Stockholm is where Alfred Nobel (of the annual Nobel prizes) was born and it’s in Stockholm’s city hall that his revered prizes are distributed for excellence. It’s a piece of information that helps set the scene of a city able to embrace so much of what is good. In fact, Stockholm has become so trendy that right now it is considered the most fashionable city on the planet.

Design-hungry shoppers are making their way to Smaland – a picturesque, densely forested region in the southern heart of the country – to buy their designer furniture and making a saving into the bargain! IKEA was born here and the world-famous designer, Bruno Mathson has a studio here. Even hotels offer designer bedrooms in which to rest your heads. Designers such as Tomas Sandell and Jonas Bohlin helped create rooms at Hotel Birger Jarl where design weekend packages are available.

But for those who simply want a wonderful weekend away, style can be witnessed by just walking around the streets that have lakes so clean that you can fish in the heart of the city. Different styles compliment each other. For instance the modernism of the seventies captured in the ‘glasshouse’ Kulturhuset (House of Culture) sits neatly by the seventeenth-century Royal Castle and the thirteenth century Storkyrkan (cathedral).

A few minutes away are Parisian style boulevards and squares in Sudermalm, the romanticism of the Stadshuset (City Hall) and edifices of Norrmalm. The northern cliff reached via Katarinavugen, is ideally suited for a romantic evening walk, with stunning views across to Gamla Stan and Djurgarden.

As Stockholm is located in the archipelago (a feast of some 24,0000 islands), the waterways make an obvious boat tour such as the two-hour ‘Under the Bridges’ route from the harbour front at Nybroplan. Details: Stockholm Sightseeing 0046 8 5871 4020.

On land, shoppers will love the designer shops and culture vultures have over 170 museums and galleries to choose from including the Museum of Modern Art.

The cobbled roads of Gamla Stan are the city’s medieval heart and offer a fabulous walk past timbered buildings comprising boutiques and eateries. Just a short ferry trip away is the Djurgarden Royal Park which offers an open-air museum and zoo of Skansen.

If time allows, visit the Vasamuseet located on the waterfront on Djurgarden 0046 8 5195 4800.`Admission is SEK4.50. It houses almost complete remains of the massive seventeenth-century warship, the Vasa, which was raised from the depths of the harbour in the Sixties, 350 years after it sank. It sank in the harbour in 1628 because of its overly ambitious and top-heavy design. It took 30 years just to restore it.

Top Tips
Licensing laws mean many bars are attached to restaurants but there are over 1500 restaurants to choose from. Alcohol tends to be expensive so take advantage of happy hour, usually between 6pm and 7pm.

Try the local delicacy of surstr?mming – Herring is fermented in the container which comes complete with unforgettable aromas.

Get into the swing of recycling or get told off.

Toilets are unisex.

Where to eat
Fast food street vendors are popular. Try Tunnbred, a Lapland speciality – a giant dough cone filled with bangers and mash costs around SEK2.
Kryp In, Prestgatan 17, Gamla Stan.
Telephone: 0046 8 208 841. Run by the leader of the Left Party – formerly the Communists has a folky atmosphere, and serves traditional dishes like reindeer steak and lingonberries (about ?15).
Bon Lloc, Regeringsgatan 111, Ostermalm.
Telephone: 0046 8 660 6060 serves Swedish and Mediterranean fusion cuisine. Per head ?35.

Getting around
Long journeys can be made on the metro – trains are frequent. A single ticket (SEK1), includes buses and is valid for an hour. For a lot of sightseeing, invest in a Stockholm Card : for 24-, 48- and 72-hour periods, costing SEK15, SEK25 and SEK36 respectively. As well as transport, it covers entry to more than 70 attractions. Available from the tourist office, the Centralstationen and Hotellcentralen.
Taxis are expensive. A high tariff charge makes short journeys expensive.

Room for the night
Budget: Langholmen Hotel.
Telephone: 0046 8 668 0500 and Youth Hostel Telephone: 0046 8 668 0510. On their own small island close to S?dermalm, the hotel and hostel are in a converted prison. A double cell in the hotel costs ?70 a night at weekends.
Mid-range: Nordic Light and Sea hotels, Vasaplan.
Telephone: 0046 8 5056 3000. The Light is airy, bright and minimalist; the Sea offers a friendly blue. A double room is ?90 a night at weekends.

Luxury: Birger Jarl, Tulegatan 8.
Telephone: 0046 8 674 1800. Several rooms have been individually styled by artists. Expect to pay from ?180 per person for a two-night stay as part of the hotel’s design package breaks.

Getting there
BA flies direct to Stockholm Arlands from various UK airports.

From Arlanda airport, the airport bus (Flygbuss), which leaves every five-10 minutes, takes 40 minutes to reach the city centre and costs SEK5. The Arlanda Express leaves every 15 minutes, takes 20 minutes and cost around SEK10.

A taxi takes 30 minutes and costs SEK25-SEK35 depending on the time of day.

Swedish Tourist Board 00800 3080 30 80
www.visit-sweden.com

Currency: Krona (SEK)

4 January 2006