For years I've flown over Stockholm's famed archipelago, or glided by it on a big cruise ship heading for Helsinki. Eighty miles of scenic islands stretch out from downtown Stockholm. (Locals love to brag that there are 34,000 islands — but that must count mossy little rocks, so I ignore that figure.) A hundred of them are served by ferries, providing Stockholmers with the ideal island escape. This year, finally, I did good research on the archipelago. It's covered in our upcoming Scandinavia guidebook, and we had a gloriously sunny day that allowed us to include it in our upcoming Stockholm TV show.