Invited to a Swedish Crayfish Party in August

Expect a long, relaxed evening centred on food, drinking songs and aquavit, often running well past when a typical dinner would wind down. It's a genuinely social occasion, not a quick meal, and it's common for a kräftskiva to run into the night, especially outdoors in August while the evenings are still mild.

A lot of crayfish parties happen outside the immediate city centre — at a house with a garden, or somewhere further out where the setting suits the occasion. That's part of the appeal, but it also means public transport options back into the city can be thinner than in the centre, especially late at night after a few hours of drinking.

Given the drinking involved and the setting often being outside the centre, it's worth arranging your ride home before the party rather than trying to sort it out afterwards. A custom booking lets you set the pickup address — the host's or friend's place — and a rough time, so you're not standing outside a house in the countryside at midnight trying to work out how to get back.

• Book the ride home before the party, not after
• Set the actual pickup address — a house or garden, not just a general area
• A rough pickup time is enough; adjust if the evening runs later than planned

Hosting a kräftskiva for guests coming from further away — a hotel in the city, or flying in specifically for it — comes with its own transport question in the other direction: getting people to your garden or house before the party starts. Booking a custom ride for arriving guests, rather than leaving them to find their own way to an address that may not be well signposted, is a small thing that makes a big difference to how smoothly the evening starts.