Sweden Guide
Weather
Summer in Sweden is short and hectic. Generally speaking, Swedes consider summer to run from mid-June to mid-August, and during this time accommodation is reduced in price (to fill rooms occupied by business people during the rest of the year) and most of the country's attractions are open for business. Conversely, though, summer also sees something of a shutdown: many bus timetables are at their most skeletal, and facilities such as swimming pools and cinemas in sparsely populated parts of the country close completely. Most Swedes take their holidays during the summer, with the result that popular destinations such as Dalarna can be tediously overcrowded. From rowdy Midsummer's Night (June 21) onwards, accommodation is scarce and trains packed as Swedes head out into the country and to the beaches. Outside the peak month of July, however, things are noticeably quieter; by mid-August, most Swedes have returned to work and the feeling of summer has gone – by late August, some parts of northern Sweden see their first frost. To avoid the rush, try visiting in September or late May – both are usually bright and warm. The midnight sun extends the days in June and July, and north of the Arctic Circle it virtually never gets dark. Elsewhere it stays light until very late, up to midnight and beyond. Thanks to the Gulf Stream, temperatures in Sweden are surprisingly high, and on the south coast it can be as hot as any southern European resort.
Winter, on the other hand, can be a miserable experience. It lasts a long time (November to April solid) and gets very cold indeed: temperatures of -15°C and below are not unusual even in Stockholm. Further north it's positively arctic. Days are short and dark (in the far north the sun barely rises at all) and biting winds cut through the most elaborate of padded coats. On the plus side, the snow stays crisp and white, the air is clean, the water everywhere frozen solid: a paradise for skaters and skiers. Stockholm, too, is particularly beautiful with its winter covering of snow and ice.