm Central Station. 

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Brothers and sisters of those with cards can travel with them, so long as they are under the age of seven. The cards are not valid on ferries out to the Stockholm archipelago run by Waxholmsbolaget. 

Sadly, SL has no special summer offers for those born before 2005. 

Gothenburg

Västtrafik, which operates trains, buses and boats in Västra Götaland, the region around Gothenburg, offers a one-month summer card, which gives holders access to all train, bus and ferry traffic in the region and also in Kungsbacka municipality (which is in Halland, despite being a suburb of Gothenburg). 

You can buy the ticket between June 15th and July 31st on the Västtrafik To Go app and it costs 815 kronor for adults and 610 kronor for a youth ticket. 

Västtrafik says that the ticket gives access to "three zones for the price of one". 

Skåne

Skåne has arguably the best deal in Sweden, perhaps influenced by the generous summer tickets available across the Öresund in Denmark

This year's ticket is valid from June 15th to August 15th, costs 820 kronor, and can be used on trains and buses operated by Skånetrafiken (but not by SJ) all over the region. 

The ticket will go on sale from June 1st, and can be bought on the Skånetrafiken app, on its website, at a ticket machine at a station, or at one of the company's travel centres. You can either have a paper ticket, have it loaded onto a Skånekort travel card, or have it on the Skånetrafiken app on your phone. 

Three people can travel on one summer ticket, but only one of them can be over 20. 

The tickets can also be lent out using the app, by simply filling in the telephone number of the person you are lending it to (they need to have the app too). You can lend out your summer card 31 times to a maximum of five people. 

What has changed this year is that you can also buy a combined summer card covering both Skåne and Blekinge, giving you unlimited travel across a much larger swathe of southern Sweden. 

This ticket costs 1,219 kronor and can only be bought on the Skånetrafiken or Blekingetrafiken apps. 

A family enjoying a holiday on Hallö in the Karlshamn Archipelago. Photo: Alexander Hall/Imagebank Sweden

Blekinge 

Next door Blekinge offers a similar sommarbiljett deal to the one in Skåne. For 739 kronor, you can travel on all Blekingetrafiken trains, buses, and ferries from June 13th to August 14th. 

Like Skåne's card, you can buy the ticket on the Blekingetrafiken app, on their website, at a ticket machine, or at a travel centre. 

The fun thing about Blekinge's card is that it gives you free travel on the boats that go out to the wonderful Karlskrona, Ronneby, Karlshamn and Solvesborg archipelagos. 

As mentioned above, you can now buy a combined ticket to Blekinge and Skåne. 

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Halland

Halland, also perhaps influenced by Skåne, offers a summer ticket for 715 kronor, which can be bought from June 15th, and is valid from June 15th up until August 15th. Youths get a 40 percent discount, and students a 25 percent discount. 

Like Skåne's card, the tickets can also be lent out to others using the app. The ticket can also be bought as a plastic card, or loaded onto an existing plastic travel card. 

The tickets are valid on the Öresundståg, Västtågen, and Krösatågen trains within Halland. 

Hallandstrafiken is not offering a combined ticket with Skåne. 

Kalmar has a great castle but a pricey summer ticket. Photo. Emmy Jonsson/imagebank Sweden

Kalmar 

Region Kalmar, to the north of Blekinge, also offers a sommarbiljett, with the price sharply reduced this year to 950 kronor for an adult or youth (down from the uncompetitive 1,680 kronor offered last year. 

Kalmar's ticket allows you to travel on all Kalmar Länstrafik's buses and trains, and also on the Dessi cycle ferry over from Kalmar to the island of Öland. The ticket is also valid on ferries in the Kalmar archipelago. 

Uppsala 

UL, the travel company in Uppsala, offers a summer ticket valid from from June 1st until August 31st. The tickets cost 940 kronor for those between the ages of seven and 19, and 2,000 kronor for over-19s. They are valid on all buses in the region, on the Upptåget regional trains, and on SL commuter trains between Uppsala, Knivsta and Arlanda. Anyone over the age of 18, however, has to pay if they end their train journey at Arlanda C. 

You can buy the ticket on the UL app, on their website, at a ticket machine, or at a travel centre. 

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Sörmland 

Sörmlandstrafiken is offering a summer ticket to those between the ages of seven and 19, which for 560 kronor, allows free travel on buses only, all around the region. The ticket needs to be loaded onto the gröna resekort, or "green travel card", which young people have for travel in the region. 

The tickets can be bought from May 25th, are valid from June 9th until August 22nd, and can be bought on the Sörmlandstrafiken website, from a bus driver, or at a Sörmlandstrafiken travel centre. 

Västmanland

VL, the regional travel company in Västmanland, offers a summer ticket for seven to 19-year-olds. Like the ticket from Sörmland, it is only valid for buses, and it costs 500 kronor. It is valid from June 1st to August 31st but can be purchased from May 24th. 

Örebro 

LT, Örebro's regional travel company, doesn't offer a special summer card, but is once again selling 30-day travel cards at half price for the period between June 7th and July 24th. This means that adults can use all the trains and buses in the region for 705 kroner. For youths it is 352 kronor, and for students 562 kronor. 

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