1.1. Planning for Travel:
Before you leave, be prepared. You should start planning for your trip as early as possible. There are many Yahoo! Groups created by wonderful Pakistani students to help new students. You can get efficient help there. I have gathered some information in this guide; I hope it will be helpful for the new students planning for their travel to Sweden.
1.2. Packing/Things to Bring
There are many lists available on the Yahoo Groups for Sweden, such as Swedenpk, Swedenpk2008 etc. These lists contain detailed information about the possible required things. However, You should keep in mind that different airlines have different limit for luggage. After packing up your things, you might notice that your luggage weight is way too much than the limit. Therefore I would advice that you should carry only very important things. I just noticed that some lists have mentioned lots, lots of things, which are very difficult to carry due to limit of luggage. Just keep in mind that you can buy things from Sweden as well. (A quick example, I personally think, you do not need to bring 5 soap bars, or 5 bottles of shampoos, they are regular life things and available in local markets).
1.3. Choosing Destination Airport
Before you look for the tickets, you need to decide which of the city suits you better. It depends on your city. For example Malmo, Karlskrona and Halmstad are easily accessible from Copenhagen as well. If your city is accessible from Copenhagen and Stockholm, then you should check with the travel agents and ask the prices and make a decision. Also it is important to know about the option of the airport you should choose. Following are some suggestions (but not restricted to) which you can take into account given the distance involved. But of course the Suggested Airports (SA) are ideal conditions. Even if you select Oslo or Copenhagen I think you will need an additional maximum 8 hours or so to reach most of the destinations within Sweden (this is by bus it can be lesser if you take a train or even lesser if you decide to take a plane to the airport of your city). Some of the popular destinations are listed below and if your destination is not on your list and you would like to know than please do let us know and we will write about it and also update it. Though you may consider coming from Copenhagen or Oslo but than you will also have to make a comparative analysis and a tradeoff between the advantages and disadvantages of making a choice.
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1.3.1. Stockholm
The advantage of landing at Stockholm is that you are in Sweden. You can buy a Comviq Sim once you reach T-Centralen (using the Flygbussarna – do see instructions on the PSA Linkoping page for a detailed account) and from there can contact your point of contact in Sweden and get further instructions. T-Centralen is also well connected with the rest of Sweden by Bus and Trains as well. To find the complete route, timings and cost of reaching a city do check the two websites which were mentioned before.
1.3.2. Copenhagen
Though it might be very near to certain cities in Sweden but there are also practical issues that need to be understood. If you arrive late than the ticket counter closes and you cannot get a direct train to a destination inside Sweden. The train station in the basement of the airport. You can take the luggage trolley all the way till you board the train. There are trains that leave for Malmo every 20 minutes and I have heard they continue to do so till late. Once you reach Malmo you can walk from the Train Station to the Swebus Express bus station (about 300 meters distance) and board a bus for Goteborg. The 300 meters stretch can be quite a drag and if you arrive late it might be a problem working your way around because some kind of construction has been going on for long (and you will realize that when you come to Sweden that Swedes take their time) and I doubt it that there would be much progress by August when you guys are expected to arrive. Also at Malmo in 90% cases you have to change the train and it can be a hassle to work out on which platform you will have to catch the next train. More information can be found here: http://www.malmo.se/turist/inenglish/travel/transporttoandfrommalmo.4.33aee30d103b8f15916800021985.html
1.3.3. Oslo
Though I have never been to Oslo Airport and cannot comment but I would recommend it only for cities that are near to Oslo. But I think the Oslo bus station is quite confusing - maybe because I have not been there often. But to the many stations and bus stations that I have been to I have found it confusing. So no recommendation for that on a personal footing. 1
1 Information taken from: http://paksirzameen.net/psz/?p=51
1.4. Looking for Cheap Tickets
As everyone looks for the cheap/reasonable ticket prices, the airfares depend on the different factors, such as early booking and/or availability of seats. You can find the reasonable airfares by contacting different travel agents and different dates. It is always better idea to book the flight as earlier as possible.
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