Baroque Stockholm

Stockholm is a "surprisingly sensuous baroque city", says Waldemar Januszczak in the Sunday Times. The style was introduced in the 17th century when Sweden was at the height of its "Great Power period", during which it invaded its neighbours and used the booty to rebuild its capital.

Stockholm's old town is "shockingly pretty" partly as a result – and partly thanks to its spectacular watery setting, spread across an island archipelago.

The Royal Palace and the Storkyrkan (the church of St Nicholas) are the city's baroque gems; but just outside town, the palaces of Drottningholm and Skokloster are equally magnificent. The latter still houses the astonishing art hoard of the "warmonger" and compulsive collector Carl Gustaf Wrangel. It's "a summer holiday's worth of serendipity, oddness and excitement".

SAS (0871 521 2772) flies to Arlanda airport from several UK airports.