Typisches Ferienhaus in Schweden mit Terrasse und Garten

What Is Included in a Holiday Home in Sweden? 10 Things You Should Know

What can you actually expect when renting a holiday home in Sweden?

What is actually included in a holiday home in Sweden? Do you need to bring your own bed linen and towels? Is the final cleaning included? Do you have to pay extra for electricity? And if there is a boat in the photos – are you automatically allowed to use it?

If you are booking a holiday home in Sweden for the first time, these are exactly the kinds of questions that tend to come up.

We know them very well from our daily work. We live in Sweden ourselves and now manage and offer around 150 holiday homes through Schweden-Ferienhaus24. Many of these questions come up regularly when we speak to our guests.

The reason is simple: staying in a Swedish holiday home can be quite different from staying in a hotel or a typical holiday apartment elsewhere in Europe.

There is also no single rule that applies to every holiday home in Sweden. What is included depends on the individual property and its owner.

However, there are a few things you should know before booking.

Quick answer: What is included in a holiday home in Sweden?

What is included in a holiday home in Sweden depends on the individual property and owner. Bed linen, towels, electricity, firewood or the use of a boat may be included, but this is not always the case.

At Schweden-Ferienhaus24, final cleaning is included with every holiday home. Bed linen and towels are also included at many properties or can usually be booked as an optional extra.

1. Bed linen and towels in a holiday home in Sweden

There are different arrangements when it comes to bed linen and towels.

At many of our holiday homes, bed linen and towels are already included in the price. At most of the other properties, you can simply add a linen package to your booking.

There are, however, a small number of holiday homes where we are currently unable to offer a linen service.

The reason is actually quite simple. Some of our houses are located in very rural parts of Sweden, and in a few areas we have not yet found a reliable local company that can handle the laundry service for us.

In these cases, guests need to bring their own bed linen and towels. We clearly state this in the information for the individual property.

It is still worth checking this again shortly before you leave home. After a long drive through Sweden, the last thing you want is to arrive in the evening and realise that your bed linen is still sitting in a cupboard at home.

2. Final cleaning is always included with Schweden-Ferienhaus24

This is probably one of the most important things to check when comparing a holiday home in Sweden.

Final cleaning is handled very differently across Swedish holiday homes. At some properties, guests are expected to clean the house themselves before leaving. At others, final cleaning can or must be booked and paid for separately.

At Schweden-Ferienhaus24, final cleaning is included with every single holiday home.

So you do not have to spend the last morning of your holiday cleaning the entire house.

Of course, included final cleaning does not mean that the property can be left completely untidy. Dishes should be washed or placed in the dishwasher, rubbish should be disposed of according to the instructions provided, and the house should be left in a reasonable condition.

The actual final cleaning is then carried out by the owners or the local cleaning team.

And from our point of view, there are much nicer ways to spend the last morning of a one- or two-week holiday in Sweden than with a vacuum cleaner and mop.

Good to know: Final cleaning is always included

At all holiday homes offered by Schweden-Ferienhaus24, final cleaning is already included. You do not have to clean the entire property yourself before departure or book final cleaning as an additional service.

The house should of course be left tidy, but the actual final cleaning is carried out by the owners or the local cleaning team.

3. Is electricity included in a holiday home in Sweden?

At many holiday homes, electricity is simply included in the rental price.

There are some exceptions, however. Particularly outside the main summer season, some properties charge separately for the electricity actually used during your stay.

There is a practical reason for this.

A holiday home heated with electricity in October or February obviously consumes considerably more energy than the same property during a warm week in July. If there is also an electric sauna, the difference can become quite noticeable.

If electricity is charged separately at one of our properties, you will find this clearly stated in the house description.

So you certainly should not assume that every holiday home in Sweden comes with an additional electricity bill. It is simply something worth checking, especially if you are travelling during autumn or winter.

4. What is included in the kitchen?

Having your own kitchen is part of the appeal of a holiday home for many people.

Coffee on the terrace in the morning, cooking together in the evening or preparing something quick after a long day at the lake – that freedom is one of the reasons people choose a holiday home in the first place.

Most houses provide the usual kitchen equipment such as crockery, cutlery, pots, pans and the main cooking appliances.

What you should not automatically expect are food and everyday consumables.

Salt, pepper, cooking oil, coffee, sugar, spices, kitchen roll or dishwasher tablets may be available. Perhaps the owner has provided them or previous guests have left something behind. But you should not rely on this.

We therefore recommend bringing or buying anything you definitely need for your first meals.

This is particularly useful when staying at one of the more remote holiday homes. In Småland and other rural parts of Sweden, driving 20 or 30 minutes to the nearest larger supermarket is nothing unusual.

5. Drinking water and private wells in Sweden

This is something that occasionally surprises guests, but it is perfectly normal in rural Sweden.

Not every holiday home is connected to a municipal water supply. Many properties have their own private well.

As a result, the water may be slightly different from what you are used to at home. The taste, mineral content and sometimes even the colour can vary.

