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Best way to travel from Sweden to the rest of Europe
Sat, 08/13/2011 - 05:40
thespiritmolecule
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Ahoy there

I will be in Sweden for about 4-5 months for work. I have always wanted to backpack through Europe and this might make it possible. While my stay in Sweden, I would like to do small weekend trips to countries and cities close to Stockholm/Karlstad(where I will be staying)

I’ve been looking at ryan air and other travel options, but it would be great if you guys could help me out with sites for booking/checking train/flights and buses throughout Europe. I doubt i would want to get the Eurail pass as I would only be able to travel over the weekends and days i take off.

I’ve noticed that ryan air has only alternate day flights to each destination, which is quite a pain for travel over the weekend.
It would be best if I could travel over night by either a bus or train to my destination and be able to leave friday/thursday night and be back sunday night or monday morning.

Places I would want to go to

Hamburg
Oslo
Amsterdam
Berlin
Gotenburg

You guys could give me suggestions of places I could visit, which I could manage to over the weekend or requiring me to take a day off from work( friday or monday)

Sat, 08/13/2011 - 08:12
#1
Don
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Skyscanner.

Goteborg & Oslo are so (relatively) close by train (4 hours? to Got, ~ another 4? Got to Osl) that you could put those together if you have a long weekend—for example—and take a flight hop back. I’d recommend Bergen instead, however.

Copenhagen is 5-6 hours (depends which train), with first stop in Denmark right at CPH International Airport.

Helsinki is just an overnight ferry each way.

SJ.se look for the “just nu” tickets — including first class which are sometimes cheaper than regular economy seats, so check for that too.

Between Skavsta, Bromma, and Arlanda airports, and CPH if you had to, you have pretty good coverage for low-cost flights to a lot of Europe. With only weekends, you really don’t have time to take trains further than Goteborg or Kobenhavn.

By the way, if you’re a US citizen, you will need a pre-arranged visa for work in Sweden. Otherwise, you can only stay 90 days on a tourist entry.

Sat, 08/13/2011 - 11:42
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oldlady
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You can ferry from Stockholm to Riga or Tallinn — both of which I highly recommend. Air Baltic also flies this route.

Tue, 09/20/2011 - 06:02
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thespiritmolecule
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Thanks,

I’m not a US citizen, I’m Indian. I have a business visa for 3 months as of now, but depending on work my bosses might extend it.

I will be travelling to Goteborg and Stockholm quite frequently for concerts. Oslo is not far either.

The only problem I’m facing is travelling from either Goteborg or Stockholm to Amsterdam and Hamburg.

Ryanair has cheap flights, but the timetable is the only problem, do you guys have any alternate routes I could use?

It would be perfect if i could leave on a thursday night say post 8pm and get back on a monday night.

Wed, 09/21/2011 - 01:06
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oldlady
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Try www.whichbudget.com to see which low fare airlines fly which routes. You could fly to most cities in Netherlands, Belgium or Luxembourg and have a relatively short train ride to Amsterdam, but every connection will seriously cut into your time in Amsterdam.

Both KLM and SAS have relatively cheap ( around $220 US for November 24 return 28) direct flights that meet your Thursday/Monday criteria. It’s probably worth a few extra bucks for flights that fit your work schedule.