Stockholm

Stockholm spreads over 14 islands where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic, linked by bridges and ferries. Its historic heart is Gamla Stan, the old town of narrow stone lanes and painted houses around Stortorget square, with the Royal Palace and its more than 600 rooms at its edge.

On green Djurgården stand the city's best-known museums: the Vasa Museum, home to a warship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 and was raised 333 years later, and Skansen, the open-air museum of traditional Swedish houses and Nordic animals. On the waterfront, City Hall and its golden halls host the Nobel Prize banquet each year.

Boats leave Stockholm for the archipelago, halal restaurants are found in several districts, and the Stockholm Mosque stands in Södermalm. Fast trains reach the city from Gothenburg in about 3 hours.