Dalaro

Dalaro has had a customs house since the 1630s, controlling the southern approach to Stockholm, and later became a summer resort - the wooden villas along the shore with their verandas and turrets date from that period, and August Strindberg spent summers here. What sets it apart now is underwater: the brackish Baltic has almost no shipworm, so wooden wrecks survive intact in a way they do not in salt water, and several lie in the sound; some can be dived under supervision through licensed operators. The customs house, the church and the harbour make up the small centre.

The main sights

• Wooden summer villas - verandas and turrets from the resort years.
• A seventeenth-century customs station - the reason the town exists.
• Protected wrecks offshore - preserved by brackish water.
• A small harbour centre - church, customs house, quay.

When to go

June to August for diving and boats. A full day.

What to expect

Wreck diving needs certification, a licensed operator and booking well ahead. The town is very quiet out of season. There is little to do on shore beyond walking. Water is cold even in August.

Nearby

Utoo and Nynashamn are south; Stockholm is north-west.

Key facts