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- Topic: Swedish >
- "Staden är full av cyklar."
31 Comments
serious question: Are swedish cities as accessible to bikes as other northern cities like Amsterdam or Copenhagen?
I can speak for my home town of Stockholm, and here the answer is clearly no. Amsterdam and Copenhagen are a lot more suited for bikers. There have been a handful of improvements in the last 10 years though, and our local politicians sure want to make Stockholms more accessible for cyclists. But we're still lagging quite a way behind. Further, the geography of Stockholm is not as inviting as are the relatively flat geography Copenhagen and Amsterdam. The terrain of Stockholm, especially south of the old town, is quite rugged and hilly.
TL;DR Not very much in Stockholm, but slow progress is being made.
You have those free pumps for bike tires. We don't have that in Paris despite the HUGE roadworks made for bikes. And the places where there are the most bike riders here are the most hilly ones. It trains on our thighs !
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As a Brit living in Stockholm — I can believe that Amsterdam and Copenhagen are better, but Stockholm is still great compared to everywhere else I’ve lived (including several UK and US cities that have reputations of being reasonably bike-friendly). Most roads have cycle lanes, sometimes though not always separated from the main traffic lanes, and there are also quite a few bike-specific trails, integrated well with the normal road network.
thanks- you probably won't see this, but I'm moving there in 2 months... what is cycling like in the winter? Is it possible or just a summer-months activity? I almost always cycle around town in the UK because it gives me independence (as a woman it means I can travel round on my own at night fairly safely), but not sure if it's a viable option in Stockholm when it's winter?
Winter generally doesn't really make cycling in large cities in Sweden any more difficult. Just be careful on icy days, and take public transport on the usually few days per winter when cycling is not possible. :)
Oh my god I am actually learning!! Duolingo is incredible, and the Swedish team is even more incredible!
What about Gothenburg! I lived there 6 months, didn't bike myself but bikes were everywhere and all the streets had very clearly marked bike paths, often separated by cobblestone so it's separated by the road.
Bit of a tangent, but when my aunt and cousin were visiting, we were on the spårvagn and I looked out the window, a tjej was riding a bike, holding a bag of strawberries, and it was raining. I said "That! That right there is Sweden." I don't think they appreciated that moment nearly as much as I did.
And Gothenburg is even a fairly substandard city for biking in Sweden, as compared to many others. :)
Malmö is quite accessible to bikes. Not as much as Copenhagen, but this sentence could definitely apply here haha.
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They're both fulla av i.e. Malmö är fullt av … and Uppsala är fullt av …. When we speak about cities and countries, they always get treated as ett gender.
I have only one month in Sweden but I can say.. Linköping är full av cykla
If she takes the bike, she only really takes a single bike. But if the city is full of bikes, there are definitely more bikes than just the one.
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Bike and bicycle are interchangeable in the US. There is no difference. Please explain what you think the difference is.
Of course they are, but you mentioned "bike" which is in the singular. You need "bikes" here, since it is a plural.
