Stockholm · Strandvägen, Skeppsbron & Strömkajen · All year
The archipelago in an afternoon
Every sightseeing cruise listed here is a loop: out past Fjäderholmarna, among the granite and the red cottages,
and back to its departure quay. Here is how far each one goes, what is on board, and the one guided trip that lands.
How far each loop goesFjäderholmarna on the short ones, Vaxholm on the longest, no landings on any
Quays named exactlyBerth numbers on Strandvägen, the statue at Skeppsbron, the gates at Strömkajen
Free cancellationUp to 24 hours before, on every listing here
Secure checkoutBook on GetYourGuide, with a mobile voucher
Cruises
Choose your archipelago cruise
In the centre, the classic Strömma loop in three lengths from Strandvägen. On the left, the two-hour
live-guided cruise from the Royal Palace quay that passes Vaxholm. On the right, the historic M/S Vindhem with a fika
written into the ticket.
A two-hour loop from the Old Town quay with an English-speaking guide the whole way. The route runs the Djurgården canal, Fjäderholmarna, Höggarn and Tegelön and passes Vaxholm before turning back.
What's included
Two-hour cruise with a live English guide on stories, the boat, the royal family and local traditions
Route listed as pass-by: Fotografiska, Blockhusudden, Djurgården canal, Fjäderholmarna, Stora Höggarn, Tegelön, Vaxholm
Children aged 0 to 6 travel free with a paying adult, per the listing
Fika, drinks and snacks for purchase on board; no outside food or drink
Not wheelchair accessible; route subject to change; free cancellation up to 24 hours before
Length2 hoursCheck in at the red booth 15 minutes beforeBook this →
The archipelago tour most people mean: a live-guided loop from Strandvägen on one of four classic ships, in three lengths. The short one circles Fjäderholmarna; the long one reaches Vaxholm and turns for home.
What's included
Sightseeing cruise with a live guide in English; the 2.5 and 3-hour loops also in Swedish, per the operator
Four ships from three berths: M/S Angantyr and M/S Evert Taube (1.5 h), M/S Östanå I (2.5 h), S/S Stockholm (3 h)
Cafeteria on the main deck with sandwiches, pastries, coffee, beer and wine; free WiFi and toilets
Not included: food and drink; not suitable for wheelchair users (stairs, thresholds, a sloping gangway at low water)
Foldable strollers stay on the main deck; free cancellation up to 24 hours before
Length1.5, 2.5 or 3 hoursYear-round; the 3-hour loop passes VaxholmBook this →
Two hours on a classic archipelago vessel with a coffee and a pastry written into the ticket. Out through the Djurgården canal, past Fjäderholmarna, Höggarn and Tegelön, with a heated lounge for the cold months.
What's included
Two-hour guided cruise in English aboard M/S Vindhem, with life jackets on board
Swedish fika: one hot drink and one pastry per person; more for purchase at the on-board café
Panoramic outdoor deck and an indoor lounge with large windows; toilets on board
Meeting point on the Logården side of the palace, next to the ship, 20 minutes before departure
Not included: hotel pickup; route may change with the weather; free cancellation up to 24 hours before
Length2 hoursBe at the ship 20 minutes beforeBook this →
Four more ways onto the water
An open wooden boat, a RIB that reaches the fortress, lunch on a 1906 steamer, and the winter boat through the ice
Every sightseeing cruise listed above is a loop with a live guide and returns to its departure quay, so the useful
questions are which quay, how long you are on the water, how far out the boat turns and what the ticket includes.
Lengths, inclusions and limits are taken from each listing.
