Arholma
is the northernmost inhabited island in the Stockholm archipelago. It is a much frequented departure gate for sailors setting out for Åland and mainland Finland, a popular holiday island for many hundreds of summer house owners and a well equipped tourist area for temporary visitors.

What to find on Arholma?
Many visitors come to get a taste of the beauty of skerries and landscape of the outer archipelago with a dramatic scenery, eagles and lots of space for nature lovers.  You won’t get lost – it is an island!

Accomodation can be found in two good standard hostels. A few restaurants and cafés serve inhabitants and visitors alike. An art gallery in the old beacon on the top of the island gives you a taste of culture while the Arholma battery museum shows you earlier top secret installations of coastal artillery defending the sea lanes to Stockholm in the days of the cold war. The church offers lovely stillness for contemplation and a chance to see paintings of local art celebrity Harald Lindberg.

A shop – run by the islanders themselves – will cater for your shopping needs and guides are prepared to take you around and tell you all the stories.

Of course you can take a swim in the Baltic sea and get a nice tan sunbathing on the rocks in the north and north east. Sailors have two small guest harbours – one in Österhamn (East harbour) and one on the Northwest shores (see map).

How to get there?
You need to go by boat. In summer time “Sjögull” and ”Sjöbris” leave from “Strömkajen” – just in front of Grand Hotel in central Stockholm. Buses leave from “Östra Station” in Stockholm (direction Norrtälje). You will have to change for a new bus in Norrtälje (line 636). Bus travellers and visitors coming by car will find boats leaving for Arholma (15 minutes) from Simpnäs. On Arholma itself, you walk! Or you rent a bike!

Time boat timetables: www.waxholmsbolaget.se
For map use this link: arholma.pdf

Photo: Christer Forssander