Vaxholm, Sweden

We spent our July 4th holiday on the archipelago island of Vaxholm.  To get there, we took a ferry ride to the island.

    

Its central location and the fact that it is one of the main sea routes into Stockholm has made it a hub for boat travel in the archipelago, thus earning Vaxholm its nickname "Capital of the Archipelago".  With all of the boat traffic in and out of the harbor, it was easy to how the city earned its nickname.  

We arrived around lunch time and we were starving, so lunch was a top priority.  I had picked up a travel brochure and it recommended the Waxholms Hotel.  Since that was the first place we saw and we were all hungry, that's where we had lunch.

  

The entire hotel was decked out for the 4th of July, had a great outdoor seating area with magnificent sea views, and even had an American menu for the day.  How could we pass up this spot for lunch?

Unfortunately, other people couldn't pass up this spot either, so we had a short wait.  We passed the time on their patio watching the boats come in and out of the harbor.

  

After a 30 minute wait, our table was ready.  

We had just had told Belle she was getting french fries with her lunch. 

Cyle had the ribs and I had the cheeseburger.  I was happy we managed to find some "American" food on the 4th! 

After lunch, we decided to explore the city and do a little shopping.  The town is truly picturesque and unique as most of the buildings are made out of wood, as that was the only building material allowed until 1912.

As we wandered out of the main part of town, there were less people and we saw more of the houses.  To me, it looked like an ideal Swedish neighborhood with the red and white trimmed houses and flowers blooming everywhere. 

As we approached the north-end of the island, we stumbled upon this quaint cafe.  

The dessert buffet looked amazing,...

so we decided to stop for a fika break.

While we were enjoying our pastries, Belle was deciding where we should go next.  

Across from the cafe was a popular swimming beach.

While Scandinavian summers may be short, the Swedes take advantage of the long summer days and relatively warm temperatures.  

Our tour of the island took by the Vaxholm fortress, which is on a separate small island accessible by ferry.  

The fortress was built in 1544  by Gustav Vasa to defend the city of Stockholm from naval attacks. The island was attacked by the Danes in 1612 and the Russians in 1719.  The fortress was in operation until 1944.  Today' it is open for tours and even has a bed and breakfast on the island.  

While we had an enjoyable day in Vaxholm, it was time to go back to Stockholm.  

Our view as we left the harbor...

.....and sailed back towards Stockholm through the archipelago.