Cruise
Leaves from
Best for
Length
Notes
Guided Archipelago Cruise Aboard a Classic Strömma Ship
Strandvägen, berths 14 to 16
Picking your own length; the 3-hour S/S Stockholm loop passes Vaxholm
The small, open-air option: out through the Djurgården canal to Fjäderholmarna and back under Södermalm's cliffs, on a boat the operator says is never overcrowded
Two hours in a rigid inflatable with overalls, jackets and beanies supplied: Old Town, the Nacka shore, bare rock and forest, and Vaxholm Fortress on the way home
The 2.5-hour inner-archipelago loop with a main course of meat, fish or vegetarian served in the upper-deck restaurant and a guide in English and Swedish
Every listing here cancels free up to 24 hours before on GetYourGuide. The sightseeing boats are not
wheelchair accessible by their own listings; the RIB takes ages 12 and up and is not for pregnant women or people with back
problems; the winter tour runs from December. Routes can change with the weather.
What you actually get
A cruise is a loop, not a landing.
The tourist figure for the Stockholm archipelago is 30,000 islands; the statisticians count a little over 24,000
islands, islets and skerries, stretching some sixty kilometres east of the city. A sightseeing cruise sees the first
few of them. From Strandvägen or Skeppsbron the boat threads the Djurgården canal, passes
Fjäderholmarna, the nearest island group, carries on past Stora Höggarn and Tegelön, and on the longest
loops shows you Vaxholm and its fortress before turning for home. Nobody gets off.
That is not a complaint; it is the product. A loop with a guide is the quickest way to understand how the city
dissolves into granite, pine and red cottages, and it fits between a museum and dinner. If you want to stand on an
island, the public boats from Slussen and Strömkajen land at Fjäderholmarna and Vaxholm, and the one guided day trip
on this page spends the whole day in Vaxholm. This site keeps the two apart so you can pick on purpose.
0
Islands any sightseeing cruise on this page lands on. The seven cruise options see the inner
archipelago and come home; the Vaxholm day trip at the foot of the page is the one that steps ashore.
The inner archipelago: granite, pine and a red cottage within half an hour of the Royal Palace.
01
Length decides the view
The 1.5-hour loops circle Fjäderholmarna; the 2-hour cruises reach Höggarn and Tegelön and the live-guided one passes Vaxholm; only the 3-hour S/S Stockholm and the RIB list the fortress for certain.
02
Four quays, one kilometre
Strandvägen berths 14 to 16 and 19, Skeppsbron by the Gustav III statue, the Logården side of the palace, and Strömkajen. Read the quay on your voucher twice.
03
Guide on every sightseeing cruise
All seven cruises are live-guided in English; the Strömma 2.5 and 3-hour loops, the lunch cruise and the winter boat add Swedish. No audio guides, no headsets.
04
Who should skip the loop?
Anyone who wants to swim, walk a village or sit on a rock. For them, the public boats or the Vaxholm day trip; for the seasick, the big ships rather than the wooden boat or the RIB.
On board
Two hours in four moves
From the quay to the open water and back is an afternoon, or a long lunch. The city leg and the canal are
part of the show; the islands are the point of it.
01
Find the quay
Strandvägen berths for Strömma and the RIB, the Gustav III statue at Skeppsbron for the live-guided cruise and the wooden boat, the far side of the palace for M/S Vindhem, Strömkajen in winter. Check-in opens 15 to 20 minutes before.
Walkable from Gamla stan or Östermalm
02
The city from the water
The first stretch runs the quays: the palace, the Opera, the National Museum, Strandvägen's facades, then into the narrow Djurgården canal under its bridges, where the guide starts on the royal park.
About the first half hour
03
Islands and cottages
Past Fjäderholmarna the water opens: summer houses on inhabited islands, bare granite, sailing boats. The long loops carry on towards Vaxholm; the short ones turn here.
The middle of every loop
04
Coffee and the way home
Several larger boats have a café or bar; the Vindhem includes fika, while the lunch cruise includes a main course. The wooden boat takes a different route back past Södermalm's cliffs and Gröna Lund.
Getting to the quays, who can come, a sample day and what to bring.
Strandvägen (berths 14 to 16 and 19): the quay along Östermalm's grand boulevard, east of Nybroplan; the lunch cruise's berth 15 is opposite the Diplomat Hotel, per the listing.
Skeppsbron: the Old Town's eastern quay below the Royal Palace; the live-guided cruise checks in at the red booth by the Gustav III statue and the wooden boat's staff in blue wait next to it.
