Discover the enchanting beauty of Swedish Lapland, where vast forests and glistening lakes come together. In this blog, we have provided an overview of the costs we incurred during our tour of Swedish Lapland. Keep in mind that these prices may have changed since then. This overview is therefore mainly an indication of what a round trip through Swedish Lapland could cost. We have divided the costs into the following categories: transportation, accommodation, attractions, food and drinks, and other expenses.
In Sweden, payments are made with Swedish Krona, abbreviated as SEK. In this article, all prices are in euros. We did not have any Swedish Krona in cash, but we paid for everything with credit cards and debit cards.
Transport - airline tickets
We went to Swedish Lapland in the low season, so there were no direct flights available from the Netherlands. We chose flights with Lufthansa from Amsterdam to Lulea, with layovers in Frankfurt and Stockholm. We paid a total of €1.250 for these flights. We chose to fly business class because, especially in this COVID-19 period, it is nice to be able to keep more distance from other passengers. It is certainly possible to fly to Swedish Lapland on a lower budget.
We also compensated for our CO2 emissions for both the outbound and return flights with Lufthansa. Lufthansa works with Compensaid, and they ensure that your entire CO2 emissions are offset. For our flights, 5.86 trees were planted, which compensates for 977 kg of CO2 emissions. The cost for this CO2 compensation was €20.
Transport - rental car
We chose to rent a car because we planned to cover a lot of (long) distances. We booked the car in advance with Hertz. We opted for a luxury Volvo V40. If you are planning to visit Swedish Lapland, we definitely recommend renting a car. This way, you can explore the surroundings and beautiful nature the best. We paid €325 for the rental of the Volvo V40 for nine days.
Our last expense for transportation is the additional costs of the rental car. We drove a total of about 1,500 km with the rental car. This, of course, means that we had to refuel. For this, we spent a total of €138 . In addition, we had to pay for parking the car in Lulea. Fortunately, parking was free in the other places we visited. In total, we spent €23 for parking.
Accommodation
We stayed eight nights in Swedish Lapland, in three different hotels. First, we stayed one night at the Elite Stadshotellet in Lulea. Later during our trip, we stayed two more nights at this hotel. A four-star hotel in the center of Lulea. We stayed in a standard double room, and the overnight stay included a good breakfast. For these three nights in total, we paid €375.
Next, we stayed four nights in Kiruna. Here we chose Camp Ripan as our hotel. This is a four-star hotel located on the outskirts of Kiruna. In this hotel, you stay in your own chalet with a private entrance. This overnight stay also included an extensive breakfast. Camp Ripan has a very good restaurant and the Aurora spa, which has been named the Best Unique Experience Spa in Europe. For these four nights, we paid €650.
The last hotel where we stayed in Swedish Lapland was the Treehotel in Harads. The prices for this hotel are much higher than the prices above, but in our experience, it is definitely worth it. For one night in The Blue Cone, a treehouse at the Treehotel, you pay €780.. Curious about our experiences at the Treehotel? Here you can read all about this special overnight stay in Swedish Lapland.
Sights
The next expense we discuss is the attractions we visited. In both Kiruna and Lulea, we visited the cities practically for free. By this, we mean that the cities are beautiful to drive or walk through, and it already feels like visiting an attraction. Additionally, we drove the route between Kiruna and Riksgränsen, one of the most beautiful routes in Sweden. Of course, we also visited some attractions that were not free.
As described above, Camp Ripan has a special spa; the Aurora Spa. We spent one evening here and paid €60 including two drinks. We also visited the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi. This is the only real Icehotel in the world. This hotel is entirely made of ice, including the beds, the bar, and the glasses. To enter the Icehotel, you have to buy a ticket. This ticket gives you access to all rooms, the bar, and an exhibition about the creation of the Icehotel. We have paid in total €60 for these tickets.
In Kiruna, we visited Husky Dreams, a small farm in Krokvik, just outside Kiruna, with no less than 29 huskies. After an extensive explanation and meeting with the huskies, we left for a training session with the huskies. We ended the day with a traditional Fika at Per and Jenni’s, the owners of Husky Dreams. For this we paid in total €150.
Food and drinks
The last expense is food and drinks. Breakfast was included in all our hotels, so we didn’t incur any extra costs here. As for lunch and dinner, the costs varied per day. We stayed a total of nine days in Swedish Lapland, with the first and last day mainly spent on the plane. We received multiple meals during our flights, so we didn’t actually incur any costs for food and drinks on these two days.
As for lunch, we got a sandwich a few times at a gas station or local supermarket. We also had an extensive lunch at the Icehotel once. Here we got a three-course lunch including drinks. Dinner was also quite varied; we ate at a local pizzeria once, twice at a local café, and often had an extensive meal at luxury restaurants. The most elaborate dinner was at the Treehotel. In between, we often got a cup of coffee or hot chocolate. In total on these nine days we spent €790 for food and drinks.
We found the prices for food to be comparable to prices in the Netherlands. However, the prices for alcohol are much higher than what we were used to. A regular glass of red wine easily set you back €12.
Other costs
We actually made almost no other expenses in Sweden. As Dutch citizens, we did not need a visa for Sweden, and all other costs fall into the above categories. However, they do not use the Euro in Sweden like in large parts of Europe, but the Swedish Krona. Therefore, we did incur some costs for this exchange rate. We paid for everything using our debit card or credit card, and the bank charges a small exchange rate surcharge for this. For us this amounted to €20.
Total expenses for our trip through Swedish Lapland
What you spend in total for a trip through Swedish Lapland depends very much on what exactly you want to see, how luxurious you want to stay and travel, and what you want to eat. We spent €4.641 in total for two people and 9 days. With an amount of€258 per person per day we can certainly label this as a luxurious trip.
| Cost item | Total costs | Cost per person per day |
|---|---|---|
|
Transportation |
€1.756 |
€98 |
|
Accommodation |
€1.805 |
€100 |
|
Sights |
€270 |
€15 |
|
Food and drinks |
€790 |
€44 |
|
Other costs |
€20 |
€1 |
|
Total |
€4.641 |
€258 |
Is this trip through Swedish Lapland also possible with a smaller budget?
Of course it is also possible to make a nice trip through Swedish Lapland with a smaller daily budget per person. Where, in our opinion, can some money be saved? Below are some tips to make this trip cheaper.
When you choose not to fly business class, this saves a lot of money. Via Skyscanner you can easily compare prices for different flights. The accommodations can also be much cheaper. We stayed one night in the Treehotel for €780. If you skip this hotel, the average price per night per person would drop considerably. However, we thought this experience was well worth the money. Via booking.com you can easily compare the different prices per accommodation. You can definitely save on food and drinks as well. By not consuming alcohol in Sweden you quickly save a lot of money. In addition, you can replace the luxurious dinners with simpler meals in local cafes, for example.
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