Venice might get all the attention when it comes to water-bound cities, but if you want to see the bridge capital of the world, you need to visit Stockholm. Sweden's capital rests on 14 islands linked by more than 50 bridges. It also serves as the gateway to a Scandinavian archipelago consisting of 24,000 islands and islets.
Thanks to a relatively small population of 800,000 residents, Stockholm is an especially clean capital -- so much so that the city's waterways are ideal for swimming and fishing. All of that wetness also makes Stockholm a great place for green spaces and parks. In fact, Stockholm is home to one national city park, Kungliga Nationalstadsparken (the Royal National City Park), as well as three major nature reserves. For the record, the name "Stockholm" means "islet of logs."
A visit to Stockholm:
- Stockholm's Grona Lund is Sweden's oldest amusement park, dating to 1883.
- The world's first open-air museum, Skansen, was built in Stockholm in 1891.
- All of the Nobel Prizes except Peace are handed out in Stockholm every year; the Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.
