You don't need a whole day and a long boat to taste the skärgård (archipelago). Fjäderholmarna is the nearest cluster of islands to the city, twenty-five minutes out, and Stora Fjäderholmen gives you the lot: harbour, smokehouse, craft sheds, rock and pine, and a swim if you want one. Two and a half kilometres of walking once you're off the boat.
Take the boat from Strömkajen, where the white archipelago fleet lines up in front of the Grand Hôtel. The run out past Djurgården is half the pleasure; sit on deck. You land in the harbour — red buildings, a busy brygga — which is the only built-up corner. Everything else is granite.
Wander the craft workshops, then build the afternoon around the rökeri (smokehouse); eat its smoked fish out on the rocks. After lunch, take the shore path round the island, past the flat slabs where people swim, up to the high western rocks where the city skyline sits across the water, close enough to feel like cheating.
Then back to the harbour, and the same boat home.
