It's been called the Venice of the North for its waterways, but Stockholm is more like San Francisco, with bay views, liberal politics, and 850,000 people tucked into a maze of winding streets and diverse neighborhoods. You can walk everywhere mentioned in the main text, from southernmost Södermalm to northernmost Norr- malm; should your feet grow tired, the subway is swift, and clear signage limits confusion. Taxi drivers are among the few Stockholmers who may not speak at least some English; beware gridlock in the narrow streets.

No visit to Stockholm is complete without a thorough walk through Gamla Stan, whose disorienting lanes and alleyways are a signature pleasure. The forbidding National Museum is heavy on court painting (46-8-519-543-00); I was more affected by the small Nobel Museum, which offers a subtle tribute to the creative process of everyone from cellular biologists to peacemakers (46-8-534-818-00). Djurgården Island is entirely given over to amusements and a vast fresh-air museum called Skansen, with exhibitions on traditional Lapland buildings, the animals of Sweden, and more (46-8-442-80-00). Djurgården is also home to more conventional museums like the Vasa, devoted to a great warship sunk in 1628 (46-8-519-548-00), and the Nordiska, which chronicles daily Swedish life through the centuries (46-8-519-546-00).

The country code for Sweden is 46. Prices quoted are for November 2008.

Lodging
Hotels are generally concentrated in the business districts to the extreme north and south. The Victory (8-506-400-00; doubles, $330–$453) and its siblings—the Lady Hamilton (8-506-401-00; doubles, $445–$508) and the Lord Nelson (8-506-401-20; doubles, $232–$335)—are the only such accommodations in the Old Town itself. Rooms inside these landmark Stockholm houses are as tight and efficient as a ship, and accoutred with antique ship models, prow figureheads, and decorative seascapes.

One of Stockholm's oldest hotels, the beautifully situated Berns has been thoroughly modernized with high-tech rooms, a gilded salon specializing in Asian food, a concert hall frequented by international jazz and rock acts, and a downstairs club with a severe velvet rope (8-566-322-00; doubles, $365–$570). Even better is the movie-themed Hotel Rival, with generous rooms, coffee on tap in the hallways, and staff who will fetch you a DVD day or night for use in the room's fab media center (8-545-789-10; doubles, $248–$389).

One of Stockholm's newest hotels, The Clarion has a stylish vibe but tiny rooms and an inconvenient location in Södermalm (8-462-10-00; doubles, $202–$421).

Dining
Gondolen serves cocktails, lobster, and toast skaggen from an aerie overlooking the Old Town (6 Stadsgården; 8-641-70-90; entrées, $40–$70). Bakfickan, off a side entrance to the Opera House, is a cozy, even crowded purveyor of traditional Swedish foods (12 Jakobstorg; 8-676-58-09; entrées, $21–$49). Upstairs, via the opera's main entrance, is the formal, one-Michelin-star Operakällaren, specializing in updates on such Swedish classics as reindeer steak (Karl II's Torg; 8-676-58-01; entrées, $45–$75). Pelikan is a cavernous and candlelit hall of worn wood, rich beers, and fresh husmanskost, a classic Swedish sampler of salmon, dilled egg halves, shrimp, pâté, ham, beets, and, yes, meatballs (40 Blekingegatan; 8-556-090-90; entrées, $22–$33). Miro's, a glittering tapas bar in the heart of the Old Town, gets the details right on everything from the ecumenical wine list to the tender octopus (16 Skeppargatan; 8-661-61-43; entrées, $44–$60). Marie Laveau has a split personality: A superb restaurant and a subdued bar with an accomplished cocktail menu yields to a rowdy club scene late on weekend nights (66 Hornsgatan; 8-668-85-00; entrées, $22–$47). The Chokladkoppen ("Chocolate Cup") is an Old Town standard for coffee, tea, sandwiches, and treats (18-20 Stortoget; 8-20-31-70; entrées, $6–$12).