Stockholm

The Royal Palace of Stockholm is one of the largest palaces in Europe, consisting of over 600 rooms and housing 5 different museums. You could spend a full day observing the splendour and richness of the once powerful Swedish Empire.

Cross the bridge to nearby Riddarholmen island to find the Riddarholm Church. It's one of the oldest buildings in Stockholm, dating from the late 1200s, and the final resting place of numerous Swedish monarchs.

Take a ferry to the island of Djurgården, where you'll find the unique Vasa museum. The Vasa was a Swedish warship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1629. Three centuries later it was raised and reassembled, and can now be admired in its full glory.

You'll find a wide range of other museums on Djurgården, from the Viking museum to the ABBA museum. Young kids will have a great time at the Junibacken children's museum, while the older ones can go wild at the Gröna Lund theme park.

The first open-air museum in the world, Skansen shows you what life looked like before industrial times. Expect huts and farmsteads, Arctic camps, and a complete 19th-century town with actors showing off their skills as traditional craftsmen.

Taking up 30 hectares of Djurgården in total, Skansen includes a zoo with wolves, lynxes, bears and other Scandinavian animals. For some peace and quiet at the end of a long day, take a stroll through the nearby park of Royal Djurgården.

Water is everywhere around you in Stockholm, so what better way to see the city than from a boat. Whether you hop on a ferry or take a 3-hour tour of the archipelago, you're bound to see a lot of activity on the water.

If you've got time to spare, make sure to visit Fotografiska, Stockholm's famous photography museum in the Södermalm district. If you prefer a bit of (expensive) shopping, check out the Östermalm district and its many designer boutiques.