Among the pleasures of our stays in Gothenburg and Stockholm were the joys of exploring the archipelagos which are such an instrinsic part of life there. Our first experience of them was in Gothenburg. On our second day there we caught the tram to Saltholmen ferry terminal, and then a ferry to – where? Styrsö? Donsö? Vrångö? Or some of the many other islands forming the Southern Archipelago? Did it even matter? Island hopping is easy by inter-connecting ferry. What a delight to stand on deck, the breeze on our faces, the sea and sky an uninterrupted blue. We island-spotted. Some barely qualified, they were so tiny.
Some were inhabited … just about.
But we were aiming for ones with inhabitants as well as wilder spaces. Gothenburg’s Southern islands are vehicle-free, so on landing we noticed employees – electricians in this case – going on their rounds with company vehicles. Bicycles.
It was on one island – Donsö – that we had our lunch. It turned out to be our only properly Swedish meal, as local cooking seems hard to come by in the city.
A simple but perfect meal of herring, new potatoes and cheeses, tastily garnished.
We were after the natural world though, so headed further south for Vrångö and its nature reserve.
There was something special about strolling along the coastline, always having the sea in sight, but always other islands too, of different shapes and sizes.
We had similar experiences exploring Stockholm’s Archipelago. One day we settled on setting foot only on one – more distant – island, Vaxholme, which has a BIG town of 6,000 inhabitants. Its municipality includes 64 further islands, bringing its total population to some 11,000.
We wondered what it would be like to live there year round, including dark and rather cold winter, and decided we’d opt, as many do, for having our summers there before heading back to the Big City for the rest of the year.
We’d arrived in time for fika, that typical Swedish tradition where you take time out of your day to pause and enjoy coffee and a snack. Look! Here was somewhere with a large terrace on the waterside, great coffee, and a range of cakes so temping that it was incredibly hard to choose. Near us was one very unfortunate couple. As they sat down, their cakes and coffee on the table, down swooped a kittiwake who made off with one whole slice of cake. All we had to deal with were sparrows, hoping for crumbs.
We did like the idea of being buried on Vaxholme though. Swedish cemetries are a delight, being mainly in expansive parkland where it’s quite usual to come for a family stroll. We wandered round for quite a while before searching out some wilder walking.
And here’s how we commuted there and back.
Grand days out, our Archipelago adventures.
From Pyrenees to Pennines 
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