Sweden holiday ideas with young teens: archipelago, Stockholm or Copenhagen?

[BatsInHibernation]

I always planned to go to Canada for my big birthday but now it's getting close and I really just don't want to spend that kind of money.
So I have settled on Sweden. Big nature, calm, scenic, hygge, lake swimming etc.
Family of four with a teen and a tween.
Should I stay in the Archipelago for a week and then Stockholm for a few days? Or travel over to Copenhagen?
If we stay in the Archipelago I'm worried about being too cut off. We want to rent bikes, do boat trips etc. Will we need a car?
I think in an ideal world we would stay in a wooden red house, somewhere remote and beautiful, with access to exciting wildlife trips, places to visit etc.
Then give back the hire car and move onto a city for 4 or 5 action packed days.
Any advice greatly appreciated

I’d go to Copenhagen and take a train to Stockholm. We do that with teens every other year here. Lots to do, you can still plan quiet days, boat trips, afternoons in floating saunas/have a rest.

Rural red house can be a bit boring imo and we have family to stay with in one. We’ve moved to staying in the cities as kids have got older, visiting from there rather than staying rurally.

I know both well and lived in Copenhagen and possibly moving back to Sweden from UK ( we are both British) I would stay in Copenhagen for 5 days as lots to do and a fun place with teens and then go to Stockholm for 3 days and also have a 3 night stay on the archipelago - it is lovely , very lovely but tge places are small, there’s not a ton to do and it’s more about swimming, fishing , nature - all very nice to do , but could be a royal and quite boring pain in the arse if the weathers a bit off - I would book something that you don’t pay for till you get there or at best 4 days before so you can gauge the weather -somewhere like varmdo or saltsjobarden Boo quite good as if you get itchy feet you can get back into Stockholm easily - you don’t need a car in either of the city’s and depending which island you went to dictates whether you need a car- there are buses and boats and some have roads back towards the city. Also if the weather doesn’t look great it’s easy to then call it off and find something else in Stockholm or have a couple of days 30 minutes away in lovely Uppsala

We stayed just outside Stockholm at Vaxholm on a lake and travelled to the Archipelago from there. Not sure I would base myself on one particular Island. We then went into Stockholm as and when required.

We did Copenhagen and Billund on a separate trip.

So do you think a two city break?
That was what I was originally planning before I went on an archipelago tangent.
Which of the two cities would you spend a big birthday in?

Thanks, great advice. Can you tell me a bit more about Uppsala?
So, three days Stockholm, three days Archipelago (with good boat links) and then 5 days Copenhagen?

We live in Stockholm, if you stay on one of the islands the ferry is cheap and easy to use. Vasa museum is good, if teens can cope with the embarrassment of having parents the abba museum is good. Grona lund is great, the guy in the link below does really good free walking tours in stockholm. You can get a glass lift to the top of the aviici arena to see the city skyline, obviously weather dependent! The metro for getting around the city is great, buses and boats from further afield are good. There’s the icebar which is popular with tourists. Also pressbyran is a convenience shop thats literally everywhere, the takeaway coffee is great.

www.vikingwalkingtour.com

We are likely moving in the late spring to your neck of the woods !!( lived in Copenhagen 2020 to 2022) has taken me awhile to work out a way back but visa applications going in December for ICT using my UK business to transfer from!! Are you a Simon? Or a woman!!! Either way would be nice to say hi and grab a coffee!! Always a bit odd when you first move- luckily we do know it well and gave friends in Uppsala .

That’s what I woukd do - but pivot away from Archipelago if weather looks shit and you know this a few days in advance , unless you are a family who thinks no such thing as bad weather only bad clothes and sits reading books, playing board games.Uppsala isa really attractive big town/ small city 30 minutes on train from Stockholm - lovely centre, very attractive old part, really nice !!

You could fly into Copenhagen for a couple of days and then head to Gothenburg - the northern archipelago there is amazing for walking and set up for sea swimming. Ferries between the islands are hop on / hop off and free.

You can do a loop taking the ferry from Helsingor to Helsingborg and back via the Oresund bridge (we found that flights into Copenhagen and then picking up a hire car is way cheaper than flying into Sweden and car hire there). Plenty to see on the way.