Here’s the short version, and honestly it’s the only part most people need: the Stockholm currency is the Swedish krona (SEK), Sweden never adopted the euro, and you can happily spend a week here without touching a single banknote. Sweden is one of the most cashless countries on earth. A contactless card, or your phone, handles almost everything, from the metro gate to the corner café. Bring a card, and leave the wad of bills at home.
That said, a few things about money here catch visitors out, so this guide walks through them properly, part of our wider complete Stockholm travel guide. We’ll cover what the krona is and roughly what it’s worth, the handful of places you might still want cash, the (fairly relaxed) tipping etiquette, ATMs and exchange, the Systembolaget alcohol quirk, the tax-free refund for non-EU visitors, and the small habits that save real money. Rates and prices move, so treat every figure below as “around” and check the current numbers before you travel.
What is the Stockholm currency?
The official currency is the Swedish krona (plural kronor), written as SEK or kr. It divides into 100 öre, but öre coins have long gone, so prices simply round to the nearest krona at the till.
Sweden joined the EU in 1995 but voted to keep the krona in a 2003 referendum, and despite the odd flare-up of debate, the krona is still the only legal tender. Don’t try to pay in euros: most places won’t take them, and the few that do give you a lousy rate.
Notes come in 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 SEK. Coins come in 1, 2, 5 and 10 SEK. The current banknote series, introduced in 2015–2016, is rather lovely, with Swedish cultural icons on the front: Astrid Lindgren on the 20, Greta Garbo on the 100, Ingmar Bergman on the 200. You may well never handle them, but they’re worth a look if you do.
Exchange rates: what the krona is worth (2026)
Rough 2026 rates against the krona, for quick mental maths:
| Currency | Approx. value |
|---|---|
| 1 USD | ~10–11 SEK |
| 1 EUR | ~11–12 SEK |
| 1 GBP | ~13–14 SEK |
| 1 CAD | ~7.5–8.5 SEK |
| 1 AUD | ~7–7.5 SEK |
| 1 NOK | ~1 SEK |
| 1 DKK | ~1.5 SEK |
The easy shortcut: divide the SEK price by 10 for a rough US-dollar figure. A 250 SEK lunch is about $25. Always check the live rate before you fly, since these drift.
Cards or cash in Stockholm?
Cards, almost every time. Sweden is one of the world’s most cashless societies, roughly 80% of transactions are now card or contactless, and cash use has fallen every year for a decade. In central Stockholm you genuinely can go a full trip without a krona note in your pocket.
Where cards work (basically everywhere):
- Every restaurant, café and bar
- All hotels and accommodation
- All public transport, just tap a contactless card at the metro gate
- All taxis, including Bolt and Uber
- All shops, from big chains to tiny boutiques and Pressbyrån kiosks
- Museums, attractions, food halls and most markets
Where a little cash might still help (rare):
- A few public toilets (5–10 SEK, though most now take contactless too)
- The odd cash-only traditional restaurant, perhaps a handful in the whole city
- Tip jars at small bars and donation boxes at churches
- The occasional independent excursion operator
My advice: carry a contactless card with no foreign-transaction fee, plus maybe 200–500 SEK in cash as a just-in-case. You’ll probably fly home with most of that cash unspent.
The best cards to use in Stockholm
Visa and Mastercard are accepted universally, use whichever you have. American Express works at most upscale hotels, restaurants and chains, but some smaller spots don’t take it, so carry a Visa or Mastercard as backup. Apple Pay and Google Pay work everywhere, including at metro gates and vending machines. Discover and Diners Club are rarely accepted, leave them at home.
Good zero-FX traveller cards include Charles Schwab, Capital One and Chase Sapphire in the US; Monzo, Starling, Revolut and Wise in the UK; and Wise or ING in Australia. Within Europe, most banks have dropped FX fees already.
One thing to always decline: Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC). At the terminal you’ll sometimes be asked whether to pay in SEK or in your home currency. Always choose SEK, the “home currency” option quietly bakes in a worse exchange rate than your bank would give you.
ATMs in Stockholm (Bankomat)
If you do want cash, ATMs here are called Bankomat, run by the big banks (SEB, Handelsbanken, Nordea, Swedbank) on a shared network. They’ve grown scarce, Stockholm has maybe 350 now, down from over 1,000 a decade ago.
You’ll find them at bank branches in Norrmalm and Östermalm, at Central Station and Arlanda, and in the big malls like Mall of Scandinavia and Sturegallerian. Per-withdrawal limits are usually 5,000–10,000 SEK. The Bankomat itself won’t charge you, but your home bank might levy an international ATM fee (often $3–5) plus an FX markup, so check its policy first. Where you can, use a machine inside or attached to a bank branch to cut the (already low) skimming risk.
