Don't be fooled when grabbing a cab in Stockholm

This advise applies in other cities round the world as well, but being born and raised in Stockholm this is where I know my way around.

Before taking your next Baltic cruise - take a few minutes looking in to which taxi cabs you can rely on and which to avoid. There is a great amount of money to be saved.

In Sweden (and many other countries) the taxi market is a free market with basically no price regulations at all. Anyone with a permit to run their own taxi is free to set their own prices. The only thing they need to do is put a sticker on the side window where the prices are shown.

The problem is that the prices are not always easy to understand and as a tourist it's easy to be fooled. Many of the smaller independent taxis have painting and signs that are similar to the major companies. This way they can get customers in to their cars and charge them way more than the major serious companies would.

In Sweden the prices are always shown in SEK (swedish Krona). There are stories about tourists being fooled to pay the amount on the meter in Euro €. The Euro is worth about ten times the swedish Krona and that would make your ride very expensive.

I usually recommend tourist to choose among three major companies that are serious and have regular humane prices.

Taxi Stockholm

Taxi Kurir

Taxi 020

I would recommend to print these logos and memories them.

Be aware that drivers may try to fool you that they are driving for one of these major companies. Don't let the color of the car or the layout of the logo fool you. I know many natives of Stockholm who have been fooled them self by not checking the logo on the car properly.

These three major companies all accept the most common credit cards. So there is no need to carry swedish cash around just to grab a taxi.

I should point out that these smaller independent taxis don't do anything illegal. They are free to charge whatever they want as long as the prices are shown on the side window. Their logos will differ from the major companies just enough to avoid a law suit. They live on customers who grab a taxi on the street and who's not careful enough to examine the logo on the side of the car.

Cruisers are used to spend a lot of money. But there's no reason to spend more then you have to. Be safe and enjoy my old home town. :)

Very good advice, thank you so much! :)

Folks can also read my Taxi Tutorial for Stockholm.

Al

Excellent postings! The three cab graphics are very helpful. The great news is that many of the key, best attractions are fairly handy in easy walking distance to each other. The old historic city with its interesting architecture and shopping is next to the main church and the Royal Palace with the changing of the guard, etc. Depending on what you need to see and where your ship is docked, you might not be need cabs that much. And as you walk, you can better soak up the beautiful sights and sites.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

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We are a group of eight coming to Stockholm (Nynasham)on June 29 on the Norwegian Sun. We are considering a private DenRus tour, the NCL Stockholm on your own bus r/t for $59, and taxi from/to Nynasham.

Is the taxi a feasible option? Do these three major taxi companies have taxis awaiting the ships docking in Nynasham? What will the approximate taxi fare be for the trip from Nynasham?