Logården: the garden side of the palace facing the water, where M/S Vindhem ties up; it is the opposite side from Skeppsbron, a few minutes' walk round the building.
Strömkajen: the quay in front of the Grand Hôtel on Blasieholmen, gates B or C for the winter tour; the Vaxholm day trip meets outside the National Museum next door.
Children: the live-guided cruise lists ages 0 to 6 free with a paying adult; Strömma takes foldable strollers on the main deck but not in the restaurant; the winter tour leaves pushchairs on the quay, locked and covered.
The RIB: ages 12 and up, not for pregnant women or people with back problems, no luggage or large bags, per the listing.
Wheelchairs: the Strömma loops, the lunch and winter boats, the live-guided cruise and the wooden boat all state they are not suitable for wheelchair users; Strömma notes stairs, thresholds and a sloping gangway at low water.
Seasickness: the wooden boat says it is not for people prone to it; the larger ships and the inner-archipelago route are the calmer choice.
Morning: the Vasa Museum or the palace, then walk to the quay with twenty minutes in hand.
Midday: the 2.5-hour lunch cruise from berth 15, or the two-hour M/S Vindhem with its fika from the Logården side.
Afternoon: the live-guided two-hour cruise from the statue, or the three-hour S/S Stockholm loop at 12:00 or 15:00 per the operator's timetable, to pass Vaxholm.
If you want an island: swap the cruise for the Vaxholm day trip (09:45 at the National Museum, back about 17:30) or the public boat to Fjäderholmarna from Slussen.
A windproof layer even in July: the upper decks are the best seats and the Baltic breeze is cool; blankets are lent on the Strömma ships and the winter boat.
Your voucher on your phone, and the quay name read twice. Four quays sell archipelago loops within a kilometre.
A card: the on-board cafeterias and the public boats take cards rather than cash.
For the RIB, comfortable shoes and nothing bulky; overalls, jacket and beanie are handed out at berth 19.
4Departure quaysStrandvägen, Skeppsbron, Logården and Strömkajen, all within about a kilometre.
75 minShortest loopThe winter boat from Strömkajen; the longest sightseeing cruise is three hours.
24 hFree cancellationOn every GetYourGuide listing on this page, up to 24 hours before.
0-6Free on the live cruiseChildren up to six travel free with a paying adult on the live-guided two-hour cruise, per the listing.
12+The RIBMinimum age on the speed boat; overalls, wind jackets and beanies provided.
All yearStrömma loopsDaily departures through the year on the classic tour, most frequent in summer; the winter boat from December.
The start
Strandvägen quay
Strandvägen, berths 14 to 16 and 19
Strandvägen, 114 51 Stockholm
The flagship loops leave from three berths along Strandvägen: M/S Angantyr and M/S Evert Taube from berth 14,
M/S Östanå I from berth 15 opposite the Diplomat Hotel, and S/S Stockholm from berth 16, per the operator. The
RIB meets at berth 19. The boats are a short walk east of Nybroplan; arrive 15 minutes before departure.
Skeppsbron and the Gustav III statue are across the water in the Old Town, below the palace
Strömkajen and the National Museum are on Blasieholmen, between the two
M/S Vindhem waits on the Logården side of the palace, the side facing Skeppsholmen
When to sail, the small things passengers mention, what is next to the quays and the fine print.
June to August: the long light and the most departures; the operator lists up to eight daily sailings of the 1.5-hour loop in peak season. Evening departures catch the low sun on the cottages.
September and October: golden shores and quieter decks; the Strömma loops run on, with blankets for the upper deck.
Winter: from December, the 75-minute icebreaking tour from Strömkajen, pelts and fleece blankets to borrow and mulled wine at the bar; passengers describe hearing the ice crack in February.
Any season: the big ships have heated indoor seating with large windows; the wooden boat closes its sides on rainy days.
On the wooden boat, take your photographs on the way out: the route back is different, as a passenger points out.
