From here our story takes a different route as we decided to buy a car and name it Björnen (The Bear)- bringing with us some of the medicine from the north! And even though traveling by car might be the cheapest way to get around (and most definitely the easiest!) Sweden and the North, it is part of another story. So, let’s summarize How To Travel Cheap in Sweden for ya:
Transportation:
Combine sightseeing and transportation Like we did with Inlandsbanan
Combine transportation and sleep There are few over-night travel options in Sweden, but in the North is where you can find them. Sleep poorly while transporting yourself and you save one night worth of lodging, like we did between Umeå and Luleå.
Use local buses Harder to find and time consuming but generally cheaper, offers a lot of fun through random countryside experiences and take you further than you might think. Even across county borders, like when we traveled Dalarna!
Hitchhike might be time-consuming and expensive in terms of buying shitty food and snacks in every gas station you end up at in between rides. However, when wanting to get around a certain area (i.e. shorter rides and without the heavy packing) I recommend giving it a go, like we did in Rättvik.
Drive freerider cars Especially good when you want to get from A to B quick and B is really far away, like the first part of our trip.
Food:
Travel with a portable kitchen, in that way you can cook your own food basically wherever you are and save in on a lot of money. Check out foodbymagie for tips and recipes on easy and cheap food to cook both indoors and outdoors!
Use Allemansrätten and the common fireplaces at resting areas near the roads and by the lakes. Just be mindful with the fire! Read more about how I used it and what it allows you to do here.
Learn the local plants, mushrooms and berries and just like that you have free food all around you! I will write more about this topic, if you are interested? In the meantime, check out foodbymagie and coming events and workshops here.
Accommodation:
Forest Camping & City Camping Travel with a tent in Scandinavia and you always have a place to crash. Read more about Allemansrätten and how we camped in Umeå.
Staying with friends & Couchsurfing We actually didn’t camp all that much, staying with good friends and locals always offer great experiences!
Work exchange Psst, there are cool work exchanges too, not just for accommodation, like we did on Yoga Camp and at Läkegården.
Hidden Costs: You know what I’m talking about; toilets, Internet, and most definitely where to store the bags when you don’t have a hotel/car or the like!
Library hangout: Good place to charge your devices + use the Internet for free. I’ve used the library both in big cities like Malmö and small towns like Kalix, you might need a library card in some places tho!
Toilets: The church. Even if you can’t find public toilets, you will find a church- go check their opening hours! In addition, I like to hang out in the often times very beautiful old buildings.
Backpack storage: Can’t find any lockers? No worries, locate the tourist information and ask if they have any suggestions. Both in Mora and Umeå they let us store our backpacks and bags for free!
Do you have any great tips about traveling without money you think I should add? Or a great idea you think I should try? Comment below!
