Travel Information
The conference is held at the AlbaNova University Center in Stockholm, which is
served by both the main
airport Arlanda and a few smaller airports (Skavsta - further away and mainly
low-cost airlines and Bromma
Airport).
Arrival at Arlanda
To get to downtown Stockholm from Arlanda, there are several options:- Arlanda
Express. The fastest
option is to take the train Arlanda
Express (240 SEK one way, 460 return). In the weekends, they have a special price (two
people for the price of one).
Get off at Stockholm City / Central station (~20 min). The central station is
also the hub for the subway
system of Stockholm.
- Airport
Bus (Flygbussarna). Another option is to take the airport bus which will also take you
to the central station. If you
want to go directly to the conference site AlbaNova, you can also get off the
bus at Haga Forum and walk
(10-15 min) to the conference site. The airport bus costs 110 SEK one way and 199 SEK for a return. The trip to the central station takes about 40 minutes.
- Taxi. The easiest option is of course to take a taxi directly to your hotel (or the conference site AlbaNova). All taxi companies serving Stockholm have fixed prices (just under 500 SEK) to downtown Stockholm. If you go directly to the conference site AlbaNova, state that you want to go to 'AlbaNova University Center, Roslagstullsbacken 21'.
Arrival at Skavsta
If you instead arrive at Skavsta Airport, there is a bus service (Flygbussarna) that will take you to Stockholm City. The price is 150 SEK one-way and 249 SEK two-way. These buses run frequently daytime, but after 7 pm, they run when there are flights that land (and wait for delayed flights). As Skavsta is much further away than Arlanda, taxi is not recommended from this airport. The trip by bus takes about 80 minutes.Moving around in Stockholm
Stockholm is served by a subway and bus system. The main hub of the subway system is T-centralen located at the central station (Stockholm Cityterminalen). All subway lines pass through this central hub. There are also many buses that serve other areas of Stockholm. Distances in Stockholm are also not that large, so if you don't mind walking, that is also an option for getting around.To go on the subway or bus, you should buy a ticket in advance. This is done either at automatic machines, or you do it at larger service centers (SL-Center) or at convience stores like Pressbyrån or 7-Eleven. You can either buy
- single
tickets for 40 SEK (two coupons) if bought at the entrance to the subway.
- single tickets for 30 SEK (two coupons) if bought in advance at any
of the places mentioned above.
- a strip with 16 coupons valid for 8 trips (2 coupons are required per trip) for 180 SEK
- pay via your mobile
phone by sending an SMS with the text 'HA' to 72150. You will then get a return
SMS that is your ticket. This ticket costs 30 SEK (charged to your mobile
phone).
- 7-day pass for 260 SEK (unlimited travel for 7 days)
- 3-day pass for 200 SEK (unlimited travel for 3 days/72 hours)
- 1-day pass for 100 SEK (unlimited travel for 24 hours).
Finding the conference site, AlbaNova
The conference is held at AlbaNova University Center, Roslagstullsbacken 21. You can find a map of the surrounding area e.g. here:The nearest metro station is Tekniska Högskolan. If you arrive there take the exit marked Körsbärsvägen. Once you come up you can take a bus (43 or 44) from the stop at the beginning of Körsbärsvägen, or walk for 10 minutes to the AlbaNova campus on the other side of the hill. Just continue up the hill on Körsbärsvägen and continue straight through a residential area over the hill. You will find AlbaNova at the other side of the hill.
If you stay at Hotel Oden or Birger Jarl, you can either walk (~30 min), or take a bus. From Hotel Birger Jarl this is number 43, getting off att the end of this bus line, Ruddammen, from Hotel Oden it is either number 40 or 70, getting off at Albano. Many busses have a display indicating the name of the next stop.
The Albano stop is at the bottom of the hill on the other side of the AlbaNova building. Walk up the hill to the large white and curved building with the telescope dome on top.
If you stay at other places, or want more information, the public transportation company SL has a journey planner to help you find your way. The closest bus stop to the conference site is called Ruddammen, and is located very close to AlbaNova.
The center itself, also has some information pages on how to get here. Those are located here.
Other useful information
Note that Sweden does not use the Euro but still has its own currency, the Swedish Crown (SEK). The current exchange rate is between 10 and 11 SEK to the Euro and between 7 and 8 to the US dollar. Euros are not normally accepted as payment. However the use of (credit) cards is widespread and for example most taxis will accept payment by card. Be prepared to show ID when using a card without a PIN number in shops.English is widely spoken and for example the signposts in the central station are in both Swedish and English. The announcement of stations in the metro is also bilingual (except that the names of the stations of course sound remarkably similar between English and Swedish).
