• Explore Stockholm Old Town, with its collection of well-preserved historic buildings lining cobbled streets. Its main streets, Österlånggatan and Västerlånggatan, are pedestrian precincts with a host of boutiques, handicrafts and antique shops.

• Cross by ferry to the Djurgården Island area, to see the Nordic Museum (website: www.nordiskamuseet.se), Waldemarsudde House (website: www.waldemarsudde.se), which was the home of the artist Prince Eugen until 1947, and Liljevalchs Konsthall (website: www.liljevalchs.com).

• Explore the Historical Museum (website: www.historiska.se), which features prehistoric collections and medieval art. The National Museum (website: www.nationalmuseum.se) houses the country's national fine arts collection.

• Delve further into Sweden's history at the Vasa Museum (website: www.vasamuseet.se), which contains a restored 360-year-old wooden warship recovered from Stockholm's harbour in 1961, while nearby is the Skansen open-air folk museum (website: www.skansen.se).

• Visit Sweden's second city, Gothenburg (Göteborg), the home of Volvo cars. Relive the city's seafaring traditions at the Maritime Museum (Sjöfartsmuseet) (website: www.sjofartsmuseum.goteborg.se) and the Nordstaden Kronhuset area, location of the City Museum (website: www.stadsmuseum.goteborg.se).

• Don't miss Malmö (website: www.malmo.se). City sights include Malmöhus Castle and St Petri Church. Also see the Konsthallen (website: www.konsthall.malmo.se) and Rooseum (website: www.rooseum.se) museums, which house art collections, and the remarkable Turning Torso skyscraper.

• Head offshore - Gotland and Öland are Sweden's biggest islands, in the southeast of the country. On Gotland are the Lummelunda Caves (website: www.lummelundagrottan.se) with spectacular stalactites and stalagmites, and a preserved medieval town at Kattlundsgård.

• Learn about glassmaking - German immigrants founded Sweden's crystal and glass-making industry in the southern province of Småland, and 16 glassworks in the area are open to visitors. One of the oldest is Kosta (website: www.kostaboda.us).

• Head south to Skåne, which offers the medieval town of Lund with its 12th-century cathedral and 14th-century astronomical clock. There is also the spectacular Öresund Bridge, the world's longest single span bridge, between Denmark and Sweden, close to Malmö.

• Head for the Lakeland region. This forms a large part of Sweden with a mixture of open water, vast lakes, plains and meadows and large areas of wild natural scenery.

• Experience the ‘ice beds' and enjoy a well-earned thirst quencher in the far-northern Absolut Icebar at the sculpted Ice Hotel (website: www.icehotel.com) in the small northern village of Jukkasjärvi, Lapland. It is rebuilt every winter after the summer.

• Meet the Sami people at Jokkmokk, where there are collections of Lapp art and culture, and a Lapp Staden, an old village of 70 cone-shaped Lapp huts. Arjeplog also has an interesting Lapp museum.

See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.