From rowdy Midsummer's Night onwards, accommodation is scarce and trains packed as Swedes head out to the country and onto the beaches. Outside the peak month, July, things are noticeably quieter. To avoid the rush, September and late May are both usually bright and warm. T:e Midnight Sun extends the days in June and July, and above the Arctic Circle it virtually never gets dark. Elsewhere it stays light until very late, up to midnight and beyond. Thanks to the Gulf Stream, temperatures in Sweden are surprisingly high see the temperature chart in Basicsand on the south coast, can be as hot as any southern European resort. Winter, on the other hand, can be a miserable experience without the proper clothing. It lasts long (November to April solid) and gets very cold indeed, temperatures of 15°C and below are not unusual even in St'Ockholm. Further north it is positively arctic. The days are short and dark (in the far north the sun barely rises at all) and biting winds cut through the most elaborate of padded coats. On the plus side, the snow stays crisp and white, the air is clean, the water everywhere frozen solid: a paradise for skaters and skiers. Stockholm, too, is particularly beautiful with its winter covering of snow and ice. Getting There The cheapest Scandinavian connection with Sweden is from Denmark, by bus and ferry, and regular trains and ferries connect other mainland countries. Trains There are four possible train routes into Sweden from Norway. Cheapest is the fivehour run from Oslo to Gothenburg (354Nkr| and the slightly longer route from Oslo to Stockholm (510Nkr|; the twelvehour ride from Trondheim to Stockholm and the daylong (23hr) haul from Narvik to the capital are both reasonable at around 600 620Nkr. Trains from Denmark (Copenhagen) to Gothenburg (around 200Dkr) or Stockholm (around 900Dkr) use the Helsing0rHelsingborg ferry crossing, with the whole train taken on board a fourandahalf and eightandahalf hour journey respectively. Anyone under 26 can buy a BIJ ticket for these routes and all rail passes are valid too. Note that a Nordturist train pass gives free or discounted travel on various ferry lines between Denmark or Finland and Sweden see below for more details. Buses There are several useful bus routes into Sweden from other Scandinavian cities, though the frequent services from Denmark are the only ones that will get you there quickly. Easiest connection is on one of the several daily buses from Copenhagen to MalmoLund (50Dkr BODkr), using the DragijrLimhamn ferry crossing. The Kystllnien service (around 70Dkr) links Kastrup airport and Copenhagen with Helsingborg, using the ferry from Helsinger this bus then continuing up the southwestern coast of Sweden to Halmstad (250Dkr| to connect with trains to Gothenburg. If you're heading for Stockholm, daily buses (around lOODkr) from KastrupCopenhagen also run via Helsingor to Angelholm airport in southwestern Sweden, to connect with regular flights to the capital.