If you feel tired of sitting in the library and studying (or anything else), I can truly recommend you a place suitable for relaxation and where you will clear your mind. Stockholm Archipelago is that remedy.
Shortly I will tell you what Stockholm Archipelago is. Archipelago is just few minutes away from Stockholm and it is a complex of nearly 30 000 islands and islets. You can find there rocky cliffs, open sea views, small cottages and many picnic places. Some islets are not inhabited and I found Archipelago as a whole as a very calm place since we did not meet any tourists.
We took a ferry from Stockholm Strömkajen to Vaxholm, which costs 79 kr for one person one way, and set off. An advantage of going there by the ferry is that you can take your bike on board and then easily move in the destination. Another advantage of the ferry is that you can admire the beauties of the islands and cute little houses while you are just sitting on the board. As we reached Vaxholm, we jumped on our bikes and started to explore. Although we did not have any plan what to see, I was more than pleased with what we had seen there. Usually, islands in archipelago are reachable only with a boat as they are not interconnected with any bridge. This is not the case of Vaxholm where you can easily come by bus on the road. Due to that fact, we wanted to see even two adjacent islands (Kullö and Resarö) and it was really worth it.
In Kullö, you can find nature reservation where you can step inside the deer-park and if you are lucky, you can touch animals (I hope that you can step inside and touch the animals because the signs there were in Swedish).
In Resarö is beautiful path along the water which is more suitable for walks so I recommend going without the bike. Then we travelled more north where we found an amazing place for snack (see the picture below). We found it accidently but it was probably the best thing that we had seen that day.
We took the ferry from Ytteby and here I should point out one important thing when travelling by the ferry. If you are standing on the ferry station, it is not sufficient for the captain of the ferry to stop there. You have to use a semaphore on the station which at the first sight does not seem to be the semaphore, but still use it ! Otherwise it can happen that the ferry you want to go with just sail along you without stopping and you have to wait for another one. Obviously, this happened to us 😀
If you have an opportunity to stay in Stockholm for few days, I think that Stockholm Archipelago is a must-do trip. And if you have any other tips for trips close to Stockholm (or anywhere), please, share them with me 😊
Have a pleasant start to new week!
Denisa