Having water from a private well does not automatically mean that there is anything wrong with it.

If the water at one of our properties is not suitable for drinking or if there is something guests need to know about the water supply, we provide this information.

Especially at older properties and genuinely secluded houses, having a private water supply is simply part of rural life in Sweden.

6. Holiday home in Sweden with a boat: Is the boat included?

It is probably one of the classic images of a Swedish holiday: a red wooden cottage, a lake, a private jetty and a small boat waiting by the water.

But if you see a boat in the photos of a holiday home, you should still check the property description before assuming that you can use it.

At some houses, a rowing boat is included free of charge. At others, a motorboat can be rented separately. There may also be a separate boat deposit or specific rules regarding its use.

Fuel for an outboard motor is also normally not included in the rental price.

We recommend paying particular attention to any instructions concerning the boat. Swedish lakes can have shallow areas and rocks beneath the surface that are not immediately visible from the boat.

If there are specific instructions for using a boat at one of our holiday homes, they should always be followed.

And there is another important distinction:

Having permission to use the boat does not automatically give you permission to fish.

Depending on the lake, you may need a separate fishing permit.

This is actually something our guests ask us about quite regularly.

7. Fireplace, sauna and firewood

A fireplace on a cool autumn evening or a sauna after spending the day outdoors is part of the Swedish holiday experience for many guests.

Quite a few of our holiday homes therefore have a fireplace, wood-burning stove or sauna.

The arrangements for firewood, however, vary from property to property.

Sometimes firewood is provided free of charge. At some houses a certain amount is available, while at others additional firewood needs to be purchased.

If the house has an electric sauna and electricity is charged according to consumption, using the sauna will naturally affect your electricity usage as well.

During summer, this is rarely an important issue. But if you are travelling to Sweden in autumn or winter and plan to use the fireplace and sauna regularly, it is worth checking the property description beforehand.

8. International TV and Smart TVs

Our portfolio is a little unusual in this respect.

Because we work with many German property owners in Sweden, quite a number of our holiday homes actually have German television channels.

But certainly not all of them.

Other houses may have Swedish television or a Smart TV. Many Smart TVs are connected to the internet, allowing you to log in to your own Netflix, Prime Video or other streaming account.

If German television is important to you, check the facilities listed for the individual property. Wherever possible, we state what type of television is available.

And if you use your own streaming account on a Smart TV, remember to log out again before you leave.

It is surprisingly easy to forget.

9. Wi-Fi in a Swedish holiday home

Wi-Fi is now available at a large proportion of our holiday homes.

However, you should not necessarily expect the same internet connection in a cottage deep in the Swedish countryside as you would in an apartment in central Stockholm.

Some remote holiday homes use mobile internet solutions. In these cases, the connection speed can depend on the local mobile network.

For normal browsing and streaming, this is often perfectly adequate. But if you need to work during your holiday and depend on several video calls every day, it is worth asking about the connection before booking.

Then again, many of our guests deliberately book a holiday home in Sweden because they do not want to be permanently connected for a week or two.

10. A holiday home in Sweden is not a hotel – and that is the point

It may sound obvious, but this explains quite a few of the points above.

When you book a holiday home in Sweden, you are usually making a conscious decision not to stay in a hotel.

There is no breakfast buffet waiting at 8 a.m. and no room service.

Instead, you can sit outside in your pyjamas with a cup of coffee in the morning and look out over the lake.

Perhaps the nearest neighbour is 500 metres away. Maybe the last part of the journey takes you along a gravel road. You might have to drive 20 minutes to do a larger grocery shop.

But for many of our guests, that is precisely why they come to Sweden.

You have your own house, your own schedule and, above all, plenty of peace and quiet.

Once you have sat beside a Swedish lake early in the morning when everything around you is almost completely silent, it is quite easy to understand why so many of our guests return the following year.

Conclusion: Don’t compare Swedish holiday homes by price alone

Two holiday homes may appear to cost roughly the same at first glance while including quite different things.

That is why it is worth looking beyond the rental price before booking.

Is final cleaning included? What about bed linen and towels? Is electricity charged separately? And is the boat actually included?

At Schweden-Ferienhaus24, we try to make exactly this information as transparent as possible.

And there is at least one thing you do not have to compare when looking at our houses:

Final cleaning is always included.

That leaves you with the much more enjoyable decision.

Should it be the traditional red Swedish cottage surrounded by forest, a holiday home directly beside a lake, or perhaps a house with its own sauna and boat?

Because the last morning of your holiday in Sweden should not be spent scrubbing the bathroom.

It should be spent enjoying Sweden for as long as possible.

Planning a holiday in Sweden?

Current fuel prices show that a holiday in Sweden is often more affordable than many travellers expect. Whether you’re looking for a lakeside retreat, a pet-friendly getaway or a cosy holiday home in Småland, you’ll find carefully selected holiday homes in Sweden with Schweden-Ferienhaus24 in some of the country’s most beautiful regions.