8 Things You NEVER DO to a Swede! Don't Do This in Sweden

Are you heading to Sweden and you do not want to make any cultural faux pas? Well here is a list of a few things that tourists tend to do that upset the Swedes. So if you are headed to Sweden, make sure you don't do these things!
Honest travel advice on visiting Sweden.

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Filmed in Stockholm, Sweden
#visitsweden #sweden #badtourists
Copyright Mark Wolters 2024

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[riddick]

If you mix up Sweden and Switzerland when you talk to Swedes, they won't get annoyed, they'll just assume you're American.

[AugustDeb]

I must be a Swede: personal space, no cutting in the queue, no loud talking, and no shoes in the house...heaven!

[Rolando]

Sweden is my love at first sight. I love every aspect of this country containing some little disadvantages. I will never forget my time there. Love from Poland.

[starflyer]

You haven't really seen Sweden if all you see is the big cities like Stockholm!

Rent a car, go out on the countryside, take the road less travelled that winds through the little villages. Buy homemade fika from one of the quaint little summer cafés that pop up like mushrooms during the sunny season.

Experience the wild of the north, the untamed rivers and creeks. Brave the mosquitoes and gnats on the peat (myren) and pick ripe, golden cloudberries. Beware of sudden cold springs in the moss, peering at you with a sharp silver eye...

Sit by a fire in the fir forests of the taiga and listen to the conifers whispering in the wind. Drink your hot, boiled coffee and smell the lichens and the terpentine.

If all you see is Stockholm, you have not experienced Sweden. 🤠

[christopherx]

🙂As a Swede, I approve of some of these messages: Yes, we do value our personal space. Slush does not belong inside a home. There is a special place in hell for queue-jumpers (I hope, they deserve it). An American is easily spotted: It is the ones you can hear talking a block away. Scandinavia, you are SO right!

As for the Vikings, they came from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The Swedes went mostly east, the Norwegians and Danes mostly west. Nothing strange about that. Meatballs, we don't really care. Sure, others have them as well. No biggie. You haven't tasted mine, though. Actually, we love when someone confuses Sweden and Switzerland as it shows how utterly uneducated the one with the misconception is!

[malinkahlberg]

As.a swede I say this is spot on! 🎯
I was smiling while whatching.Too bad you had such bad weather thoigh - Stokholm is beautiful

[alexlindquist]

The meatball comment cracks me up! My whole family is Swedish, on Christmas we make Swedish meatballs. I live in Chicago, and I used to work at Labriola (an Italian restaurant). I love to poke the bear with my Italian-American friends and say that Swedish meatballs are better than Italian ones. I like them both, apples and oranges, but it's a fun rivalry thing we love to do.

[cketts]

As a Brit currently on holiday in Sweden, I can agree on all of these! My husband has a naturally loud voice (even when he whispers it seems!) so I just feel like hiding when he talks over here as everywhere is silent it seems. Luckily I can whisper very well 😂. So far though everyone has been lovely and we’re having a great time 😃🇬🇧🇸🇪….

[olkjamab]

I'm a swede and it's always fun with these generalized vids on Swedes and Sweden. I think you did a pretty good job. Thank you 🙂

[truckdriver]

Two weeks ago I sat on a cliff next to the ocean...it was a beautiful afternoon. Peace and tranquility 🙏
Then a german tourist came...sat down 2 meters from me and my girl. Even if there was a TON of space. And he had the loudest conversation on is phone I have ever heard.
There were like 10-15 people when he came...me and my girl were the last of them to leave, about an hour after his arival.

After we had walked a little bit I turned around and saw him sitting there, alone. Still blasting away on his phone. I was like...WHY?

Very uncool, very unswedish

[uppercut]

Don't refuse an invitation to fika! They won't get mad about it, but as you said, the Swedes like their quiet and personal space, so if they're making an effort to include you and socialize with you, it would be kinda weird to refuse that. Also, be careful if you're from a more direct and blunt culture (like me from Texas). Swedes will bend over backwards to avoid hurting anyone's feelings or saying anything that could possibly be perceived as rude or hurtful, so if you're really direct and blunt, you may come off as quite brash. At the same time, some Swedes will find you refreshing and inspiring because they honestly sometimes want to give a piece of their mind 😂😂

[mary-anndyck]

I think I will love Sweden! Love space and quiet

[erikgranqvist]

About meatballs: IKEA does not have that good meatballs. Also, every meatball is slightly wrong, not matter who made them. Except, off course mums meatballs. There are about as many meatball recepies as mums.

[morena]

As an introvert from a very crowded city, personal space & quiet sound like a great change of pace!

[Mrster]

1. Very accurate
2. Very accurate
3. Accurate, although this is thrown out the window when it comes to entering buses, trains, subways etc.
4. No comment, probably accurate, but we know Denmark's got nothing going for it except Lego so we'll give it to 'em. ;)
5. There's definitely time for talking, be it at a bar or whatever, but it's usually not loud in the sense that everybody is involuntarily a part of the conversation. But otherwise, especially on a commute, yeah very accurate.
6. I think we recognize Italian meatballs as their own thing, but otherwise we're probably all accustomed to there being, ehm, inferior versions abroad. Perhaps that's calmed a bit now that we've opened Ikea missions all over the world?
7. Yes but we're not too offended by that all in all today I'd say. To be fair, we have our own prejudice against Americans so we're not surprised nor do we hold it against you too much. ;)
8. I dunno about that to be honest. Finns are the biggest foreign ethnicity here and we have a love for them and their culture (more so than Denmark, let's swap!), I think a lot of people here even just assume that Finland _is_ a part of it. Honorary participant!

Two things you DON'T want to do, in particularly Stockholm:
* If there's a crossing, hit the button if the light right under it is not glowing. Don't just assume that it'll turn.
* Never, ever, stand on the left-hand side of an escalator. Just take note of everybody else and it'll be clear.

[travelvideos]

You can regulate the clock by the time they arrive. If event starts at 7 PM, then the bell will ring exactly at 07:00PM. Also, you might see them outside the window, going around the city block to time their arrival.

[curtswanson]

I live in USA but Swedish ancestry and it’s amazing how much I’m like them. I’m chill, like my space, love peace and quiet, love meatballs haha!!

[JohnDoesSports]

Another thing you should NEVER do as a tourist in Stockholm: Stand in the bike lanes!

[fantasip]

I'm Swedish, love Tallinn, the first thing I do is going to my fav cafeteria when I arrive there. Last time a French guy totally spoiled my "fika" at that cafeteria, not the cheapest one in town I must add- he was on zoom/team/skype in a job meeting and he was speaking SO loud, SO much, SO intense and it just went on and on and on and on, for half an hour. It was horrible, terrible annoying! Please, if you're a loud speaker 🔊 📢...keep in mind how disturbing it is in common spaces. Who enjoys it, hold up a hand?

[JoelMatton]

I'm a 37 year old Swede and this is the first time I've ever heard of Norway having meatballs. Nobody has ever told me this and I'm not even joking lol