City Cards in Sweden: Is the Stockholm Pass or Gothenburg City Card Worth It?

Sweden has two city sightseeing passes, both from one company, and most of what is written about them is out of date. Here is what they include in 2026, what they don’t, and a five-minute sum that tells you whether to buy.

When you need this

You are about to book a Stockholm or Gothenburg trip and a city pass keeps appearing in the booking flow. Or you have an older guide that says the city card includes the metro or the trams. Maybe you are travelling with children and wondering whether their pass is worth it, or you are looking for a Malmö card. This page answers each of those with the operator’s own terms.

Which city cards exist in 2026

Only two, and the same commercial company sells both: Go City. It lists no other Swedish city.

The Stockholm list includes the Vasa Museum, the Royal Palace, Skansen, Fotografiska, the Nobel Prize Museum, Storkyrkan, Nordiska museet, Nationalmuseum, the Swedish History Museum, boat tours and a hop-on hop-off bus. The Gothenburg list includes Universeum, the Paddan canal tours, the four city museums, the Museum of World Culture, Maritiman, archipelago boat trips and a hop-on hop-off bus and boat.

What changed: no transport

This is the fact most guides still get wrong. The old Stockholm Card, distributed by Visit Stockholm, included travel on SL, the city’s public transport. It was replaced by the Stockholm Pass on 1 January 2016, and Go City now states plainly that it no longer offers a travelcard with the pass. You buy travel separately.

Gothenburg went the same way. The old Göteborg City Card’s biggest perk was free trams, buses and ferries; it has become the Go City Gothenburg Pass, which includes no Västtrafik ticket. It does not include Liseberg either, the amusement park most visitors come for.

The passes do include sightseeing transport — hop-on hop-off buses and boat tours. Those are tours, not a way to get around. For ordinary travel, tap a contactless bank card at the SL gates in Stockholm or on Västtrafik’s trams and buses in Gothenburg; our Stockholm public transport and Gothenburg public transport guides explain the tickets.

And Malmö: the Malmö City Card was discontinued in 2016. Pages still describing one are stale.

How the passes work

Each city has two versions:

• All-Inclusive Pass — a chosen number of consecutive days; visit as many included attractions as you like, each once.
• Essentials Pass — three attractions from a short list, within 30 days of the first visit.

The terms hold three traps worth knowing before you pay:

1. Days are calendar days. An All-Inclusive day starts on the day of first use “regardless of the time of day”, so a pass first scanned at 15:00 has already used most of day one.
2. No refund once activated. Not even for unused days. Before activation you can cancel within 90 days of purchase.
3. Booking counts as activation. Pre-booking an attraction activates the pass and ends the refund right. Some attractions, especially summer boat trips and capacity-limited tours, need advance booking.

Go City also says it cannot guarantee attraction hours or closures.

Do the sum

A pass pays off when the gate prices you would really pay on pass days add up to more than the pass. Not the “value” on the box — your plan.

1. List the paid sights you would actually visit each day. Be honest about how many fit in one day.
2. Look up each adult gate price for your dates on the attraction’s own site. Several Stockholm sights charge more from May to September.
3. Strike out anything free for you: Stockholm’s free museums, free evenings such as Nationalmuseum on Thursdays, and everything free for your children (see below). Our guide to free museums in Stockholm lists them.
4. Add boat tours or the hop-on bus only if you would have paid for them anyway.
5. Compare with the pass price at checkout.

In Stockholm, the result for one adult is usually clear. Four of the most popular paid sights — the Vasa Museum, the Royal Palace, Skansen and the Nobel Prize Museum — come to less than a one-day pass in low season and about the same in summer (the worked sum is in the table below). So a one-day pass pays off only on a long, well-planned day with four or five paid sights, grouped by area: Djurgården for the Vasa Museum and Skansen, Gamla stan for the Royal Palace, Storkyrkan and the Nobel Prize Museum. Activate it at opening time.

Multi-day passes cost less per day, but their prices appear only at checkout, so run the same sum against the quoted price. The Essentials Pass suits a slower trip: compare it with the three gate prices you would pay.