Sit on the upper deck for the canal and the cottages, then go in for the open stretch; the breeze is colder than the city.
M/S Vindhem's fika is one hot drink and one pastry per person, not a buffet; more is sold on board.
The Strömma 3-hour loop at 12:00 or 15:00 is the one to pick if seeing Vaxholm from the water matters to you.
If your only free day is a cold one, the winter boat (from December) is the cruise, not a consolation.
The Royal Palace: between Skeppsbron and Logården; both palace-side meeting points are on its waterfront.
The National Museum: on Blasieholmen next to Strömkajen, where the Vaxholm day trip meets at 09:45.
Djurgården: the royal park island the canal cuts through, home to the Vasa Museum, Skansen and Gröna Lund; SL ferry 82 from Slussen lands there on a normal ticket.
Slussen: the quay for the public boats to Fjäderholmarna and the Djurgården ferry.
Fjäderholmarna itself: a short scheduled boat ride from Slussen, with restaurants, craft workshops and bathing rocks.
Every listing on this page cancels free up to 24 hours before on GetYourGuide; weather changes to the route are the operator's call.
The RIB: full refund if the tour is cancelled for heavy fog or a thunderstorm; otherwise it runs rain or shine, with overalls provided.
M/S Vindhem: be at the ship 20 minutes before; a late arrival counts as a no-show, per the listing.
The live-guided cruise: no outside food or drink, no dogs indoors, check-in 15 minutes before at the red booth.
Seven cruise options · four quays · one afternoon
Pick the length, then pick the quay.
Live-guided cruises with free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Relaxing cruise along the archipelago with a heap of information about the place.
★★★★★
Very pleasant experience! Our tour guide Lisa was thorough in explaining the various buildings we saw and the Swedish archipelago.
★★★★★
The guide was incredibly informative and clearly shared passion for the area.
★★★★★
I really enjoyed seeing parts of the city, as well as some of the islands outside of the city, from the water. The boat was comfortable and our guide was great.
★★★★★
This was the highlight of my time in Stockholm! Adam was a great guide.
★★★★★
A very nice, peaceful tour through the archipelago. The food was very good.
★★★★★
Travelling on the boat through ice, watching and hearing it crack, was awesome and exhilarating.
★★★★★
Had a great time! The island felt so cozy and had a true local vibe. Loved the little beach, and Frankie was a very knowledgeable host.
★★★★★
Good value! Make sure to take pictures at the start because the route back is different than the way out! The guide was great!
The one guided trip that lands
Spend the day in Vaxholm
Every sightseeing cruise listed above is a loop and returns to its departure quay. This is the one guided experience on this page that takes you ashore: a small-group day trip that goes out by steamship,
walks the town, sits on the beach and takes a taxi boat to the fortress.
Vaxholm & Stockholm Archipelago: Guided Small-Group Day Trip
National Museum, 09:45 · 7 hours · GetYourGuide
The one listing here that lands. A steamship to Vaxholm, the fishermen's cottages and craft shops on foot, lunch or fika by the water, the beach, a taxi boat to the sixteenth-century fortress with the museum entrance included, and the ferry home by about half past five. Guided in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German or French.
Boat fares and museum includedFive guiding languagesFree cancellation
Search for a Stockholm archipelago cruise and every result promises the same islands: granite worn smooth,
pines to the waterline, a red cottage with white trim and a jetty. The islands are real and they start closer than you
expect. What the results do not say is that the cruise is a circle, that four quays within a kilometre sell it, and that
the same word covers an overnight ship to Finland. Here is how to read the options.
