Sweden is a low-risk destination for a visitor: the things most likely to spoil a trip are a stolen wallet on the metro, a tick bite on a summer walk, or a car that is not equipped for winter. Serious crime exists, but it is concentrated in gang conflicts that rarely touch tourists, and the practical risks are easy to manage if you know the numbers to call and the rules that differ from home.
Crime: what to watch for
The Swedish police put it plainly: pickpockets work where there are lots of people, for example in restaurants and on public transport. The British Foreign Office adds that in the major cities pickpockets often target tourists. In practice that means Stockholm’s Old Town and central stations, the trams in Gothenburg, and any packed bar or café terrace in summer. Keep your phone out of your back pocket, close your bag on the metro, and do not leave a jacket with a wallet in it on a chair.
The headline risk in the news is gang violence. The FCDO notes that gang-related crime, including knife crime, shootings and explosions, has been reported in Malmö, Stockholm and Gothenburg. It is targeted, not random, and it happens mostly in suburbs you have no reason to visit. Treat it as a reason to skip late-night wandering in unfamiliar outer districts rather than as a reason to avoid the cities. The same advice page rates the terrorism threat bluntly: terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks in Sweden. Demonstrations are usually peaceful; walk around them rather than through them.
Who to call
Sweden has one number for anything urgent, and three that save you from tying it up. Call 112 for a medical emergency, a fire or a crime in progress. For a police matter that can wait, such as reporting a theft for your insurer, call 114 14, or +46 77 114 14 00 from a foreign phone. Medical advice that is not an emergency goes through 1177, reachable from abroad on +46 771 1177 00. During a major accident or crisis the information line is 113 13.
Nobody expects you to speak Swedish. The national health service says you can ask for an interpreter when you seek care.
Health, insurance and ticks
Visitors from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with a European Health Insurance Card pay the same as people insured in Sweden; UK travellers get the same with a GHIC or EHIC, though the British government is clear that the card is not an alternative to travel insurance. Most visitors from outside Europe pay the full cost themselves, so arrive with cover.
There are no vaccination requirements for entering Sweden. The one disease worth thinking about is tick-borne encephalitis. The Public Health Agency counts 250 to 350 people hospitalised with TBE in Sweden each year and recommends vaccination for adults and children from three years who will be exposed to ticks in its highest risk zone. For a city break this is irrelevant; for a summer of hiking, cabin stays or archipelago camping, talk to a travel clinic well ahead and check your legs each evening.
Outdoors: fire, weather and distance
The right of public access lets you walk and camp almost anywhere, and it comes with duties. The environmental protection agency’s 2025 handbook allows a campfire only if it is safe, and never during a fire ban; bans are declared in dry spells, so check before you strike a match. Dogs must be on a leash from 1 March to 20 August to protect nesting birds and young animals.
In the north, the hazard is scale. The FCDO warns that in Arctic regions emergency medical assistance and search and rescue are limited. Tell someone your route, carry more food and warm layers than the forecast suggests, and do not rely on mobile coverage between villages. Frozen lakes and sea ice look solid and often are not; stick to marked winter trails.
On the road
Two rules catch foreign drivers out. From 1 December to 31 March every car must have winter tyres when there are winter conditions, and studded tyres are permitted from 1 October to 15 April. A rental car will come equipped; a car driven in from abroad may not. The drink-driving limit is 0.2 per mille of blood alcohol, low enough that a single beer can put you over. Stockholm and Gothenburg charge a congestion tax that applies to vehicles registered outside Sweden and is billed afterwards, so do not assume a foreign plate slips through.
Laws that differ from home
Drugs are the one area where Sweden is harsher than most of Western Europe. Cannabis is strictly prohibited even in small quantities, with jail sentences of up to 10 years. Anything stronger than supermarket beer is sold only through the state monopoly Systembolaget, where you must be at least 20 and show ID on request. Paying for sex is illegal.
Practical tips
- Photograph your passport and save the police non-emergency number; a theft report is the first thing an insurer asks for.
- Pay by card or phone. Cash is rare, so a stolen wallet costs you less than it would elsewhere; see the money page.
- Hiking in summer: long trousers, an evening tick check, and a look at the fire-ban status before lighting anything.
- Driving in winter: winter tyres, a scraper, a blanket, and a full tank before the long empty stretches in the north.
What to check before you go
Read your own government’s advice page shortly before departure; the UK and Dutch pages are updated regularly and the facts box on this page shows the current levels. Check that your insurance covers the activities you plan, in particular winter sports and remote hiking. For health cover and vaccination detail, see the health page; for driving and rail, the transport page.