Built on 14 major islands, Stockholm is an exceptionally attractive city at the juncture of Lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city’s Old Town is a maze of narrow medieval streets and baroque palaces, while elsewhere the architecture ranges from the 18th-century Royal Palace to the Rafael Moneo-designed Museum of Modern Art. Djurgården, the “Royal Game Park,” is a leafy oasis. Stureplan and Kungsgatan are Stockholm’s main entertainment districts — home to many of its dozens of theaters and performance venues — and Södermalm, an island south of the city center, is a hotbed of fashion. Skeppsholmen island, home to Stockholm’s principal contemporary art museum, is positioned at the city’s Baltic Sea entrance. Despite being surrounded by the city and connected to its center by a bridge, it is a peaceful place with no major roads and few cars. Stockholm’s restaurants have been leaders in the global “fresh and local” food revolution.

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