Where the city ends
Stockholm is built on islands and the archipelago begins at its quays. Leaving Strandvägen or Skeppsbron, a boat
passes the Royal Palace, the Opera and the museums, then enters the Djurgården canal, a narrow, tree-lined cut
through the royal park with low bridges overhead. Out the far end the water opens into Saltsjön and the first island
group appears: Fjäderholmarna, mentioned in records since 1381, one of the closest archipelago island groups to central
Stockholm, with scheduled boats from Slussen. From there the inner archipelago runs east through Stora Höggarn and Tegelön towards Vaxholm, the town the
operators call the capital of the archipelago, with its sixteenth-century fortress on an islet of its own. The whole
belt of islands stretches some sixty kilometres out to the open Baltic; the tourist figure is thirty thousand islands,
and the statisticians count a little over twenty-four thousand islands, islets and skerries. A cruise sees the first
few dozen.
The Djurgården canal: every loop from the palace quays passes through it on the way out.
Seven cruise options and what they cover
The classic is Strömma's archipelago tour, sold in three lengths on four ships from three berths along Strandvägen:
an hour and a half around Fjäderholmarna on M/S Angantyr or M/S Evert Taube from berth 14, two and a half hours of the
inner archipelago on the 1906 steamer M/S Östanå I from berth 15, and three hours on S/S Stockholm from berth 16, the
longest loop and the one the operator says passes Vaxholm. The same steamer carries the lunch cruise, with a main course
served in the upper-deck restaurant. From Skeppsbron, by the statue of Gustav III below the palace, a two-hour
live-guided cruise lists Vaxholm as a pass-by too, and a classic wooden boat does an hour and three quarters to
Fjäderholmarna and back past Södermalm's cliffs. On the far side of the palace, M/S Vindhem sails two hours with a
coffee and a pastry included. From Strandvägen's berth 19 a RIB does the same ground at speed, out to Vaxholm Fortress
and home under the canal bridges in two hours. And from December, an icebreaking boat leaves Strömkajen for
seventy-five minutes with pelts and blankets on the seats.
The honest small print: no cruise on this page stops at an island. The boats leave a quay, turn
somewhere between Fjäderholmarna and Vaxholm, and tie up where they started. If you want to set foot on granite, the
public boats from Slussen and Strömkajen land at Fjäderholmarna and Vaxholm, and the guided Vaxholm day trip above is
the only listing here that steps ashore. Hotel pickup appears in the wording of two listings; the operators' own pages
do not promise it, so plan to walk to the quay.
The public boats, and the SL ticket
Waxholmsbolaget, Region Stockholm's archipelago boat company, runs year-round from Arholma in the north to Landsort
in the south, with summer sailings from Strömkajen; tickets are bought on board by card. SL's own page on the subject
says you can always travel on all SL tickets with Waxholmsbolaget services between some jetties, and that in the low
season a 30-day or longer SL travelcard is valid on all of them. SL commuter ferry 83 runs from Strömkajen and Slussen
to Vaxholm in about an hour, Fjäderholmslinjen takes about twenty minutes from Slussen, and the Djurgården ferry,
line 82, carries any SL ticket from Slussen to the park island with a stop at Skeppsholmen. None of these has a guide.
That is the trade: the cruise explains what you are looking at; the ferry lets you get off and look.
Vaxholm: a pass-by on the longest loops, a landing on the public boats and the guided day trip.
Which cruise, and the other kind of cruise
For a first visit with no plan, the two-hour live-guided cruise from the statue or the Strömma 2.5-hour loop gives
the whole arc from palace to cottages. If seeing Vaxholm from the water matters, book the three-hour S/S Stockholm at
12:00 or 15:00 per the operator's timetable, or the RIB. If you would rather eat than listen, the lunch cruise and
M/S Vindhem put a table in front of the view. If the day is cold, the winter boat is the one to take, not the one to
skip. And if a search result talks about cabins, buffets and a morning in Helsinki, it means the overnight ships from
Stadsgården and Värtahamnen, a different purchase that this site does not sell; the guide on
cruises from Stockholm keeps the two apart.
The upper deck: the best seat for the canal and the cottages, with blankets lent on the Strömma ships.
Straight answers to what people ask most about Stockholm archipelago cruises.
What is the best archipelago cruise in Stockholm?
There is no single best one; there is a best length for your day. The three-hour Strömma loop sees the most and passes Vaxholm; the two-hour cruises from the Royal Palace are the sensible first choice; the fika and lunch boats add a table to the view. Our comparison goes through all seven by length, quay and what is on board.
