Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
get booked up or overwhelmed. If you plan on couch-surfing through this part of the world, I would advise
you to send out your requests far in advance of your actual arrival date.
I wish I had some better news, but sadly, sometimes you just need to face facts and admit that there
aren't a lot of ways to save money, and in Scandinavia, there especially aren't a lot of ways to save money
on accommodations.
All accommodations can be booked at the booking sites mentioned in Chapter 11 or listed in Appendix
A. Additionally, local tourist offices can help you secure accommodation.
FOOD
In Norway, food will be the most expensive in the region, including groceries. I bought two days' worth of
groceries for pasta and sandwiches and it cost me $36 USD. To keep costs down, avoid fresh vegetables and
chicken fillets, which cost a lot of money here because they tend to be imported—a lesson I learned after
my food-shopping experience. If you cut those out of your groceries, stick to pasta, breads, some meats, and
a few cheap vegetables and cheese, you are looking to spend about $110 USD per week. If you really want
discount chicken or beef, do what the locals do: buy them on their expiration date. Due to strict food laws,
most meats “expire” well before they do in the United States and become half off. That's when the locals
come and pick them up as they are still perfectly good to eat. Do the same!
Eating out is expensive, with even fast food averaging between $10 USD and $15 USD and sit-down
meals at a decent restaurant nearly always $30 USD or more for just a main course. For a cheap, quick snack
Norwegian-style, look no farther than the nearest outside vendor or convenience store, where you can eat a
hot dog or sausage for around $8 USD. Fish-and-chip meals are around $20 USD.
In Sweden, you'll find the food to be cheaper. Grocery shopping here will cost $70 USD per week for
the same type of food that I mentioned above. You can get cheap meals from outdoor street vendors starting
at $8 USD, such as Thai food, sandwiches, and burgers. For something really cheap, you can get hot dogs
and sausages starting at $3 USD. Whole pizzas begin around $13 USD. Most sit-down restaurant meals be-
gin at $20 USD for a main dish.
In Denmark, if you are going to eat out in a restaurant, be prepared to pay around $15 USD for a cheap
meal with a main course and a drink. If you are looking for something fancier, meals including a drink start
at $25 USD. You can find some lunchtime buffet specials for $10 USD, which allow you to eat out without
breaking the bank. You can find cheap hot dog vendors lining the streets of the bigger cities selling dogs
for $5 USD. Groceries will cost around $80 USD per week. When I come to Denmark, a country not really
known for food, I tend to eat out for lunch and cook my own meals for dinner. That way I can average about
$15 USD per day for food.
Since Finland is on the euro and not their own currency like the other countries in the region, food is
cheapest here. Grocery shopping will cost you $60 USD per week for a fairly robust shopping list of veget-
ables, meats, pasta, snacks, and the like. You'll be able to feed yourself well for a week with that budget.
Inexpensive food, mostly pizza, kebab, and sandwich shops, will cost $6-10 USD for a tiny lunch spe-
cial. Sit-down restaurant meals will cost $15 USD for a small meal and drink. During the lunch hour, many
restaurants offer a lunchtime buffet costing about $12 USD, and Stockmann supermarkets also have a wide
variety of premade cheap meals for around $7 USD. Helsinki has a lot of nice restaurants, and meals at
high-end establishments begin at $35 USD.
Tap water is very safe to drink throughout this region. A bottle of water is generally $3. Save money and
reuse your water bottle. You aren't going to get sick from drinking the tap water.
