Stockholm Arlanda Airport

WiFi did not work during several attempts due to the stupid system used which requires an SMS which has to be sent to the mobile phone with a code. Did not work with a German mobile number of German Telecom.

I was changing flights (international to international) but was immediately appalled by the fact that there are no signs indicating where transfer passengers had to go. As a result I ended in the actual Arrivals hall. I then wanted to ask someone at the "Service Center" for directions but the main center was closed and I had to go to another service desk farther away. Here it was apparently open except for that no one was there to help. I then got hold of one of the trolley boys who told me the way to go. I had to go back up the arrival hall and turn left. And as he warned me: There are no signs. All this took 30 mins. but could have been avoided if only there had been signs. "Taxfree" shop pretty standard. There was a nice cafe with the usual exorbitant prices. Clean terminal. Polite staff (if you can find them).

T5. As a father of 4 and a Stockholm resident Arlanda succeeds at most things (cleanliness security shopping play areas) but fails dismally at food and beverage pricing. On the plus side for children there are two play areas. Now where Arlanda fails is that it's almost impossible to get children's food either for eating or take-on- board at a decent price. My benchmark for this has always been Boots in the UK where there have £3.99 meal deal (air side) giving you a 500ml drink a double/triple sandwich and a sweet snack. In Arlanda it would be impossible to do this for less than £12 or SEK120. With 4 children and the no liquids rule at security the cost of feeding my children is about 10% of the cost of a budget flight for each of us. Things have been improved recently with the addition of a local fast food joint "Max" in T5. Come on Arlanda. Sweden is supposed to be child friendly and with Arlanda food pricing you receive a big "fail".

The airport is modern and clean but it is an airport where passengers are milked like a cash cow. The gates in Terminal 5 have no or much too few seats - everyone is standing. The only way to sit is to buy something in a nearby cafe or restaurant and sit there. Also passengers are routed through various shops when going to the gate which needlessly increases walking distances and is quite annoying anyway. The prices in cafes and restaurants are rather ridiculous (7-8 Euros for a cappuccino anyone?).

Fantastic airport only brought down by the bad food served by the restaurants at the international arrivals hall. The security team was by far the friendliest I have ever met in all my years of travelling! They even manage to smile a bit as they politely move people through security.

From international arrivals it is nearly impossible to find a domestic connecting flight if you haven't been there before. The signs are miserable and no help. To get from a international arrival to a domestic connecting flight you have to go through the exit then follow the signs to terminal 2 to get to terminal 4! There are no signs to the domestic terminal and no information desk in sight.

A really nice little airport with a good range of food etc. and good transport links to the city. However be warned that the main railway station does not open until 5.00 am and if your flight is one of the early morning ones you need to catch the 4.20 train. There is an unsignposted dedicated entrance to the Arlanda Express to the right of the main station about 400m away down a side street but no one I found had heard of it - I saw it from a taxi having given up all hope of the train.

Very nice modern airport clear sign friendly staff on arrival luggage arrived reasonably quickly. Good connections to the city. Only problem was on departure from Terminal 5 early in the morning the queue to pass through security stretched a long way. There are 2 queues at either end of the building. A member of staff advised me to try the queue that was at furthest away from where I had dropped my bags. Even here it took 20 minutes to be scanned and hand luggage to be x-rayed. Staff called out for passengers for flights that were leaving soon. I suspect in the other queue it would have taken at least 30 mins to get through. Most of the shops sell luxury goods and a few lower end ones would be a good addition.

Arrived and departed. Arrival in T5 was quite fast quickly out by the taxis. Departure on the other hand was a nightmare. I had to walk from T2 to T5 for my departure. The walking distance was huge and no rolling bands anywhere. I had to walk all the way to the end of T5 for security check - and then all the way back to T4 to my gate. Prices in the shops was very high. Can't recommend Arlanda at all - unless you absolutely have to go there.

Efficient and elegant set-up. Security check into International reassuringly thorough. High quality shopping and food inside. One criticism - had to wait a very long time when my Air China flight arrived at the same time as a BA one and all passengers converged on the under-staffed small-capacity immigration control area.