Villa Havsro

One of the Stockholm region's most distinctive cultural destinations, Artipelag sits on the water at Gustavsberg — a world-class art museum embedded in the archipelago landscape, just 30 minutes from the city centre. Rotating international exhibitions, permanent sculpture in nature, and an immersive art experience in the Artbox make it a destination worth planning a full day around. The restaurant has been voted Stockholm's best museum restaurant, with views over Baggensfjärden to match.

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Around an hour by boat from Stockholm, Idöborg is a privately owned island with a genuinely layered history — the striking white Art Nouveau villa that greets you on arrival was built in 1909, and the island passed through the hands of Swedish industrialist Torsten Kreuger in the twenties before eventually becoming the family-run retreat it is today. The restaurant, Strandbaren, only opened in 2020, housed in a beautifully converted former sauna building right on the sandy beach. The setting alone is worth the crossing: rustic timber interiors, candlelight, and a wood-burning fireplace inside; the beach and open water directly outside. The kitchen draws on both Scandinavian and Mediterranean traditions, with locally sourced ingredients and a menu that changes with the season.

A Sandhamn institution since the 1600s. The menu is rooted in Swedish archipelago classics — fresh seafood, smoked salmon, and seasonal ingredients served without fuss. In summer, the harbour terrace is one of the finest spots in the archipelago for a long lunch or an unhurried dinner.

Sandhamn is one of the outermost islands of the Stockholm archipelago and arguably its most celebrated destination — a small, car-free island with a harbour that draws sailors, guests, and locals all summer long. Reachable by private or communal boat.

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Nåttarö is often called Sweden's biggest sandbox, and for good reason: wide, windswept beaches stretch the length of the island and the feeling of space here is unlike almost anywhere else in the archipelago. The restaurant is a fitting complement — grounded, unfussy, and proud of where it is. The kitchen draws on the island's own deer and sources locally wherever possible, and the guest harbour stocks local beer for those arriving by boat.

One of Stockholm's finest spa hotels, set on the water at Dalarö in the southern archipelago. Smådalarö Gård is a year-round destination with a full-service spa signed by Kerstin Florian, multiple restaurants and bars, and a setting that manages to feel both remote and effortlessly refined. Dinner at Brasserie & Bränneri, drinks in Bloms Bar, and a morning dip in Hemviken — it is the kind of place guests return to across every season. Named Stockholm's best spa hotel at Travel News Business Forum 2023.

Stockholm's first wood-fired BBQ restaurant, born from a journey through Texas and rooted in the old Swedish smoking traditions of the very spot it occupies. The smokehouse sits on Smedsudden in Nacka — a peninsula with views over Lännerstasundet — where Georg Bexander began smoking böckling in the 1950s. That heritage lives on in collaboration with Bexanders Rökeri AB, whose third generation still smokes fish by the same methods today. The menu moves between slow-smoked meats, fresh shellfish, and daily specials inspired by the American South and the Caribbean. When the weather allows, arrive by boat — there's a private dock with moorings on the water.

A seaside hotel and restaurant at the point where Stockholm fades into proper archipelago, Vår Gård occupies a handsome historic building right at the water's edge on Värmdö. The restaurant runs a seasonal à la carte menu with a strong focus on local farms and producers, and the café and bakery are worth a visit in their own right. Weekend à la carte starts from Friday evening; the café is open daily.

A waterfront classic on the Saltsjöbaden dock, sitting right in the Stockholm archipelago. Holmen keeps things unfussy — Toast Skagen, cheeseburgers, cold drinks in the bar, and a menu that rotates every other week to keep regulars coming back. The atmosphere is relaxed and familiar, the kind of place where the staff know the regulars by name and the evening sun over the water does the rest.

A museum dedicated to one of Sweden's most beloved design legacies. Gustavsberg Porcelain Museum traces the full story of the famous factory — from its founding in 1825 to its closure in 1993 — through a collection of over 45,000 pieces. Iconic designs by the factory's celebrated designers sit alongside beloved everyday patterns like Blå Blom and Allmoge that generations of Swedes grew up with. The collection is owned by the Swedish state and managed by Nationalmuseum.