Stockholm Attractions

Haga Park is a pleasant for walks, bicycle tours or strolling between museums. Gustav III's Paviljong is a superb example of late neoclassical style. The furnishings and décor reflect Gustav III's interest in all things Roman, developed during his Italian tour in 1782. In Fjärils & Fågelhuset (Butterfly House), there's an artificial tropical environment with free-flying birds and butterflies. There's also a shop and cafe. Haga Parkmuseum has displays about the park, its pavilions and the royal palace, Haga slot.

Kungliga Slottet

Kungliga Slottet is the largest royal castle in the world still used for its original purpose. It was constructed on the site of the 'old' royal castle, Tre Kronor, which burned down in 1697. The walls of the north wing of the castle survived and were incorporated in the new palace, but the medieval designs are now concealed by a baroque exterior.

The new palace, which has 608 rooms, was designed by the court architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, and wasn't completed until 57 years after the fire.

The Changing of the Guard usually takes place in the outer courtyard at 12:10pm daily from June to August (but at 1:10pm on Sunday and public holidays). The rest of the year it's on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday only. It can last over 20 minutes and is quite an interesting spectacle.

By the outer courtyard, there's a shop selling souvenir books and kitschy gifts. Indoor photography in the Royal Palace isn't permitted.

Skansen

Skansen, the world's first open-air museum, was founded in 1891 by Artur Hazelius to let visitors see how Swedes lived in previous times.

Today, around 150 traditional houses (inhabited by staff in period costume) and other exhibits from all over Sweden occupy this attractive hill top. It's a spectacular 'Sweden in miniature' and you could spend all day here.

There are 46 buildings from rural areas around the country, including a Sami camp (with reindeer), farmsteads representing several regions, a manor house and a school.

The Skansen Aquarium is a must - en route to the fish (including piranhas) you'll walk among the lemurs and see pygmy marmosets, the smallest monkeys in the world.

Stadshuset

The town hall is topped with a golden spire and the symbol of Swedish power, the three royal crowns. Inside is the beautiful mosaic-lined Gyllene Salen (Golden Hall), Prins Eugen's fresco re-creation of the lake view from the gallery, and the hall where the annual Nobel Prize banquet is held. Entry with tours only.

Stockholm, gourmand capital of Scandinavia

Contrary to popular belief, people here aren't content with just nibbling Wasas or Krissprolls with butter, gherkins and smoked herring. Since the past ten years, Stockholm has been infatuated with the art of cooking as evidenced by its 7 Michelin-starred restaurants (a fine performance for a city of 770,000 inhabitants!) and its selection of good addresses. Interestingly Sweden is also the country of cookbooks as it appears that a new book is published every day, a world record!

Compared with other Scandinavian capitals, Stockholm appears to be something of a spoilt child gastronomically speaking, its restaurants being financially more accessible than in Copenhagen and Oslo and its cuisine more varied and creative than in Helsinki.

Some restaurants are already renowned throughout Europe, such as the fine rustic auberge Edsbacka Krog whose chef Christer Lingström (2 stars in the Michelin Guide) has built his reputation on cooking only seasonal Scandinavian products. Fusion and avant-garde cuisine is also exciting, like that at Danyel Couet's F12. In any case, the harmony of the venues plays an essential role and homage must be paid (for once!) to the (good) taste of chefs who have created an understated and yet luxurious ambience in their establishments.

In the 'low budget' category, you'll find quality restaurants generally proposing special set lunch menus. As the Swedes love living outside, most cafes feature terraces that are heated from autumn on.

Two restaurants not to be missed

Lisa Elmqvist

If you like Scandinavian products, don't fail to visit the big cast iron market hall located in the chic Östermalm district (Ostermalmstorg underground). This temple to food, restored to be a fully operating market, is open Monday to Saturday from 9:30 to 18:00, and is full of hustle and bustle. You'll find here, for instance, smoked or marinated Norwegian salmon, herring in all kinds of sauce, and superb smoked or dried reindeer meat usually served with horseradish cream or cranberry preserve.

We recommend you have lunch at least once at Lisa Elmqvist (something of an institution in Stockholm) which is both a fishmonger's and a restaurant. For a maximum of 450 kronas à la carte (£33), treat yourself to typical Swedish specialities such as prawns and oysters from the North Sea, toast with bleak caviar, herrings with warm potatoes and 'västerbotter' (a traditional yellow Swedish cheese) without forgetting, of course, the various smoked or marinated salmons, eel, trout roe, crayfish and the delicious saffron-flavoured fish soup topped with fresh cream.

Since the 18th century, the Swedes have been accustomed to drinking a spirit (aquavit or snaps) while eating herring: try it, it'll put you on your feet! As for the local Eriksberg beer, it is stronger than the Danish Karlsberg. All of this is simple and unpretentious: Lisa Elmqvist, above all represents the pleasure of lunching in the heart of a magnificent traditional market!

F12: excellent decor and cuisine

Located in one of the wings of the Fine Arts Academy, near the historic centre of Stockholm, the F12 restaurant is currently one of the capital's hippest addresses. The reconstitution of 1970s Scandinavian design is a fine success, with Champagne-flute-glass style light fittings above the tables, long comfortable wall seats and soft lighting.

At the stoves, the Franco-Swede Danyel Couet cooks up contemporary cuisine full of freshness and elegance. Apart from a very accessible lunch menu at £24, the F12 proposes a copious 'tasting menu' at £81 offering a choice of three starters, two mains, a cheese course and two desserts.

From his amazing 'glazed shrimps with iceberg lettuce and tapioca', 'tom kah gai' Norway lobster with coriander and chilli, lemon and squid-stuffed raviolis, to his turbot served with a Champagne aspic and a very tasty pigeon with apple and caviar, Danyel Couet highlights on each occasion the quintessence of the product's taste whether it comes from Sweden, France or Japan. Overall harmony is obtained with brio and without any artificial confusion of flavours.

Turning to the wine menu, the selection is superb like the André Ostertag Riesling, the Thierry Allemand Cornas or the Alain Brumont Madiran vieilles vignes. Wines, you'll notice, are however very expensive in Scandinavia, the most affordable being the Didier Dagueneau Pouilly fumé at £53...

An extraordinary garden

If you go to the green Djurgården Island, you absolutely must discover Rosendals Tradgard, a charming boutique and tearoom where you can buy and taste on the spot delicious jams such as the 'drottningsylt', the 'queen's jam' made of raspberries and blackcurrants. These fruits come from a vegetable garden alongside the establishment, tended to by the Frenchman Antoine Berthelin. Those in the know come here to buy seasonal fruit and vegetables.

Chokladfabriken

This chocolate workshop founded six years ago in the former working-class district of Södermalm, today very much in vogue, is one of Stockholm's very best addresses.

The young Martin Isaksson, who trained in Switzerland and at the Maison du Chocolat in Paris, obtained in 2004 the gold medal of the Gastronomy Olympic Games, a competition in which 32 countries compete. He prefers dark chocolate from the best Venezuelan cocoa beans. His truffles and ganaches are exquisite, as is his hot chocolate flavoured with cardamom, but you should above all taste his creations - chocolates with a centre of wild blackberries and raspberries from the marshes.

At the Chokladfabriken you'll also see original design with stepped benches at the back of the room where students like to come and revise after having taken their shoes off. In the meanwhile, mums give the breast to their babies with one hand and devour chocolates with the other!