The Swedish capital is at its most beautiful in summer. The days are long, the nights are white and everyone’s out and about.

Friday

night: Check into Lydmar Hotel (lydmar)and you won’t have to head far for the action; the lobby bar is one of the best in the city. Next door to Lydmar is the Grand Hotel with its newish restaurant addition Matbaren (grandhotel.se/en/explore/mathias-dahlgren/matbaren) where local celebrity chef Mathias Dahlgren holds court. The place received a makeover by Ilse Crawford who’s also put her stylish mark on Soho House NYC amongst other hip and happening places.

Saturday: The concept of brunch has finally arrived in Stockholm – take the efficient metro (T-banan) to Mariatorget and wonder over to Urban Deli (urbandeli) on the superquaint Nytorget and soak up the atmosphere of young arty folks and families tucking into eggs and bacon. This area is Södermalm, once the home of the working population (as opposed to the more upmarket area of Östermalm). In the past few years the place has got progressively more hip and is now host to a myriad of cute little boutiques and funky places to eat and drink. The rents are still reasonable-ish so plenty of artists still have their studios here. One such place fashionistas will appreciate is the studio of jeweller Cornelia Webb (corneliawebb). Her pieces are not for shrinking violets – they are imaginative and original – well worth a look! And boutique Nitty Gritty (nittygrittystore) has a good selection of in vogue designers such as Isabel Marant and covetable bags by her husband Jerome Dreyfuss.

For some culture head down to the water to Fotografiska Museet (fotografiska). Dedicated to photography the environment is as visually stunning as the art works on display and don’t miss the restaurant boasting one of the best views in town. In summer, the outside terrace offers a small but mouthwatering fare of grilled salmon, fresh prawns and heaps of strawberries.

On your way back to the hotel walk through the narrow streets of Gamla Stan, the medieval part of the city with the Royal Palace at the northern end.

Time for dinner? A lot of buzz surrounds newly opened La Boqueria (boqueria), taking its name from the famous Barcelona foodmarket. Other options are PA&Co (paco)on Riddargatan a classic as much for the people it attracts as the food. Afterwards head to Riche (riche.se/en-us/start/) for drinks, always fun. And for more late-night drinking/dancing there’s SpyBar (thespybar) up the street. The terrace at F12 (f12)is also a summer favourite.

Sunday: Sunday lunch at Godthem (villagodthem)on Djurgarden is a family classic. The restaurant recently had a makeover and is now part of the stable of restaurants run by celeb chef Melker Andersson – it’s traditional with a modern twist and set amongst the trees and flower beds overlooking the water.

Photos from top:  The terrace bar at Fotografiska Museet, Urban Deli, the studio of jewellery designer Cornelia Webb, flowers and trees at Villa Godthem.

The hottest ticket on the island this week? Two exclusive events featuring Ibiza’s very own mascot, Poddy the Podenco! Thursday night June 28th sees the opening of an art exhibition at the generic cialis