1. Living in Stockholm

1. How much does it cost to live there ?

It depends on your lifestyle :P . And how much you spend for rent. In general, most Europeans (apart from people who live in Scandinavia and Greece) find Stockholm to be expensive. So, in order to give an estimation, I'll mention the prices for some basic stuff:

  • Student accommodation (18-25 m2): 2900-3500 SEK (Electricity, water, heat, internet, furniture included)
  • Normal accommodation (50-70 m2): 4000-10000 SEK (Water, heat, furniture included)
  • Lunch in a student/company restaurant: 45-60 SEK
  • Lunch/Dinner in a cheap restaurant: 60-80 SEK
  • Lunch/Dinner in an decent restaurant: 80-150 SEK
  • McDonald's Big Mac menu: 55 SEK
  • 30-days transport card: 620 SEK
  • 6-month student transport card: 2360 SEK
  • Beer @ bars/clubs: 50-55 SEK
  • Beer @ student pubs: 20-30 SEK
  • Club entrance fee: 80-150 SEK (no drink included)
  • Super Market cost: I cannot estimate precisely, but it is more than what the average European pays (I know for sure that Greece is an exception to this statement !!!)

I found that as a student someone can spend between 6500 and 10000 per month in total, depending on personal needs and the time of the year. As a working person the cost rises (but then again you get paid :-) ).


2. How hard is it to find a house/apartment there ?

Very! Sweden is called the country of the queue. When a child is born, the parents register it to the queue for renting a first hand contract apartment close to the city center which he/she might do so when he/she becomes 25 years old. Of course there are always the second hand contracts which anyone can find on http://www.blocket.se or a real estate agency such as http://www.bostaddirekt.com. Another solution is to buy an apartment which you can later on sell again (there is flexibility in that), as long as you have a permanent job and therefore be able to get a loan from any local bank.

As an example, the price for a 2-room apartment (small living room and bedroom) close to the city center may range from 5000 to 8000 SEK, whereas the same type of house a bit further away can be around 4000 and 6000 SEK.

If on the other hand you are a foreign student, the university usually handles the accommodation for the first year. student residences can be found in many locations in Stockholm but the major ones are in Kista and Universitetet (Lappis area), where the majority of students is gathered. The cost for a room in a student corridor ranges between 2900 and 3500 SEK (everything included). A very good idea is to register yourself to http://www.sssb.se as soon as possible, in order to collect credits/days which you will later on use for renting a room (when the first year's contract with the university's accommodation office ends).


3. Do I need to know Swedish?

No. 99% of the Swedes speak English and very well indeed.

But if you want to stay here longer, I strongly advise you to learn Swedish. See it more as an investment rather than as an obligation. When you start looking for a job you will see how important that is. Even if you go back home (or to any other country), the fact that you learned the local language of the country that hosted you for some time shows flexibility and your intention to adapt to any given conditions.

Where will you learn Swedish? I am not gonna repeat what is already written in the website of Study in sweden.


4. Is it cold there ?

Do birds fly? OF COURSE it is! But not always. Usually the temperature during the winter months goes below 0 (sometimes even below -10 or -15) but that is not always the case. Autumn and spring are also considerably chilly and as for the summer, forget about getting blown away by heat waves (40 degrees is the temperature only for cooking here). What you should expect though is a few (if not many) rainfalls during the summer months.

Don't bother bringing warm clothes though before you come. Whatever you bring will most likely be useless here. You will need to buy at least a good jacket and a good pair of gloves.


5. How is the Swedish food ?

What???? Next question please.

There is no real food culture here. Most of the restaurants are either Indian, Chinese, Italian, Greek or whatever else. There is of course typical food (kotbullar - meat balls) or snacks that Swedes eat but I wouldn't necessarily call them Swedish. Of course, you can always get a bit of taste from the Swedish cuisine and bakery, but try to find it on your own once you are here. It is more exciting! :-)

And after all, as a good friends says: "... you wont stay hungry, but you might miss your mother's delicious home made food, and there is nothing we can do about that."

Aaah, another interesting thing about Swedish eating habits, is that you have to get used to eating at 11:00-11:30 in the morning! Everybody does so and if you don't you will simply get out of schedule.


6. What about night life ?

It is much better than what southern Europeans think. Swedes can be real party animals and they forget their uptight and "politically correct" lifestyle once alcohol starts running through their veins. Clubs are not amazing in terms of decoration but most often the music and the people compensate that, greatly! There is a little bit of everything for every taste, but again you have to look around. In general, the posh area of Stockholm is Ostermalm (and specifically the Stureplan district) while the more relaxed and cozy one is Medborgarplatsen. Don't be scared by Stureplan though. The people there are not even close as posh as people in other parts of Europe (e.g., Paris or Athens).


7. Are Swedish girls as beautiful as they say ?

More ...

Google Stureplan and you'll be enlightened. No exaggeration at all. Only compared to the real thing!!!