Tuesday, June 12, 2007

A few words on price

Sweden has a reputation for being horribly expensive. This would have been absolutely correct -- a mere fifteen years ago.

You'll have to do the conversions yourself, but I'll supply today's exchange rates. One dollar costs 7 Swedish crowns. One Euro costs 9.40.

While you're here food and drink should amount to most of your running spendings.

A magnetic tram/bus -card valid for almost seven trips costs 100 crowns. (15 crowns per trip) One such trip is open for an hour, so you could jump on a tram, get off, do some quick shopping and return back without paying for more than one trip. Observe that youths aged 7 - 16 has a separate tariff, which is the reason you need to chose TWO tickets on the button when you use the card. I assume you'll be above sixteen years of age.
Night fares (after 12.30) are double the price.
There is one single operator of public transport so you don't have to worry about competing companies with incompatible tickets.

Those of you who stay for more than the weekend should be pleased to find the "dagens lunch" which can be found most everywhere weekdays between 11 am and 3 pm. 60 - 80 crowns should buy you a full lunch, one non-alcoholic beverage included as well as coffee and a small salad side dish.

Evenings and weekends prices for a main course rise to anywhere from 100 to 250 crowns in a restaurant. Most decent places offering a main course from 120 - 180 crowns.
A lot of places also offer some kind of semi-decent special for around 90 crowns. A smallish slab of meat, stripes and some kind of sauce.
Sure, we have our REALLY fancy places where you're welcome to spend 400 crowns a course.
At the other end of the spectrum you can always find a Chinese restaurant or a pizzeria filling your stomach for less. Say 80 crowns for Chinese food and 55 crowns for a pizza.

Ordering wine with your food should set you back 200 - 400 crowns per bottle. This varies A LOT if you fancy good wine. I'm referring to the decent but never extraordinary wine I personally tend to order.

Food stores for those of you who want to cook your own food can vary 50% in price. The more centrally located the more expensive. I really can't calculate the price for a meal, but 2000 crowns buys us food for four lasting the better part of two weeks, and we're not exactly very economically minded when we buy our grocery.

Juice and soda is around 20 - 30 crowns in a pub/bar/restaurant. Expect around 30 - 40 centilitres.

A glass of beer, usually 40 centilitres, goes for 30 - 50 crowns dependent on where you are. Some streets are simply more expensive than others. Avenyn is the most famous and prices reflect that even though quality doesn't always follow suit.
A pint of ale or stout would cost you 50 - 60 crowns in most places.
Gothenburg has several places for the thirsty. Most serve the German/Benelux/Scandinavian lagers or the English ales. A few specialize in Belgian beer. Stout and Pils are also very easy to find.

Systembolaget has a monopoly for selling alcohol to the public. At least their assortment and knowledge supersedes just about anything on the planet. Open one of their doors and ask the personnel. You pick from several thousands of options.
A simple beer is around 15 crowns and a similarly simple bottle of wine 60 - 80 crowns. The good stuff starts at 130 crowns.

Cigarettes are around 40 crowns a packet. You are prohibited from smoking indoors.

If you have more questions I'll try to answer them in the commentaries.

4 comments:

librarian said...

Where are pics of the venue? I would love a tour radiating out from the venue itself. This will allow me to virtually attend the EC without actually being able to go.

best -

chris

Sten Düring said...

We'll be getting there :)

Unknown said...

Correction: A tram/bus ticket is valid for 90 minutes, not 60 minutes.

Sten Düring said...

Ah, good catch.