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The seven types of Stockholmer you’re bound to find in the city during summer 

You might have noticed that Sweden’s cities seem to empty out in July as thousands leave to go on holiday. But who are the stragglers? One of The Local's reporters investigates.

Published: 4 August 2021 16:44 CEST
Updated: 19 June 2022 09:27 CEST
The seven types of Stockholmer you're bound to find in the city during summer 
Unsurprisingly, tourist hot spots in Stockholm have been quieter since the pandemic. Photo: Stina Stjernkvist/TT

The happy tourist

All right, they’re not technically a Stockholmer, but they’re so delighted they’ve been allowed to travel that we’re not going to take it away from them. 

You’ll see far fewer tourists this year, due to travel bans and pandemic restrictions, but a determined few will join the seagulls and pigeons crowding the Kungsträdgården park.

They’ll be taking photos of themselves on Gamla Stan’s empty streets, or eating ice creams, amazed that there are no queues for Gröna Lund amusement park. When they’re home they’ll tell people about how quiet the city is and how weird it was not to have to wear a face mask all the time. 

The lonely international student

Armed with a suitcase full of textbooks and winter clothes, they’re ready for their new semester at Stockholm University, eager to make friends and learn about Swedish culture.

They decided to arrive a month before term starts to settle in, only to find cafes closed and not a person in sight, other than a few other international students in their residence. So they spend their days reading ahead in parks, and their nights at home video calling with family, waiting for something to happen. 

At least there’s more time to read up on course texts without any distracting people around. Photo: Cecilia Larsson Lantz/Image Bank Sweden

The under-stimulated intern 

They only took this job because they needed it for school and were hoping it would give them some skills that look good on their very sparse CV. But no one is around in the office to teach them anything.

Now they’re stuck writing generic response emails to enquiries that come to the main company email address. All they’re learning is the best way to copy-paste from the FAQ section and how to keep busy with nothing but a coffee machine and some paper clips for company. 

Bored bored bored bored bored. Photo: Lieselotte van der Meijs/Image Bank Sweden

The seasoned raver

You’ll find them walking through Nacka at 6am, half covered in glitter, exhausted but still buzzing. Sure, they could go to their parents’ summer house for a month but it would be boring, and they haven’t danced in a crowd for nearly a year. 

They know that the best parties in Stockholm are during the summer and they spend all year looking forward to the open-air raves that crop up at secret spots in the forests dotted around the city. With pandemic restrictions still having an impact on concerts and music festivals, there are more parties than ever. And a heightened police presence at some illegal parties isn’t going to stop them from having an amazing time.  

For some, even a pandemic won’t stop the party. Photo: Rodrigo Rivas Ruiz/Image Bank Sweden

The overworked bus driver

It’s a good day when they get to drive one of the air conditioned buses, and there aren’t too many tourists who come in proffering cash and asking for directions to Uppsala. 

Shifts might be extra long because they’re covering for a colleague who is off on semester, but at least they don’t have to talk to anybody. More than anything, they’re looking forward to autumn when they’re flying off to Spain to lie on the beach and not step foot on a bus. 

Many public transport drivers don’t get the chance to take holidays over the summer. Photo: Erik Abel/TT
 

The first-year foreigner

They arrived in Sweden to start their new life during the winter, and by now they’re feeling proud of how well they’ve adapted. The long nights of summer will be a well-deserved reward. Too late, they realise their error. Their new local friends have left town, they don’t quite know anyone well enough to be invited on a sommarstuga vacation, and they’re stuck at the office covering for everyone else, but unable to do much because every email is met with a cheery out of office reply. On the plus side, it’s the best time of year to have family or friends visiting and show off the city’s parks and beaches free from crowds.

It’s only when the city clears out for the summer and you didn’t get the memo that you realise you might not have adapted to Sweden quite as much as you thought. Photo: Tove Freiij/imagebank.sweden.se

The native Swede

They’re only here for three days before they go on a yoga retreat after spending a few weeks at their brother’s summer house in the archipelago. During that time they need to see all of their friends and be seen at the right pop-up summer bars sporting a hefty tan, white trousers and Birkenstocks. When they’re not looking like they’re having the best time on Instagram they’ll be busy on their phone planning their next escape from the city. 

The Swedes who leave the city for the summer have a lot of catching up to do with friends. Photo: Simon Paulin/Image Bank Sweden
 

Member comments

  1. Don’t forget the native Stockholmer who loves the fact that the streets and parks are empty, similar to 25 years ago 😂

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For members

PROPERTY

How to buy your own Swedish island

Ever felt like spending your summers lounging around on your own island? Or have you always wanted to build a James Bond-style supervillain fort in the middle of the Stockholm archipelago?

Published: 28 August 2024 11:25 CEST
Updated: 8 September 2024 05:57 CEST
How to buy your own Swedish island

How can I find an island for sale?

Perhaps surprisingly, you can find islands for sale in the same places you find other properties in Sweden, for example on property site Hemnet, or directly through an estate agent.

As you may expect, people who own their own islands often want to hang onto them, so they don’t come up for sale very often. 

If you’re still interested in finding your dream island, then try searching egen ö till salu (own island for sale), and be prepared that you’ll probably have to wait a while before one comes up in your ideal area.

You might also get lucky and be able to find a property which just happens to include a small island with it (for example, a property by a lake or by the sea), but there’s no guarantee that the island would be big enough to actually do anything with – and if it is, the price of the property would no doubt reflect this.

Can I build on it?

Islands usually fall into two categories: those where there is already some sort of house or building (like a lighthouse, for example), and those which are completely untouched. 

Bear in mind that the rules on building on islands are pretty strict. Firstly, you’ll need to apply for planning permission (yes, even if you own the whole island), which can be difficult.

Essentially, all Swedish coastlines are protected under strandskyddet (literally: “beach protection”), which means that they must be accessible to the public and cannot be built on or fenced off for private use. The exact area which must be protected varies, but as a general rule you’ll have to keep the shoreline accessible 100 metres inland – going up to 300 metres in some cases.

Under allemansrätten, the right to roam, members of the public must be able to access the coastline, so even if you have your own island which you build your own jetty on, you can’t stop people from turning up and mooring at your jetty to lounge on the rocks.

The only exception to this is if they’re so close to your home they disturb your hemfrid, literally “home peace”, for example if they’d be able to see into your property or would feasibly intrude on your private life.

The downside to this hemfrid rule is that it can sometimes get in the way of planning permission – if a rebuild or extension to your home would extend your hemfrid so much that it would encroach on the public right to access the coastline (even if it’s something as simple as putting in larger windows or building a small veranda), then your application could be rejected.

So essentially, you might need to forget about your dreams of a supervillain-style lair on your own private island.

How much does it cost?

Island prices vary wildly, depending on things like the size of your island, how close it is to a major city, and whether it has buildings or pre-approved planning permission. 

Expect to pay a couple million kronor for a larger island (like this one) close to Stockholm or Gothenburg (yes, even if you can’t build anything on it).

Lilla Kattskäret, an island in Norrtälje around an hour from Stockholm with a handful of small buildings and two separate jetties, sold in August for just under 10 million kronor.

If you’re right in the middle of the city centre, you might see islands listed with no price at all, like this island complete with summer house, guest house and another, smaller island. A stone’s throw from Drottningholm Palace – the home of the Swedish King and Queen – this might be a case of “if you have to ask how much it costs, you probably can’t afford it”.

And don’t forget – you’ll need your own boat to access it, too.

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