Bicycling
Jump on the bike from Pearl Cottage and you've the freedom to get out into the nearby forest, explore the area around Vaxholm, or take the boat into Stockholm with the bicycle and continue your adventure there. You can rent a bike both in Vaxholm and in Stockholm. Do pre-book if it’s possible (we’ve not tried their websites).
If you want to take the boat to Stockholm, bicycle 5 km from the Pearl Cottage to the Fredriksberg's Jetty or to Vaxholm. Use the App "Res i Sthlm" to select the boat for your journey. If you take the commuting boat, you only pay for the commuter ticket.
You can also bring the bicycle on the archipelago boats as well. It's good to know, especially during holidays and the high season, that the staff on board will decide if there is room for your bike. They have the right to refuse you to bring it if the space for bikes is full. You need to leave your bike at the jetty. On most of the larger islands, bicycle rental is available. Bringing your bike is free of charge.
Avoid bicycling on the 274-road from the start on the island Resarö (at "Engarn") almost the whole way to E18 (to “Arninge”) since there's no extra part on the road for bicycles and the road is very busy.
Vaxholm
To experience Vaxholm by bike is a way to relax and exercise at the same time, avoid finding a parking lot during the high season, catching buses, to quickly get around in Vaxholm, finding small roads and trails in the nature reserve Bogesund or explore the islands of Resarö-Vaxön-Skarpö-Rindö.
In Vaxholm, there is a rental shop that provides traditional bicycles and electric bikes. You can rent by the hour, day, or week. Good to know is that you can take your bike on the boat from Vaxholm, or the stop Fredriksberg which is closer to Resarö, into Stockholm ("Commuting").
At Resarö you have a bike road from the grocery store ICA (it starts after the viaduct on the seaside) on the island into Vaxholm. If you are going to the boat at Fredriksberg, turn right at the grocery store ICA Vaxholm, about 5 kilometres from Pearl Cottage. There you go right through the schoolyard "Söderfjärdsskolan" down to the jetty by the sea ("Commuting").
You can bicycle in a fantastic natural environment in the nature reserve Bogesund. Mountain biking is allowed on some designated trails, but you can explore lovely small roads as well. The easiest way to get here (from Pearl Cottage) is to cycle towards Vaxholm and turn right at the petrol station almost 5 kilometres from the cottage. Then you cycle over the bridge Pålsundbron and then you are in the nature reserve.
Stockholm
Stockholm has approximately 1140 km of cycle paths, both its own cycle paths, combined pedestrian and cycle paths and cycle lanes. As a visitor, getting around by bike in the city is both nice and convenient.
There are electric scooters for rent all over the city, but you can also rent a bike. Most convenient, if you go by boat from Vaxholm (or Fredriksberg) into Stockholm, is the bike rental: in the Old Town, Rent a Bike on the street Strandvägen, or Djurgårdsboden on the island of Djurgården.
On Djurgården, you are in the middle of the Royal National City Park (the world's first national urban park) and by bike you can get between several attractions, the café Rosendals Trädgård ("Swedish Fika") and the lake Isbladskärret ("Bird Watching").
Hellasgården
Southwest of Stockholm is Hellasgården (the Homestead Farm Hellas), which is an outdoor fitness facility named after a sports club ”Hellas” that started 1899. Here, you are in the middle of the big nature reserve in Nacka (from 2002) with extensive woodland and beautiful small lakes.
You can rent a mountain bike and go into the forest for some hours, half a day, or a whole day. There are many trails and jogging tracks to choose from for both beginners and experienced cyclists. You can also rent a mountain bike or take courses at the nearby Mountainbikeskolan (the School of Mountainbikes).
You can combine the excursion to Hellasgården with Saltsjöbaden's bathhouse for a sauna or the art gallery Artipelag. It takes about 50 min (50 kilometres) to Hellasgården from the Pearl Cottage. It’s nice to take the ferry in one direction to this area over the islands Värmdö and Rindö. Then, you also made a circle around Stockholm.