Thanks to the Tax Man, my plans for travelling to Sweden again next year have taken a great leap forward today.
The idea I’ve had for a couple of months is to to travel to Sweden in March for Melodifestivalen, the Swedish finals which lead to Eurovision. In the back of my mind has also been the desire to see if I could live for a longer time in Stockholm when it’s a little more bleak than in the mid-summer.
If I want to live and work there for a while at some point in the future, I think I need to be sure that I could cope with things like snow, sleet, mud and lots of darkness.
For the last week or so I’ve been asking around for some travel advice through Facebook and through email. Here’s some of the responses I’ve received…
* Stockholm gonna be so cold in march. I rem one time i went. Feb. . Double layers of clothing. I’d never been so cold. But worth it. Stockholm is beautiful at the best of times. But when it snowed. Pure beauty xxx
* Book now to get jetstars premium seats. they sell out fast. otherwise don’t bother. see my friend george on here … he works at xxxxxxx.
* Hey James – there are flights in March to Heathrow from $1300 return (Asaina) and up…you could then get a flight over to Stockholm from London. There are lots of deals to Europe…does anyone other than THai/SAS do the Asia/Stockholm direct route now…does SAS still exist?!
* Flew Air China to Sthlm during peak summer period for $1800. I can put you in touch with my agent
* Have you tried http://www.expedia.com.au/Default.aspx
* I’d heartily recommend Asiana – booking now to London to get the best price – and booking to Stockholm when you see a cheap seat LHR/ARN/LHR. Asiana are fab and you might even get a free night’s sleep on the way over.
* Well, you can get Finnair to Stockholm (via Helsinki) for about $1,700 return or SAS for around $1,800 (via Copenhagen). Asiana is a great option. Great airline at a good price. You’d have to book a flight from London but if you book far enough ahead, you can get really good fares on SAS or BA. Thai is also good and goes direct to Stockholm for around $1,900 return. Those prices are all inclusive of taxes. I’m no expert but I think those prices aren’t too bad. Maybe you could get something cheaper but cheaper is not always best when flying internationally. Personally, I don’t like Jetstar and I think there is more chance of something
going wrong when you’re completely changing airlines in Asia (unless you plan on staying a couple of days). Air China seems to be the cheapest option and they fly direct to Stockholm but I don’t know what they’re like. Quite a few negative reviews at http://www.airlinequality.com
* To which I replied…. “These comments are all good. Thanks Tracey for expedia as I’ve never used it before. My heart tells me use Air China (so I can visit Kate on the way). My head tells me go via London and get a cheap internal flight to Europe. Yeah, it’s gonna be cold, but that’s probably part of the appeal this time. I’ve done summer. Can I do winter?
To which I got these replies…
* You can, the scenery is breath-taking xx
* Yes, yes you can do winter. Maybe head to the Norweigan west coast and northern Sweden, like Jukkasjärvi, where the Ice Hotel and Northern Lights are. Air China were fine. I flew through Beijing and Shanghai.
So, as you can see, there’s lots to think about.
What’s helped the plan along a little is news the taxman is delivering me quite a bit more than I thought I could get back. Yay.
Hooray for Tuesday. I’m on top of the world.
Lucky you! I got less than I was hoping for.
Never heard of Asiana – I just googled and they look pretty good. Curiously they offer onboard fax as a service in first class which is quite sweet!
Expedia is great, but also print out their quote and go and hassle Trailfinders and Flight Centre as they’ll often match it/beat it, and then you have a real human being to hassle if you then want to change things later.
Go in January/February if you want cold. That way you can see whether you can survive without an Australian Summer too. :)
I was there in Feb 2007 – Stockholm and Jukkasjarvi (Ice Hotel). While cold (-5,-29 or below) respectively, they were no problem at all. If there’s no cloud, then the sun is brilliant.
Your photographs were very influential in the decision-making process.
Expedia is really good. I recently cancelled an expensive hotel booking for New York, and they processed the refund in just a couple of days. Best of all they did it all in AUD, so despite the Aussie dollar rising a lot I didn’t lose a cent on the exchange rate.
As for the cold, you’re still welcome to borrow my down jacket. It kept me warm through temperatures of below -20 in northern China last winter, so it should be fine for Stockholm too!
The jacket sounds like a good idea. Thanks for the offer. I doubt you’ll be needing it for your trip :)
If I do, then climate change has a lot to answer for!
Do Air China and give yourself a stopover! It’s good for the health.
Just remember you will need a visa for China and (I’m guessing) the flights to Stockholm go from Beijing, so the convenience for seeing your friend Kate would depend on whether she is there.