Sweden Guide
Around Stockholm
Vaxholm
Lying just an hour's ferry ride northeast of Stockholm, Vaxholm is a popular weekend destination. The main settlement on the island, Vaxholm town, has an atmospheric wooden harbour with an imposing fortress which once guarded the waterways into the city, successfully staving off attacks from Danes and Russians in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; it's now an unremarkable museum of military bits and pieces. Also within easy reach is Grinda, two hours or so east, a thickly wooded island typical of the inner archipelago, whose magnificent sandy beaches are much favoured by families.