Fjaderholmarna

Fjaderholmarna are a small group off Nacka, close enough that the boat takes about twenty-five minutes from the city, which makes them the standard half-day introduction to the archipelago for anyone without time to go further. They were a military zone until 1981 and opened to the public after that, so development is recent and deliberate: craft workshops in the old buildings - glass, ceramics, textiles, a boat museum, a small distillery - restaurants along the harbour, and rocks for swimming round the edges. The main island is walked in half an hour. It is busy at summer weekends and closed for much of the winter.

What you actually see

• Craft workshops - glass, ceramics, textiles in the old buildings.
• Bathing rocks round the edges - the reason many people come.
• A twenty-five minute crossing - the nearest archipelago there is.
• A small island - walked in about half an hour.

When to go

May to September, when boats and workshops run. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It shuts down almost entirely for winter. Summer weekends are crowded and restaurant prices are high. It is small - the archipelago proper is much further out. Boats stop early in the evening.

Nearby

Nacka is the mainland side; the outer archipelago runs east.