Vaxholm
Latitud N 59° 24´16.14"Longitud E 18° 18´29.02"
Vaxholm lies on the northern sea route out of Stockholm. It is a genuine archipelago town which has been an important place for the maritime defence of Stockholm through the ages. The name is thought to come from the Old Norse word "vaks" which means beacon, i.e. a fire that is lit to warn the capital city of impending danger.
There are about 10,000 permanent residents here and many more during the summer. The harbour is the heart of Vaxholm. There is plenty of shopping on the main street and activity at the cafés and restaurants around the harbour where pleasure boats, Waxholmsbolaget's ships and the public ferries to Rindö on the other side of the sound, all fight for their place. The guest harbour is large and offers full services. There is room for 120 boats.
Take a stroll in the idyllic small town. Stroll through the northern harbour area in the oldest part of the town. Hamngatan is there with its shops. Take a look at the square with the town hall and its onion dome roofs, or take a boat to Kastellet (the fortifications) in the centre of the sea channel. The Vaxholms Fästningsmuseum (fort museum) is here along with a café, and function and conference rooms. There is also a Bed & Breakfast where it is possible to sleep behind the thick walls.
There are plenty good restaurants here. The most well known is Waxholms Hotell with echoes from the end of the 19th century. It lies furthest out on Vaxön's easterly headland with marvellous views of the boat traffic and Kastellet from the dining room on the second floor.
A few kilometres south is Bogesunds Slott (castle) from the 17th century where there are guided tours at the weekend. There is also a hostel here.
To the east is Rindö where Kustartilleriet (the coastal artillery) had a large defence development until 2005. A large residential area is being built in this area now. The public ferries go here from Vaxholm and the road continues out into the Stockholm Archipelago and Värmdö.
How to Get ThereYou can get there by taking the SL bus number 670 from Tekniska Högskolan. The Cinderella boat and services go there from Strandvägen and of course Waxholm's ferriess from Strömkajen. It was here that Waxholmsbolaget started their scheduled services once upon a time. The boat journey is about an hour from Stockholm. The bus takes about 40 minutes.
Accommodation Waxholms Hotell, tel 08-541 301 50 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 08-541 301 50 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
STF (Swedish Tourist Association) Bogesunds Slottsvandrarhem (hostel) & konferens, tel 08-541 750 60 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 08-541 750 60 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
Bed & Breakfast through the tourist office tel 08-541 314 80 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 08-541 314 80 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
FoodWaxholms Hotell, tel 08-541 301 50 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 08-541 301 50 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Hamnkrogen, tel 08-541 320 39 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 08-541 320 39 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Melanders Fisk, tel 08-541 334 66 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 08-541 334 66 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Magasinet, tel 08-541 325 00 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 08-541 325 00 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Cafés and tea rooms
Guest Harbours Österhamn has 120 berths and all services
Gästhamn
Västerhamnen med 120 platser och all service
Services & InformationMost amenities are available in Vaxholm:
Restaurants, tea rooms, banks, post office, systembolaget (off-licence), apoteket (pharmacy), food stores, clothes, household items, gifts and so on.
Vaxholm's tourist office, tel 08-541 314 80 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 08-541 314 80 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
HistoryVaxholm has been populated since the Viking Age. Evidence of this is found in graveyards and rune stones on Bogesundslandet. In the 16th century the location of Vaxholm made it interesting as a defence fortification. A blockhouse was built by Svante Sture in 1510. It didn't prove to be very effective however, as King Christian of Denmark went past on his way to the capital where he ordered the Stockholm Massacre in 1520. Permanent defences were built on the island during Gustav Vasa's time in the spot where Kastellet stands today. Maintenance of the fortifications, fishing, piloting and customs work required a lot of workers and the population grew. In 1647 Vaxholm was given town privileges. In 1711 the plague hit the area hard and 2/3 of the population died. Despite that, they were able to halt the Russian attack on Stockholm in 1719.
In the 19th century, Vaxholm became a summer destination for the privileged of Stockholm and magnificent summer residences were built here and on the surrounding islands. Apart from fresh air and pub life there were warm and cold baths and salt, malt, steam and mud baths available. Europe's mineral richest water was found in Rindöbaden. The people of Vaxholm lived well on fishing, every morning freshly caught Baltic herring were rowed into Stockholm's and sold by street traders, apart from the income from the summer residents. The scheduled services of Waxholmsbolaget's steam ships from Stockholm were started at this time. The first daily trips began in 1869.
The defence development, Kastellet, was re-built and modernised during the 19th century. However the rebuilding took so long that when they tested the walls with a modern ship's cannon in 1872, the shot went right through the thick walls. All of Vaxholm's coastal defence was moved to Oskar-Fredriksborg at Oxdjupet, north of the town.
Visit Skärgården
e-mail: info@visitskargarden.se
Telephone: 08-100 222 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 08-100 222 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
