Useful information

Communications

Information on buses, metro and taxi can be found under the link Travel information on the IATUL home page.

Telephones

Almost all public phones in Sweden are card-phones, but most also take credit cards. Telefonkort (phonecards) cost 35, 60 and 100 SEK and are worth 30, 60 and 120 units respectively. They are sold in Telia phone shops, at tobacconists, in news stands and electronic goods shops.
Phone calls to Sweden from abroad require the access code of the country +46, the area code (omitting the initial zero) and the telephone number.
To call abroad from Sweden, dial 00, the country code (usually omitting the initial zero) and the number wanted.

Mobile phones

In Stockholm the Telia mobitel GSM system has coverage even in the Metro. Comviq and Telia prepaid mobile phone-cards can be bought in Telia phone shops and from newsagents. They are valid only in Sweden.

Internet

Internet is available in many Internet cafés for about 1 SEK/minute. Most public libraries offer free Internet access, KTHB does as well. This possibility will be open to all IATUL Conference participants.

Money

Currency

The Swedish currency is called Krona usually represented as Skr or SEK internationally but as Kr in Sweden. One Swedish krona equals 100 öre. Coins come in denominations of 50 öre, 1, 5 and 10 SEK, while notes are in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000 and 10.000 SEK. Changing money is easy. There are a number of reliable exchange offices, for instance Forex. They supply a currency converter on their web-page www.forex.se

ATMs (Automatic Teller Machines)

With an ATM card from your home bank, Swedish ATMs Bankomat allows you to withdraw money from your account. They accept most common credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard and Cirrus format bank-cards. Please note that you will be charged interest rates using credit cards at ATMs.

Credit cards

Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Diners Club cards are widely accepted. If your card is lost or stolen in Stockholm you should report this to the appropriate company.
American Express tel: 020 79 51 55
Diners Club tel: 14 68 78
Eurocard/MasterCard tel: 14 67 67
Visa tel: 020 79 31 46 (non-Swedish Visa cards only)

Services

Banks

Most banks are open from 10am to 3pm on weekdays. Some are open later on Mondays.

Post

The Swedish postal service has undergone some changes in recent years. You can no longer buy stamps frimärken at the post offices. However, stamps can be bought at newsagents, tobacconists and bookshops. The longest opening hours are offered by the post office at the Central Station which is open from 7am to 10pm during the week and from 10am to 7pm on the weekend. The blue post-boxes are for local mail within Stockholm and the yellow ones for everywhere else.
Sending postcards and letters weighing up to 20g costs 8 SEK within Europe and 10 SEK to the rest of the world.

Medical services

The health care system in Sweden is complicated and rather expensive but it is very modern and almost all doctors speak English. There is no general practitioner system in Sweden so, if it is not an emergency, you are advised to go to the local hospital sjukhus, medical centre vårdcentral or visit a pharmacy apotek.
There is a 24-hour pharmacy in central Stockholm, Apoteket CW Scheele, Klarabergsgatan 64, tel: 454 81 30. The national number for emergencies is 112.

Breakfast

Please note that breakfast is not being served at KTH during the conference. It is included in the room price at hotels.

Drinking

Beer come in four varieties; lättöl (light beer) less than 2.25% alcohol and folköl (literally people´s beer) between 2.25% to 3.5% alcohol can be bought in supermarkets. Mellanöl (medium beer) between 3.5% to 4.5% alcohol and starköl (strong beer) anything over 4.5% alcohol can only be bought at the state-owned alcohol shops Systembolaget. This goes for wine and spirits as well.

Prices

Sweden is considered an expensive country. This list will give some examples of what to expect:

Half-litre of strong beer will cost anything from 20 SEK to 56 SEK.
Glass of wine approx. 55 SEK
Can of soft drink approx. 18 SEK
One and a half litre of bottled of mineral water (in shops) 15-20 SEK
Cup of coffee approx. 25 SEK
Hamburger (Big Mac at McDonald´s) 52 SEK
Lunch and dinner prices vary of course. You should be able to get a decent lunch for about 70 SEK, a dinner will cost more.
At the local restaurant Östra Station close to KTH a lunch costs 75 SEK, dinner prices vary from 80 SEK to 170 SEK.
Here a half-litre of strong beer costs 52 SEK and a glass of wine 52 SEK.

Service charges are usually included in restaurant bills.

Official time

Sweden is 1 hour ahead of GMT/UTC (Greenwich Mean Time/Coordinated Universal Time). Sweden observes daylight-saving time, which means that clocks go forward one hour on the last Sunday in March and back again on the last Sunday in October. During the IATUL Conference the official Swedish time will be GMT/UTC +2.

Weather

Summers in Stockholm are usually warm and sunny but it might also rain… Considering this you really should check the weather before you start packing! You may do that here www.sweden.se/weather