Children and city passes

Child passes cost real money, and the big Stockholm sights mostly let children in free already:

The Royal Palace is the notable exception: it charges children aged 7 to 17. Unless your family plan is built around boat tours, buy adult passes only, if any. Our Sweden with kids guide covers what else is free for children.

Gothenburg: check the Museum Card first

The Gothenburg Pass leans on the four city museums: the Museum of Art, the Museum of Gothenburg, Röhsska and the Maritime Museum and Aquarium. But the city sells its own Museikortet (Museum Card), a personal card for all four for a whole calendar year that costs the same as two adult day tickets. Visitors under 20 and students get into those museums free anyway.

So a Gothenburg pass pays off only if your days are built on its commercial attractions, such as Universeum, the Paddan canal tours and the archipelago boats. Some attractions are seasonal: Maritiman, for example, had no opening dates after 1 November in 2026. Our Gothenburg museums guide covers the Museum Card in detail.

Mistakes to avoid

• Assuming the pass covers the metro or trams. It has not since the old cards were replaced.
• Counting free museums or free evenings as savings. They cost nothing without a pass.
• Buying child passes for a museum plan. Most big museums are free for children.
• Starting a one-day pass at lunchtime. The day ends at midnight.
• Pre-booking before your dates are firm. It activates the pass and ends your refund right.
• Expecting Liseberg in the Gothenburg Pass. It is not on the list.

Practical information

Worked sum, one adult, Stockholm: Vasa 195 + Royal Palace 220 + Skansen 240 + Nobel 160 = 815 SEK in low season, against a 949 SEK one-day pass. Add Fotografiska and it reaches 1,010 SEK. In summer the same four cost about 945 SEK.

Pass prices are Go City’s, checked 1 October 2026; gate prices are the attractions’ own, checked 24–25 September 2026. Check both for your dates.

FAQ

Is the Stockholm Pass worth it?

Only on a full day with four or five paid sights. A one-day adult pass costs from 949 SEK, while the Vasa Museum, Royal Palace, Skansen and Nobel Prize Museum together come to about 815 SEK in low season. Many museums are free or free for under-19s, so add up the gate prices you would really pay before buying.

Does the Stockholm Pass include public transport?

No. Go City says it no longer offers a travelcard with the Stockholm Pass and you must buy travel separately. The old Stockholm Card included SL travel, but it was replaced in 2016. Tap a contactless bank card at the SL gates or buy a ticket in the SL app. The pass does include sightseeing buses and boat tours.

Is there still a Gothenburg City Card?

Not under that name. The Göteborg City Card has become the Go City Gothenburg Pass, with 22 attractions including Universeum, Paddan canal tours and the city museums. It no longer includes trams, buses or ferries, and Liseberg is not on the list. A one-day adult pass costs 499 SEK.

Is there a Malmö city card?

No. The Malmö City Card was discontinued in 2016, and Go City, which runs the Stockholm and Gothenburg passes, lists no other Swedish city. Pay each attraction directly, at the door or on its own website, and check its free-entry ages first. Our Malmö city guide covers what costs nothing there.

Is a child pass worth it in Stockholm?

Rarely. The Stockholm child pass covers ages 6 to 15, but the Vasa Museum, Nobel Prize Museum and Storkyrkan are free to 18, Skansen to 15, and Fotografiska to 12. Of the big sights, the Royal Palace charges children. Unless your plan is boat tours, buy adult passes only, if any, and let children in free.

When should I activate my pass?

At opening time on your first full sightseeing day. All-Inclusive days are consecutive calendar days counted from first use, whatever the time, so starting at 15:00 wastes most of day one. Pre-booking an attraction also counts as activation and ends your right to a refund, so do not book until your dates are firm.

Related guides

• Free museums in Stockholm — subtract these before you do the sum.
• Stockholm public transport — the pass does not cover it; here is the cheapest ticket for your stay.
• Gothenburg museums — the city’s own Museum Card, often the better deal.
• Sweden on a budget — the wider list of ways to spend less.
• How many days in Stockholm — sizes the trip before you size a pass.

Facts verified 2026-10-01. Sources: Go City’s own pass pages and terms, the attractions’ own websites, SL and Västtrafik — full register in this topic’s source file. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.