Stockholm or Gothenburg Archipelago?

Sweden has two famous archipelagos on opposite coasts, about 470 km apart, and they are genuinely different propositions rather than two versions of one thing.

The Short Answer

Want to book a boat and be shown around? Stockholm. Want to wander car-free islands independently and cheaply? Gothenburg.

Stockholm Archipelago - the east coast

Roughly 30,000 islands spread across the Baltic, reaching far offshore. The scale is the point: you can be two hours out and still be in it.

• A deep tour market. Guided wooden-boat tours from $40, historic-ship cruises with fika from $29, RIB speedboat runs at $168, lunch cruises at $59, full-day sailing at $360, kayak-and-picnic days at $147.
• Vaxholm as the classic gateway town.
• Ferries too, but the boats you actually want are usually the guided ones.

Gothenburg Archipelago - the west coast

The southern islands - Styrso, Donso, Vrango - are close to the city, bare granite and wooden houses, and completely car-free.

• Almost no tour market, and none needed.
• Reached by tram 11 or bus 114 to Saltholmen, then Vasttrafik ferries 281 - 284 on the same ticket as a bus. A Zone A day ticket covers everything.
• Island-hopping is free once you have the day ticket.

Detail on the Gothenburg page.

Choosing

The Practical Reality

Almost nobody chooses between them on merit - you go to whichever city you were already visiting. Stockholm and Gothenburg are a 3-hour train apart and neither archipelago justifies crossing the country on its own.

So the useful version of this question is: “I am in city X - is the archipelago worth a day?” In both cases the answer is yes, and in both cases it is one of the best days available in that city.

If you are Stockholm-bound, start here - the guided-boat market is what makes that archipelago work for a visitor.

See Stockholm archipelago tours →