Sweden
Stockholm
Away-day guide
unverified draftStockholm is spread across fourteen islands and is one of the most expensive cities you will ever follow your club to — but the transport is superb, the water is everywhere, and in July it barely gets dark. Hammarby are the hosts this season, and their ground is three metro stops from the centre.
🚺 To 3Arena
The arena is in Johanneshov, immediately south of the centre next to the round Avicii Arena. Take the green line tunnelbana to Gullmarsplan or Globen — both are a five-minute walk — or the Tvärbanan tram to Globen. From Central Station it is about 10 minutes on the metro.
- Nearest stop
- Gullmarsplan (green line); Globen (green line and Tvärbanan tram)
- Lines
- Tunnelbana green line; Tvärbanan tram; several bus routes into Gullmarsplan
- Walk from centre
- 40 min
- Parking
- There is a garage under the arena complex but it fills and costs; with a metro station at the door, driving makes no sense.
Public transport
SL runs the lot: metro (tunnelbana), commuter trains, trams, buses and the city ferries, all on one ticket. Tap a contactless bank card at the barriers or on the validator and you are charged the single fare — no app needed, though the SL app is better if you want a 24- or 72-hour ticket, which pays off quickly at these prices. A single is good for 75 minutes including changes. The metro is fast and runs late at weekends; the ferry to Djurgården counts as a normal journey and is the cheapest boat trip in the city. Central Stockholm is walkable, but the islands make distances longer than they look.
Typical prices
- Beer (0.5L)
- SEK 85
- Coffee
- SEK 45
- Meal, mid-range
- SEK 250
- Taxi from airport
- SEK 700
- Single transit ticket
- SEK 45
✈ Airports & cheaper alternatives
- Stockholm Arlanda Airport ARN primary 40 km Arlanda Express takes 18 minutes to Central Station but costs around 340 SEK; the SL commuter train takes about 45 minutes and costs a normal fare plus a station passage fee of roughly 130 SEK; the Flygbussarna coach is around 139 SEK to Cityterminalen and takes 45 minutes. Fixed-price taxis run about 700 SEK. Most UK flights land here. The commuter train is the cheapest sensible option; the Express is only worth it if you are late.
- Stockholm Skavsta Airport NYO alternative 100 km Coaches (Flixbus and others) meet flights and run to Cityterminalen in about 80 minutes for 150–200 SEK. Ryanair's Stockholm airport, well south of the city. Often much cheaper — just build the coach transfer into your timings, and check the last departure if you are on a late kick-off.
- Stockholm Västerås Airport VST alternative 100 km Airport coach to Stockholm takes around 80 minutes; there are also trains from Västerås city centre. A handful of Ryanair routes only. Same trade-off as Skavsta.
🍺 Supporters' pubs
Hammarby IF
Home fans: Kvarnen on Tjärhovsgatan in Södermalm is the Bajen pub and has been for decades — green and white, packed and singing from a couple of hours before kick-off. The rest of Medborgarplatsen and the bars along Götgatan fill up too, and the crowd moves to Gullmarsplan together on the metro.
Away fans: If you want a quieter pint, Akkurat on Hornsgatan and the bars around Slussen and Gamla Stan are neutral and used to visitors. Kvarnen will not throw you out in away colours, but it is their pub — go in respectfully or drink elsewhere.
Stockholm's third club by history and comfortably its loudest — average crowds of 25,000-plus at the 3Arena. Djurgården and AIK are the local rivals, so avoid picking a side in a bar.
Sourced from supporters' forums — always follow your club's and police advice for the fixture.
Nightlife
Södermalm is where you want to be — this is Hammarby's half of the city and the bars around Medborgarplatsen, Götgatan and the SoFo streets are busy, unpretentious and (relatively) affordable. Kvarnen on Tjärhovsgatan is the Hammarby pub, a big old beer hall that fills with green and white before games. Akkurat on Hornsgatan is the beer nerds' choice with a huge tap list. Stureplan across the water is the flash, expensive end of the scale with queues and door policies to match; Kungsholmen and Vasastan sit somewhere in between.
Food & drink
Meatballs with lingonberry, cream sauce and pickled cucumber are the obvious order — Meatballs for the People on Södermalm does them properly. Beyond that: herring, gravlax, toast skagen (prawns on fried bread) and, if you are there in August, crayfish. The market halls are the best value sit-down food in the city: Hötorgshallen for fish soup and Middle Eastern food, Östermalms Saluhall for the posher version. A cinnamon bun and coffee — fika — is a national institution and a good use of a Saturday afternoon.
Cheap eats & beer
The trick in Stockholm is to eat at lunchtime: dagens lunch, served Monday to Friday, gets you a main, salad, bread and coffee for 120–150 SEK, less than half the evening price. Otherwise it is street-side korv (hot dogs), falafel from the Södermalm stands, and the supermarket hot counters. Beer is the real budget killer at 75–95 SEK a glass in a bar — look for 'AW' (after work) happy hours between about 4 and 7pm, when it drops by a third. Off-sales of anything stronger than 3.5% only come from Systembolaget, which shuts at 3pm on Saturdays and does not open on Sundays. Plan ahead or drink lager from the supermarket.
Staying safe
Stockholm is a safe, orderly city and trouble around football is rare. Two practical warnings. First, taxis are unregulated: fares are whatever the company prints on the yellow sticker in the window, and the ones lurking at Arlanda can charge two or three times the going rate — use Taxi Stockholm, Taxi Kurir, Uber or Bolt, or check the sticker before you get in. Second, Sweden is effectively cashless: many bars, cafés and even the ferries take cards only, so do not turn up with a wallet full of krona notes. Watch bags around T-Centralen and on the airport trains.
On matchday
Hammarby play at the 3Arena (the old Tele2 Arena) in Johanneshov, next to the round Avicii Arena — take the green line to Gullmarsplan or Globen and it is a five-minute walk. The roof closes if the weather turns, which makes it very loud. Swedish grounds have safe standing and only sell beer up to 3.5% inside, so the serious drinking happens at Kvarnen and around Medborgarplatsen first. Bajen's Norra Stå end is one of the better atmospheres in Scandinavia; away fans get their own corner and their own entrance, with a police escort from Gullmarsplan if numbers warrant it. Pyro gets clubs fined here too — leave it.
This city guide is still being fact-checked — some details may be inaccurate.