Currency exchange in Stockholm
The honest advice: don’t bother exchanging cash at all. Rates at the airport and in exchange bureaux are poor, and a card does the job better. If you must swap leftover notes from a connecting trip, Forex Bank is the main chain (Arlanda, Central Station and central branches), with rates around 2–4% off the interbank rate; X-change is similar. Hotels will change money too, but at the worst rates of all (4–8% markups). In nearly every case, simply withdrawing SEK from a Bankomat with your home card works out cheaper.
Tipping etiquette in Stockholm
Tipping here is light and genuinely optional, service staff earn a proper living wage, so nothing like the US expectation applies.
- Restaurants: 5–10% if you enjoyed the service. 10% is generous.
- Bars and cafés: round up or leave small change, no percentage expected.
- Taxis: round up to the nearest 10 SEK; Bolt and Uber handle tips in-app.
- Hotel staff: 20–50 SEK per bag for a porter, 50–100 SEK for a concierge who really helps, and 10–20 SEK a night for housekeeping if you like.
- Tour guides: 50–100 SEK per person for a half-day tour; on free walking tours, 50–150 SEK is the norm.
You don’t tip transport drivers, counter-service staff or shop assistants. A warm “tack så mycket” goes further here than an oversized tip.
What things cost in Stockholm (in SEK)
A quick sense of what your kronor actually buy:
| Item | Around (SEK) |
|---|---|
| Coffee at a café | 35–55 |
| Cinnamon bun / pastry | 35–55 |
| Single metro fare | 42 |
| Dagens lunch (weekday deal) | 130–185 |
| Museum admission | 150–250 |
| 24-hour SL transit pass | 175 |
| Bottle of wine at Systembolaget | 90–180 |
| Cocktail at a flagship bar | 175–225 |
| Casual dinner main | 250–450 |
| Arlanda Express one-way | 320 |
| 7-day SL transit pass | 450 |
| Mid-range hotel night | 2,200–3,500 |
| Fine-dining tasting menu | 1,200–3,000+ |
Stockholm isn’t cheap, but it’s rarely as brutal as its reputation if you lean on weekday lunch deals, food halls and free tap water. For a fuller sense of how the days add up and how many to plan, our guide to how many days in Stockholm you need is a useful companion.
Systembolaget: the alcohol monopoly
Here’s a quirk worth knowing before a Sunday. Sweden runs a state monopoly on anything stronger than 3.5%: only Systembolaget shops (and licensed bars and restaurants) can sell wine, spirits and stronger beer.
- Hours: roughly Mon–Wed 10:00–18:00, Thu–Fri 10:00–19:00, Sat 10:00–15:00, closed Sundays. Plan ahead.
- Prices: far cheaper than a bar. A 150 SEK bottle at Systembolaget can be 600–900 SEK on a restaurant list.
- Age: 20 to buy, and they check ID.
- Supermarkets sell only “folköl” at 3.5% or under, no wine or spirits.
The traveller move: pick up a bottle at Systembolaget for the hotel or apartment, and drink out in moderation, because the bar markup is steep.
Tax-free shopping (VAT refund) for non-EU visitors
If you live outside the EU, the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan and so on, you can reclaim part of Sweden’s 25% VAT (moms) on purchases over 200 SEK from participating shops, via Global Blue or Planet Tax Free, both with desks at Arlanda.
How it works, briefly:
- Show your passport at checkout and ask for a tax-free form. Big stores like NK, Åhléns and Acne Studios take part.
- Before checking your bags at Arlanda (Terminal 5, between check-in and security), take the form, receipt and your unworn goods to the refund desk.
- Get it stamped, sometimes after a quick customs look at the items.
- Receive the refund to your card (5–7 days) or as cash at the airport (for a small fee).
Realistically, after processing fees you’ll get back around 16–18%, not the full 25%. That’s well worth it on a 5,000 SEK coat (roughly 800 SEK back), less so on small buys. Goods must be unworn, tagged and in your carry-on for inspection. UK residents qualify post-Brexit; EU residents don’t.
Money-saving hacks for Stockholm
- Use the SL contactless cap. Tap a contactless card at the gates and the system caps you at 175 SEK a day (like a 24-hour pass) and 450 SEK over 7 rolling days, so you rarely need to pre-buy passes.
- Always pay in SEK at terminals; decline DCC.
- Hunt down the dagens lunch. For 130–185 SEK, weekdays 11:30–14:00, you get a hot main plus salad, bread, water and coffee. It’s the best food value in the city.
- Buy alcohol at Systembolaget for in-room drinks; bar prices are four to five times retail.
- Drink the tap water, it’s free and excellent everywhere.
