Day Trip to the Island of Grinda

A slice of Swedish summer on Grinda

I have done many posts, over the years, about taking boat trips out into the beautiful Stockholm Archipelago. This is one of my favorite summer activities and a must when visiting Stockholm during this season. And, with the current Covid-19 situation, it does feel safer being outdoors, with lots of space and fresh air, when possible. You might as well take advantage of the great weather and beautiful nature in the Stockholm Archipelago!

Lots of space and nature.

The Stockholm Archipelago is made up of almost 30,000 islands, stretching out from the city into the Baltic Sea. Visitors often make the mistake of not allotting enough time to see this natural wonder, thinking they can see it in an afternoon. While you can take a shorter, set tour (2½ to 3 hours), you will only get a glimpse of the inner archipelago. If you only have a short time in Stockholm, this might be a good option just to get a feel for it. But if you want to see more and even get off to explore an island, then you need to allot a full day.

View during the boat trip out.

The Cinderella Boats are a good option for doing a day trip. Generally, they power out in the morning to the outer archipelago, dropping off people at different islands along the way before turning around and returning to the city (picking up people, heading back). Basically, this means that the further out you go before disembarking, the less time you have on the island. If you want to see the outer archipelago, then I recommend Sandhamn or Finnhamn. If you want to visit a place in the middle archipelago, then I recommend Vaxholm (read about my day trip here) or Grinda... which I visited with a friend last week.

Stop and say hi to the horses.

The island of Grinda is a great option for a variety of reasons. It is kind of the Goldilocks of the archipelago islands: not too big, not too small, not too busy, not too desolate, not too close to the city but not too far away. You get the picture! There is a lot of beautiful nature on the island, with pastures, forests and beaches. There are a couple of farms on Grinda, so you will see the odd horse, chicken or sheep as you walk around. A great place to come if you have children. Bring your swimsuits!

The lovely Grinda Wärsdhus

Besides swimming and taking nature walks, there are other activities available like kayak rentals or playing boule. You can, of course, bring your own picnic basket with you. Otherwise there are a few options on the island for food and drink. For example, you will find a café, country shop and ice cream stand. My favorite though, is to dine at the wonderful Grinda Wärdshus where you can have a delicious meal at their award winning restaurant. Great Swedish cuisine... we ate lunch there and had the classic Toast Skagen and pickled herring. So good!

Classic Toast Skagen for lunch.

The trip, with the Cinderella Boats, takes about 1½ hours each way. I have to point out that the boat ride itself is part of the experience... it is wonderful to cruise through the archipelago, looking at the beautiful islands, cute houses and impressive sailboats (or sometimes impressive houses and cute sailboats). It is important to note that one should definitely prebook your tickets on their website, especially these days when they are limiting the amount of travelers on the boats to ensure social distancing due to Covid-19 concerns. Usually it is pretty easy to jump on and off the boat, buying your ticket onboard. But this might be risky if they get to safety capacity. Grinda can be popular with the locals wanting to escape the summer heat of the city... with some staying over, whether at the Inn, in the hostel or just pitching a tent.