real advice by real locals
Sweden has right-hand traffic. Road signs use standard international signals.
Speed signs are round and yellow with a red outline, indicating the current speed in kilometres per hour. The ones you will see are 30, 50, 70, 90 and 110. Roads outside of built-up areas have a speed limit of 70 km/h (55 mph) unless otherwise indicated. Highways have a speed limit of 110 km/h (68 m/h)
Note that many fellow drivers will be annoyed with you if you drive at (or even worse, slightly below!) the limit on 70 or 90 km/h roads; there is not much respect for the limits on these fasters roads. However, speeding on 30 km/h roads is very much frowned upon.
If you get caught speeding, expect a fine between 1500-4000 SEK depending on how much over the limit you were. Note that there are about 1000 speed cameras spread all over Sweden; they can also get you a fine! They are, however, clearly marked with signs beforehand.
A number of roads are part of the European road network (the E-Road Network). They use the European route designations, e.g., E20, E4. Most are highways. They are the best/fastest roads to drive on.
Next best are the national roads ("riksväg"). They are numbered from 1 to 99; low numbers mean southern Sweden, high numbers mean northern Sweden.
There are also county roads ("länsväg"), numbered from 100 and up. Primary county roads ("primär länsväg") are numbered 100-499 (the numbers are common for all of Sweden). There are also secondary and tertiary county roads, numbered 500-2999 and 3000-9999, respectively; these number systems are individual for each county but you won't see them on the roads, as they are more for administrative purposes.
Read all about vehicles regulation at the Swedish Transport Agency.
Foreign drivers must have their passport, licence and the car's insurance certificate and registration documents when driving.
You can use a driving licence from another country in Sweden if:
If your driver's licence does not have a photograph, it is only valid together with another identification document that has a photograph.
Sweden is very strict with drunk driving. Alcohol should be avoided completely when driving in Sweden. In Sweden (as well as Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany), the unit used is 1 promille (‰) BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) per mass. In e.g., the US, the unit used is 1 percent (%) BAC by volume. Don’t get them mixed up!
The legal limit in Sweden is 0.2 promille; considerably stricter than many European countries (0.5 is common), or e.g., the UK with its 0.8 promille limit.
Police are able to breathalyse drivers without reason and drunk driving can result in high fines and/or a jail sentence.
The minimum age for renting a car in Sweden is 20. Car rental agencies will want to see your passport and foreign driver's license.
The emergency contact for the police, fire department and ambulance is 112 nationwide in Sweden. For emergency car repairs call the Assistancekåren service toll-free within Sweden on 020 912 912.
Most gas stations are self-service and open seven days a week. Many double as small convenience stores and offer hot food and coffee; some stores are open 24/7. Major credit cards are pretty much always accepted. There are also self-service stations in Sweden where you pay through automated machines which accept 20, 50 and 100 SEK notes (and credit cards). This service is not available for diesel. A liter of gas usually costs around 12 SEK.
Beware of wild animals including deer and moose when driving in Sweden. Larger roads typically have fences to deter wild animals, however smaller roads do not. While it is not an offence to hit a wild animal when driving, you must report it to the authorities immediately so the wounded animal can be tracked down. It is a criminal offence to not report hitting a wild animal.
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