Visit Swedens most beautiful city

STOCKHOLM comes lauded as Sweden's most beautiful city, and apart from some sad central squares of concrete developments and a tangled road junction or two, it lives up to it - it's delightful, not least as a contrast to the apparently endless lakes and forests of the rest of the country. It's also a remarkably disparate capital, one whose tracts of water and range of monumental buildings give it an ageing,

lived-in feel and an atmosphere quite at odds with its status as Sweden's most contemporary, forward-looking city.

Built on fourteen small islands, Stockholm was a natural site for the fortifications, erected by one Birger Jarl in 1255, that grew into the current city. In the sixteenth century, the city fell to King Gustav Vasa, a century later becoming the centre of the Swedish trading empire that covered present-day Scandinavia. Following the waning of Swedish power it entered something of a quiet period, only rising to prominence again in the nineteenth century when industrialization sowed the seeds of the Swedish economic miracle

The Hötorgshallen in Hötorget is a cheap and varied indoor market, useful for those planning on self-catering and awash with small cafés and ethnic snacks. Outside is an excellent daily fruit and vegetable market too. The three main areas for decent eating , day or night, are Norrmalm, Gamla Stan and Södermalm. It's most expensive to eat in the old town, but set lunch deals make even that very affordable. Drinking in bars is expensive, though less so in Stockholm, where there's healthy competition, than elsewhere in Sweden. Wherever there's live music you'll pay a cover charge of 30-50kr, as well as 10kr to leave your coat at the cloakroom. There's a fairly fine line between cafés, restaurants and bars in Stockholm, many offering music and entertainment in the evening and food during the day. Stockholm boasts an ever-increasing number of stylish cafés , perfect for coffee, cake and people-watching, either during the day or in the evening.

There's plenty to keep you occupied at night in Stockholm and the city's tag of being prohibitively expensive is less and less true. As well as the weekend, Wednesday night is an active time, with usually plenty going on and queues at the more popular places. At specifically live music venues you'll pay 60-100kr entrance. For up-to-date what's on information , check På Stan , the Friday supplement of the Dagens Nyheter newspaper, or the latest issue of Stockholm This Week , free from the tourist centre. Popular venues in the summer are Kungsträdgården and Skansen, where there's always something going on.

Although Stockholm's gay scene is still disappointingly small, considering the general tolerance of alternative lifestyles afforded in the city, the action is by no means as limited as it once was. The city's main gay centre is TipTop at Sveavägen 57 (tel 08/736 02 12; T-bana Rådmansgatan), which has a bar and bookshop, counselling and meeting facilities, as well as a club, restaurant and bar. On the floor above are the national offices of Sweden's gay rights group RFSL ( www.rfsl.se ), which has an excellent free paper, Kom Ut . Also pick up the widely available QX paper from gay venues. The best gay bars - almost all are very male-oriented - are Häktet, Hornsgatan 82 (Wed & Fri only; Zinkensdamm T-bana), a real haven, and best for women on Wednesdays; Regnbågsrummet , Sturecompagniet, Stureplan (Fri & Sat 10pm-5am), currently the hippest spot hence long queues; Stargayte , Södrariddarholms hammen 19, Gamla Stan (Sat 9pm-3am) with three bars and two dance floors with the widest age range of party animals; Patricia , Stadsgårdskajen, with drag shows and comedy on what was the Queen Mother's royal yacht (gay on Sun only; 50kr; Slussen T-bana); and TipTop (see above), which is particularly popular on Friday and Saturday. For Lesbians, there is Bitch Girl Club , Kolingsborg, Slussen, every other Friday in summer and Saturday rest of year.

Djurgården is Stockholm's nearest large expanse of park. A royal hunting ground throughout the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, it is actually two distinct park areas separated by the water of Djurgårdsbrunnsviken, which freezes over in winter to provide some central skating. You could walk to the park from Central Station, but it's quite a hike: take the bus instead - #44 from Karlaplan or #47 from Nybroplan - or in summer, the ferry from Nybroplan, or year round from Slussen on Skeppsbron (Mon-Fri 7.40am-7pm, Sat & Sun 9am-7pm; every 15min).

Just a short way to the northeast of the city centre, on the mainly residential island of Lindingö , the Millesgården (May-Sept daily 10am-5pm; Oct-April Tues-Sun noon-4pm; 80kr) is the outdoor sculpture garden of Carl Milles (1875-1955), one of Sweden's greatest sculptors. Arranged on a number of garden terraces carved from the steep cliffs, this is one of the most enticing visual attractions within easy reach of central Stockholm - to get there, take the T-bana to Ropsten and then go on by train one stop to Torvikstorg before walking down Herserudsvägen. Milles' animated, Classical figures perch precariously on pillars, overlooking the distant harbour, while the sculptor's former home contains his staggeringly rich collection of Greek and Roman antiquities.