Vaxholm

The town takes its name from Vaxholm Fortress, which Gustav Vasa built in 1548 on a small islet in the Kodjupet strait, one of the two main routes into Stockholm from the open sea. In 1558 the king bought farms on the island of Vaxön beside it, and a small trading settlement was founded whose main tasks were keeping watch against attack from the sea and providing pilots for shipping. It became a merchant town and in 1652 received its royal charter.

For centuries Vaxholm was a military place first. The fortress was rebuilt several times, and together with defences on Rindö and at the Oxdjupet strait it guarded the sea approach to the capital. In the later 19th century about fifty families lived mainly from herring fishing, and the population grew slowly, from around 600 in 1762 to about 1,700 by 1900.

In 1849 a steamboat service began from Stockholm, and from the 1860s Vaxholm became a popular resort, especially for bathers, and many wooden summer houses were built by people from Stockholm; until 1912 houses could be built only of wood, which gives the town its distinctive appearance. A coastal artillery regiment based on Rindö operated from 1902 to 2000, and most defence facilities in the archipelago closed in the early 2000s. The fortress now houses a museum, and Vaxholm is a gateway to the archipelago.

Vaxholm's identity is tied to the water. Boats are everyday transport, and the arrivals and departures of the white archipelago ferries set the rhythm of the harbour, especially in summer, when the town fills with day visitors from Stockholm and sailors passing through. The town has a strong sense of its history as a fortress and fishing town, kept alive at the fortress museum and in the heritage museum by the northern harbour, with its fisherman's cottage and longboat.

The fortress has had a second life on screen: in 1970 it was the pirate stronghold in the film Pippi in the South Seas. The wooden houses of the resort era, built at a time when other materials were not allowed, give the town its distinctive appearance and are part of what draws visitors.

Summer is the high point of the year, as across the archipelago, with Midsummer celebrated around maypoles, swimming from the rocks and long light evenings on the water. In winter the town is quiet, and life turns inward to the community of permanent residents.

About 6,200 people lived in the town in 2020; for historical reasons it has always been called a city despite its size. The wider municipality, which uses the name City of Vaxholm for all its territory, includes 64 islets in the archipelago. Around 1950 the town had about 3,700 inhabitants, so it has grown considerably since.

A bus service connects the town with Stockholm, and boats link it with the city centre and many islands of the archipelago. In summer the café at the heritage museum is a popular outing for residents as well as visitors.

Daily life follows the seasons. In summer the harbour is crowded with day trippers, yachts and ferries, and the cafés and restaurants on the quay are full; in winter many businesses shorten their hours, boat services thin out and the town settles into the routine of a small commuter community, linked to the mainland by bridges and to Rindö by the car ferry.

The archipelago's food tradition is built on fish, above all Baltic herring, strömming, which the families of 19th-century Vaxholm caught for a living. Fried strömming, and pickled herring with boiled potatoes, sour cream and chives, are classics of the Swedish table, the pickled kind central at Midsummer.

Visitors eat mostly in the cafés and restaurants on the harbour and along Hamngatan, many of them busiest in summer and some with views across to the fortress. Fika — coffee with a cinnamon bun, kanelbulle, or other pastries — is a fixture of a day out in the archipelago.

Beyond the town, the inner islands are a place for picnics and simple summer meals, and Swedish holidays bring their traditional foods: herring and new potatoes at Midsummer, crayfish in August and a Christmas table of herring, ham and meatballs. A visit is best timed for the summer season, when the full range of harbour cafés and restaurants is open.