- Skip the paid sightseeing boats. The Djurgården ferry (free with an SL pass) and the Waxholmsbolaget archipelago ferries give you the same water views for a fraction of the cost.
- Time the sales (rea). Summer rea runs from late June into mid-July, winter rea from late December into January, with 30–70% off.
Carrying money safely in Stockholm
Stockholm is a safe city, but the usual big-city sense applies in the crowds at T-Centralen and around Gamla Stan. Keep cards and phone in a front pocket or a cross-body bag worn in front, don’t flash cash (almost no local does, so a fistful of notes marks you out), and spread a spare card and a note of your card numbers somewhere separate, like the hotel safe, so you can cancel fast if anything goes missing. For the wider safety picture, our local’s honest guide to whether Stockholm is safe for tourists goes deeper, and if you’re still deciding whether to come at all, the honest 2026 take on whether Stockholm is worth visiting is a good read.
Common money mistakes first-time visitors make
- Bringing too much cash. Sweden is cashless; 200–500 SEK is plenty of backup.
- Exchanging money at the airport. Bureau rates are 2–4% worse than your bank’s, use a card instead.
- Accepting DCC. Always choose “pay in SEK”.
- Assuming cash is fine at restaurants. Many no longer take it.
- Forgetting to set a travel notice on your card, foreign charges can trigger a fraud hold.
- Using a card with high FX fees. Some charge 3% abroad; bring a zero-FX card if you can.
- Over-tipping. 20% is American; here 10% is already generous.
- Getting caught out by Systembolaget’s Sunday closure. Buy ahead if you want a bottle for the weekend.
Rounding out your prep, our first time in Stockholm guide covers the wider dos and don’ts, the Stockholm packing list makes sure you land with the right card and layers, and the Stockholm tourist map helps you picture where all these ATMs, food halls and Systembolaget branches actually sit.
Frequently asked questions
What currency is used in Stockholm?
The Swedish krona (SEK), not the euro, Sweden is an EU member but kept its own currency. Notes come in 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 SEK, and coins in 1, 2, 5 and 10 SEK. In practice, though, you’ll mostly pay by card, so you may barely see the notes at all.
Can I use euros in Stockholm?
No. Almost no Stockholm shop accepts euros, and the rare place that does gives a poor rate. Pay by card in kronor, or withdraw a little SEK from an ATM if you want cash. Trying to spend euros here just costs you money on conversion.
Should I bring cash to Stockholm?
Only a small backup, around 200–500 SEK. Sweden is functionally cashless, and many shops, restaurants and museums no longer take cash at all. A contactless card or your phone covers virtually every payment, and you’ll likely bring most of that cash home again.
What’s the best way to get Swedish kronor?
If you need notes, withdraw them from a Bankomat (a Swedish ATM) with your home card, which usually gives the best rate. Skip the airport exchange bureaux, whose rates run 2–4% worse. Better still, don’t exchange at all and simply tap your card wherever you go.
Are credit cards widely accepted in Stockholm?
Yes, essentially universally. Visa and Mastercard are taken everywhere, and Apple Pay and Google Pay work at shops, restaurants and even metro gates. American Express is accepted at most larger venues but not every small boutique, so keep a Visa or Mastercard as backup.
What’s the tipping etiquette in Stockholm?
Relaxed. In restaurants, 5–10% for good service is plenty and 10% is generous. In bars and cafés, just round up. Porters get 20–50 SEK a bag. There’s no percentage expectation on casual service, since staff are paid a living wage, so tipping is a bonus, not a duty.
How much cash should I carry in Stockholm?
Around 200–500 SEK is ample as a fallback, and most days you won’t spend any of it. The few cash moments are the odd public toilet (5–10 SEK), a small tip jar, or a rare cash-only restaurant. Everything else is comfortably covered by card.
Do Stockholm ATMs charge fees?
The Bankomats themselves generally don’t, but your own bank may add an international ATM fee (often $3–5) plus an FX markup, so check before you travel. Zero-fee traveller cards such as Charles Schwab, Wise or Revolut avoid the worst of these charges.
What is Dynamic Currency Conversion, and should I accept it?
DCC is when a card terminal offers to charge you in your home currency instead of kronor. Always decline it and choose SEK. The home-currency option uses a poorer exchange rate than your bank, so accepting it simply costs you a few percent on every purchase.
How does the Stockholm tax-free refund work?
Visitors from outside the EU can reclaim roughly 16–18% (after fees) of the price on items over 200 SEK from participating shops. Ask for a Global Blue or Planet Tax Free form at checkout with your passport, then get it validated at the Arlanda refund desk before you check your bags. The goods must be unworn and in your carry-on.
