Sweden recorded a record 7.58 million guest nights in June 2026, while Norway saw foreign guest nights rise 17 per cent from July 2024, as travellers look north to escape increasingly hot Mediterranean summers.
Stockholm is encircled by a coastal labyrinth of some 30,000 islands and islets stretching into the Baltic, making it a rare capital where a city break can easily become a seaside escape. Visitors can hike through the island landscapes of Grinda, cycle past castles and wooden houses, or island-hop by ferry and kayak.
On a guided boat trip to Vaxholm, the historic capital of the archipelago, travellers can see scarlet wooden cottages, grand mansions, dense pine forests and smooth granite shorelines. Closer to the city, Fjäderholmarna can be explored in a morning, while Djurgården is home to museums including the ABBA Museum and the Vasa Museum.
Flights from major UK airports, including London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Stansted, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh, take around two hours 30 minutes to Stockholm Arlanda Airport. The Arlanda Express shuttle train reaches the city centre in less than 20 minutes.