Sweden - Becky Ohlsen [264]
Directory assistance (118 119) International.
Directory assistance (118 118) Within Sweden.
Emergency services (112) Toll-free.
Fax
Fax is not a common form of communication in Sweden and is difficult for on-the-road travellers to access. Many post offices used to offer a fax service but don’t any longer, so your best bet is to ask at the local tourist office or your place of accommodation. Faxes can still be received at most hotels for free and you can often send a fax for a moderate charge.
Mobile Phones
It’s worth considering bringing your mobile phone from your home country and buying a Swedish SIM card, which gives you a Swedish mobile number. Vodafone, for example, sells a local SIM card for Skr95, which you then need to load with at least Skr100 worth of credit. You can then purchase top-ups at many stores, including petrol stations and Pressbyrå shops. Your mobile may be locked onto your local network in your home country, so ask your home network for advice before going abroad.
Phonecards
Telia phonecards (telefonkort) for public phones cost Skr50 and Skr120 (for 50 and 120 units, respectively) and can be bought from Telia phone shops and newsagents.
You can make international telephone calls with these phonecards, but they won’t last long! For international calls, it’s better to buy (from tobacconists) one of a wide range of phonecards, such as a Star phonecard, which give cheap rates for calls abroad. These are generally used in public phone boxes in conjunction with a Telia card: so you might have to put the Telia card into the phone, dial the telephone number shown on the back of your cheap international phonecard, then follow the instructions given. International collect calls cannot be made from pay phones.
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TIME
Sweden is one hour ahead of GMT/UTC and is in the same time zone as Norway and Denmark as well as most of Western Europe. When it’s noon in Sweden, it’s 11am in London, 1pm in Helsinki, 6am in New York and Toronto, 3am in Los Angeles, 9pm in Sydney and 11pm in Auckland. Sweden also has daylight-saving time: the clocks go forward an hour on the last Sunday in March and back an hour on the last Sunday in October.
Timetables and business hours are quoted using the 24-hour clock, and dates are often given by week number (1 to 52).
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TOILETS
Public toilets in parks, shopping malls, libraries, and bus or train stations are rarely free in Sweden; some churches and most museums and tourist offices have free toilets. Except at larger train stations (where there’s an attendant), pay toilets are coin operated and usually cost Skr5. Be sure to keep a Skr5 coin on hand, as that’s all the toilets accept and it can be difficult to persuade anyone to give you change.
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TOURIST INFORMATION
Local Tourist Offices
Most towns in Sweden have centrally located tourist offices (turistbyrå) that provide free street plans and information on accommodation, attractions, activities and transport. Brochures for other areas in Sweden are often available. Ask for the handy booklet that lists addresses and phone numbers for most tourist offices in the country; the website of Swedish Tourism Associated (www.turism.se) also has this information. See the Information section in each destination chapter for contact details of regional tourist offices.
Most tourist offices are open long hours daily in summer; from mid-August to mid-June a few close down, while others have shorter opening hours – they may close by 4pm, and not open at all at weekends. Public libraries or large hotels are good alternative sources of information.
Tourist Offices Abroad
The official website for the Swedish Travel and Tourism Council (www.visit-sweden.com) contains loads of excellent information in many languages, and you can request to have brochures and information packs sent to you.
The following tourist offices can assist