Updated on March 10th, 2025
The last week of February I was in Sweden for my master’s program. One morning my classmates and I had fika or the Swedish version of a coffee break. I have not heard of this concept outside of Sweden, and I wanted to share it with you.
What is Fika?
Fika can be translated to a coffee and cake break. However, the concept is much more than a coffee break as it involves slowing down during your day and making time to socialize with your family, friends, or colleagues. Fika is a part of Swedish everyday life. At work, the Swedes have fika in the mid-morning and afternoon with their colleagues. Swedes can also have fika with their friends at a café or at their homes with their family. As I mentioned, fika is a coffee break, but coffee can be substituted with tea, juice, or any other drink. As far as food, Swedes often eat cakes, pastries, fruit, and sandwiches while they socialize.
My Expereince with Fika
When I had fika with my classmates, it was in the morning after we had the meetings with our thesis supervisors. We sat around a table that had coffee, tea, fruit, and kanelbullar, or the Swedish version of cinnamon buns. While we were enjoying the food and drinks, we talked about how the meetings went. We also shared what we thought of the program so far and just about our lives. This was only the second time we all met in person, so it was nice to catch up.
We got so caught up in our conversations that we were almost late to our next lecture! Luckily the classroom was just down the stairs. From my experience with fika, I can understand the importance of slowing down. Our morning was busy with the meetings, but the fika gave us an opportunity to take a step back to socialize while enjoying some good food and drinks.
That’s great that you got to try out Fika in Sweden. I’d love to try in out Fika on a visit to Sweden one day
It was nice being able to experience Fika in Sweden and if you do visit Sweden, you can have Fika at a cafe!
Fika sounds like something we should all incorporate in our lives! I have never heard of it before but it seems to me that it is a perfect way to destress so you can focus again. Thanks for sharing!
I agree we should incorporate fika into our lives & I wish it was more common outside of Sweden!
This sounds like such a lovely cultural tradition! I think we could all use Fika in our day, thanks for sharing! 🙂
https://trend-mixblog.com
It is a great tradition & I agree we could all benefit from fika 😊
I love Fika! My Dad lives in Sweden and having fika is always one of the most important things for me to do when I go and visit 😂 It’s been a while since I last went, so Thankyou for reminding me how awesome it is.
I wrote a post about fika and other food you have to try and Sweden, in case you’re interested!
Alex 😊
That’s awesome your dad lives in Sweden & I agree fika is great to do when visiting 😊
I’ll definitely check your post out!
This is new to me but I am in LOVE with the idea. I will have to find time to implement into my daily life
It is a great concept b/c everyone could benefit from slowing down in their day! 😊
Never heard of this but you can bet your bum I’m using it from now on!
It would be great to incorporate into your everyday!
This was sooo interesting to read about “Fika”!! We need to start implementing something like that in the US. We are so “Go go go” and never slow down it often feels. In India when I was there we did afternoon tea everyday and it was sooo lovely. Thanks for sharing, Karalee!!
I agree the US needs to implement a similar concept! Everything is to-go since everyone is in a rush to get to wherever they’re going.
It’s interesting to hear how other countries like India slow down 😊
Exactly!!
I love this idea. Germans do kaffee and kuchen but it usually on a Sunday afternoon with friends and family. I like the idea of taking time out of the day with colleagues.
That’s interesting that Germany has a similar concept & I agree it would be great to socialize with colleagues 😊
I never heard about fika before, but the concept sounds great 🙂 I would adopt.
I completely agree!
Having coffee right now ☕
Yes! It’s good to have coffee/tea breaks 😊
My closest friend is Swedish, he lives in Sweden. So over the 5 years I have known him we have talked every day and I have gotten to know a lot of their customs and holidays etc. So I do know about Fika and I love the idea of it. We all could do with slowing down and it’s a lovely way to do it. 🙂
Sarah 🌺 || Boxnip
That’s nice you learned about fika from your friend! I love the idea too & we could all benefit from slowing down during our day 😊
So interesting, I would love to have fika every day! I should propose that to my friends! 🙂
It would be great to include fika in your everyday!
I have a book called Lagom, which is about the Swedish art of balanced living and I learnt loads about Fika in that book!
Jenny
http://www.jennyinneverland.com
When I bought the Little Book of Lykke, Lagom was recommended! That’s awesome it talks about fika 😊
I love the sound of this any excuse for me to have a coffee break x
Yes! It’s a great excuse for a coffee/tea break 😄