I had a taste of the Archipelago, and how short the summers can be, back in 2003 when I took a ‘Brunch Cruise’ one Sunday morning in April. I only went for the experience, not the food, and while everyone else was tucking into their rollmop herrings and rye bread I was up on deck checking out the scenery – or at least that I was hoping for.

It was a bitterly cold day, and I was the only idiot outside, but that never used to bother me back then. The ship’s female organiser came to check on me to make sure that I hadn’t fallen overboard or turned into an ice statue, and it wasn’t long before I could see why. First of all it started to rain, then it turned to sleet, then snow, and then freezing rain. The freezing rain was the worst: Getting pebble-dashed by particles of ice isn’t up there as one of life’s great pleasures, and if I didn’t want to end up looking like Seal, I was going to have to retreat inside. I couldn’t see the islands anyway.

In the end, the trip was a bit of a disaster. The wind had also picked up and we couldn’t dock where we left from, which meant disembarking somewhere completely unknown to me. One stretch of water can look very much like another – and there’s lots of it around here. I was completely dis-oriented. Anna, or whatever the organiser’s name was, tried to guide me in the right direction, and then jumped into a tiny boat and sailed, single-handed, back out to the Archipelago where she had a home. The waves were crashing against the harbour wall, you could hardly see a thing, and the freezing rain was still using me like a dartboard. To say I was impressed with ‘Anna’ is an understatement. They certainly make ‘em tough up here. I eventually found my way back to the warmth of the hotel – but with no pictures of what the Archipelago actually looked like.

Fortunately, I was able to get another chance in 2016, and on a much nicer day.

The sightseeing boats for the Archipelago leave from Strandvagen, and as this is my final post on Stockholm, I thought I would take the opportunity to talk a little bit about the Kungstradgarten which is located nearby.

To get there we caught the Tunnelbana (Metro) to the station at Kungstradgarten which is worth a look at in its own right. Lying a hundred feet (34m) underground, it includes relics from the Makalos Palace that used to be next to the Kungstradgarten before it burned down in 1825.

The ‘King’s Garden’ is the oldest park in Stockholm, and was originally created as a Royal vegetable garden in the 15^th century. By the second half of the 20^th century however, it seems to have gained an unsavoury reputation, with unruly teenagers, drug dealing, prostitution and violent political and environmental protests – activities that I never thought were a problem in Sweden – but it just goes to show how reality can sometimes differ from a preconceived image. Anyway, it pushed the authorities into converting the park back into an area fit for a king, with a large rectangular pond and adjacent cafés and restaurants. The pics below show how it looked in 2016 – and in case you were wondering, the statue is of King Karl XIII.

A short walk from the Kungstradgarten brought us to another park (Berzelii Park) and the Nybroplan (New Bridge Square). Overlooking the square is the striking Royal Dramatic Theatre, an Art Nouveau building which produced famous actors such as Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman and others.

Nybroplan is also where the Nybroviken begins. This stretch of water is described as a bay, but I’ve never been able to get my mind to think of it like that, but it doesn’t matter what I think because it’s where the boats leave for the Archipelago, and to get to the departure point means walking along Strandvagen.

Beach Road is the English translation for Strandvagen, and although there’s no beach here now, this fine boulevard stretches for over a kilometre alongside the water to Djurgarden Bridge. With an avenue of lime trees running down through the central reservation, and buildings nothing short of palatial, you won’t be surprised to learn that this was once the home of some of the wealthiest people in Stockholm.

You don’t have to walk too far along Strandvagen though, as the Archipelago boats leave from a berth opposite some Jugendstil style buildings that seem to have an air of the French Riviera about them – or at least they did to me.

Unless you’ve got both time and money to spare, then a boat trip to the Archipelago is only ever going to be an introduction, and to be honest, our 2 ½ – 3 hour Stromma round trip on board the M/S Ostana was really just a taster – but an enjoyable one nonetheless. Below is a map created by Stromma of the area that the boat is supposed to have covered but we got closer to Vaxholm than the map shows.

After leaving our berth at Strandvagen, we immediately came to the island of Djurgarden. This island is a former royal hunting park and now Stockholm’s favourite recreation area. There are footpaths and trails for outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers, as well as an abundant selection of museums and attractions.

I’ve already described the incredible Vasa Museum which is the home of a wooden ship from the same era as the Mary Rose, only in better condition, and you can read about it here. Nearby is the Nordic Museum, which has the largest collection of social history items in Sweden, and Skansen is the world’s oldest open-air museum. There is even an amusement park: Oh! and I nearly forgot – there’s also an Abba Museum – but with all these attractions charging an entrance fee, you need to have plenty of ♫ Money, Money, Money ♫ to see them all.

On the opposite side of the water from the Grona Lund Amusement Park is the small island of Kastellholmen. The citadel that you see is a replacement for the original one that was built in 1667 and which was later abandoned. The current structure was built between 1846-48, and was brought into action during World War II. The flag you can see flying from the turret is Sweden’s Military Ensign which is raised and lowered each day to show that the country is at peace.

The scenery begins to change as we sail away from the city centre and out through the shipping lanes that ferries use to carry passengers to and from Finland, Russia and Latvia.

By the time we reached the area around Vaxholm, the scenery became more like I was expecting, where islands of varying sizes are dotted with wooden houses painted in Falu Red. It seemed like the perfect get away from it all environment that many people dream of.

Unlike the lucky souls who could stay out here fishing for something to go on their barbecue, we had to turn around and head back to the city. As I knew beforehand, three hours is nowhere near long enough to get to know the Archipelago, and of course, a few pictures taken from a boat is never going to capture the feeling of these islands as they should be, and so I’m going to leave you with a YouTube video from Stockholm Archipelago Sailing that shows what the islands look like from a drone. It’s a seven minute video and you don’t need to watch it all of course, but at least it’ll give you a taste as to why ‘Anna’ was in such a hurry to get back out here.

POSTED – MAY 2022