Sweden
Luleå Archipelago
Over a thousand islands in a brackish sea that hard winters turn into a white plain.
More than 1,300 islands scatter across the northern Baltic off Luleå, and in winter the sea between them freezes solid — the archipelago becomes a white plain, crossed by ice roads, hovercraft and fishermen with drills. In summer the same channels fill with kayaks and sails between islands inhabited mostly by birds and rock.
The Luleå Archipelago is the Baltic's great northern island field, where brackish sea meets serious winter. The season flips the place completely: in hard winters the ice thickens until officially opened ice roads carry cars between islands — ploughed and signed only when conditions allow, closed when weather or water intervenes — while the fishing happens through augered holes; come June the midnight sun swaps in, and the guest harbours, island saunas and smooth swimming rocks take over. A handful of islands keep cafés and cabins — most keep nothing but pines and terns. Gammelstad's UNESCO church town stands at the mainland edge, so the day can run medieval-morning, island-afternoon. Two archipelagos for the price of one, depending only on the date.
Couple
Hovercraft over frozen sea or a kayak through summer channels — two intimate archipelagos in one, chosen by calendar.
Family
Ice fishing, island saunas and swimming rocks — the seasons change the game but not the family score.
Friends
Rent an island cabin, fire the sauna and let the season decide whether you arrive by boat or over the ice.
- More than 1,300 islands scatter off Luleå — the Baltic's mightiest northern archipelago.
- In hard winters, officially opened ice roads link the islands — when conditions allow.
- Summer brings midnight sun, guest harbours, saunas and smooth granite swimming.
- UNESCO-listed Gammelstad sits at the mainland edge — medieval morning, island afternoon.
Char grilled at an island fire pit after the sauna's final round.
Löjrom — Kalix vendace roe from these very waters — on buttered toast.
Cânion do Xingó
Brazil
Sixty-five kilometres of canyon, a hundred and seventy metres deep, and a dam filled it.
Capitólio
Brazil
A dam flooded the canyons, so you sail inside them, and the boatmen cut the engines.
Kerama Islands
Japan
Water so clear the reef casts shadows on white sand far below the boat.
Outer Banks
United States
Wild horses roam a sandbar where two thousand ships lie wrecked beneath the surf.
Åre
Sweden
Scandinavia's alpine capital — a lakeside village beneath a World Championship mountain.
Öland
Sweden
A windmill-studded limestone steppe reached across six unbending kilometres of bridge.
Grövelsjön
Sweden
A mountain station beside the Norway line, whose trails cross countries before lunch.
Marstrand
Sweden
A car-free fortress island where a century of sail still crowds the harbour with masts.