What is the best way to see the Stockholm archipelago?
It depends on whether you want to stand on an island. A sightseeing cruise is a loop with a guide that lands nowhere. The public boats from Slussen and Strömkajen go to Fjäderholmarna and Vaxholm and let you off, and some run on an SL ticket. The how-to guide sets the two side by side.
Does the cruise stop at any island?
No. Every sightseeing cruise on this page leaves a central quay, circles part of the inner archipelago and returns to the same quay without landing. The one listing here that sets foot on an island is the guided Vaxholm day trip, which uses a steamship out, a taxi boat to the fortress and a ferry back.
Where do the archipelago boats leave from?
From four quays within about a kilometre of each other. Strömma's archipelago loops use Strandvägen berths 14, 15 and 16; the RIB leaves from berth 19; the two-hour live-guided cruise and the wooden boat meet at Skeppsbron by the Gustav III statue; M/S Vindhem waits on the Logården side of the palace; the winter tour sails from Strömkajen. The quay map shows them.
How long is a Stockholm archipelago cruise?
Between seventy-five minutes and three hours. The winter boat does 75 minutes, the wooden boat 1 hour 45, the live-guided and Vindhem cruises and the RIB two hours, the lunch cruise two and a half, and the Strömma classic comes in 1.5, 2.5 and 3-hour versions on different ships. Lengths are the listings' own figures.
How much does an archipelago cruise cost?
Prices change with the season, the ship and the length, so this site does not print them; the figure at checkout is the one that counts. What is fixed is what the ticket covers: the loop and a live guide on all seven sightseeing cruises here, a coffee and pastry on M/S Vindhem, a main course on the lunch cruise, overalls and a jacket on the RIB.
Can you swim in the Stockholm archipelago?
Yes, in the summer, from rocks, jetties and beaches: the Baltic here is brackish, with a fraction of the ocean's salt. No cruise on this page stops for a swim, but the Vaxholm day trip includes time at the town beach. The swimming guide covers where and when.
Are there cruises from Stockholm, and which cruise lines leave from there?
The phrase means two things. The sightseeing loops on this page last a few hours. The overnight ships to Helsinki, Turku, Mariehamn and Tallinn leave from Stadsgården (Viking Line, Birka Gotland) and Värtahamnen (Tallink Silja) and are not sold here. Cruises from Stockholm explains how to tell which one a search result means.
Is the Stockholm archipelago worth it?
Even on a two-hour loop, yes: within twenty minutes of the Royal Palace the city gives way to granite, pine and red cottages. The season changes what you get, from the long light of June to ice on the winter boat in February. Worth it, and when weighs the months.
Which island in the Stockholm archipelago is the best to visit?
For a first visit, Fjäderholmarna, a short scheduled boat ride from Slussen or Nybroplan, with restaurants, craft workshops and swimming rocks; for a full day, Vaxholm, about an hour out, with its fortress and wooden town. The islands guide adds Grinda, Sandhamn, Möja and Utö.
Can children come, and is there food on board?
Children are welcome on all seven sightseeing cruises here; the live-guided cruise lists ages 0 to 6 as free with a paying adult, Strömma takes foldable strollers on the main deck, and the RIB is for ages 12 and up. Several larger boats have a café or bar; the Vindhem includes fika, while the lunch cruise includes a main course.
What happens in bad weather, and can I cancel?
Every listing on this page cancels free up to 24 hours before on GetYourGuide. The boats sail in rain; the RIB listing refunds in full if heavy fog or a thunderstorm stops it, and the other operators note that routes can change with the weather. The larger ships have indoor seating, and on rainy days the wooden boat closes its sides.
Ready to book
Find the loop that fits your afternoon.
Live guides on all seven sightseeing cruises and free cancellation up to 24 hours before on every listing below.
Two hours, past Vaxholm
2 hoursCheck in at the red booth 15 minutes beforeFree cancellation
