Here are the available villas for rental in Sweden.

Joining Juno to Sweden's great lakes

From the Daily Mail

The day before our cruise began we wandered down to Riddarholmen, Stockholm's Island of the Nobles, to look at our boat. Built in 1874, M/S Juno is the oldest registered cruise boat in the world.
There she was, next to a flashy gin-palace yacht which was once the toy of Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton. Our Juno looked more like she should be steaming down the Mississippi, to the tune of Ol' Man River.
Next morning, we're back early to embark. For four days, Mum and I will be crossing Sweden on the Gota Canal; well, actually, we'll be going through two seas, a river, three canals, eight lakes and 65 locks. At five knots.
We've never been on a cruise before and we're not the cruising type. But when we get chatting to the other passengers, they agree they'd also hate the kind of trip that's cocktail dresses at eight for the captain's table.
Captain Eriksson tells us that he has lifeboats for 75 people; there's only 49 on board, so that's all right. But, please, he says, when we go through the locks . . . don't jump over the boat-rails as the deckhands do, it isn't as easy as it looks.
Most of the passengers look as if they would be challenged just scaling the top bunk in their tiny cabins. Which is something Mum and I are still discussing. 'Do you think we could get a sailor to give us a shove?' asks Mum.
It is a bright, mid-summer morning as we leave Stockholm, heading gently across Lake Malaren, past the lovely royal palace at Drottningholm, with the King's small runabout launch moored outside.
And then we're on the Baltic, in the Sidermanland archipelago; there's so many islands, you'd think the Swedes could have one each. Pretty ones, purple with lilac, give way to bare, grey skerries where only lichen grows.
By now we're sitting on the bridge deck, wrapped in blankets. As it said in the brochure: 'Passengers look like butterfly larvae, as they sit cocooned.'
Though the dress code for dinner is 'sportily elegant', we're so windswept that we fail miserably; our table compromises with earrings, lipstick and fleeces. The sea changes from sunset pink through turquoise to black, as rain lashes the decks. ... more

It's a real pleasure

Clean and fresh, traditional and cheery, Sweden is a pleasure to visit. Home to ABBA and au pairs, Sweden is relaxed and interesting. The weather is as unpredictable as it is here, although when it snows it really snows!
Stockholm is quaint, the people are friendly, but the goods are rather on the expensive side. If you want to escape the sun and fancy a shop, a trek, a tour or a ski or skate, Sweden is your ideal resort!

Sweden - ski under the midnight sun

By May, most Alpine ski resorts have long closed but in Riksgransen, Sweden, things are just getting going.
By June, the lifts stay open until 1am so that skiers can take full advantage of the midnight sun.
Around 200km north of the Arctic Circle, the Kiruna Alps are remote to say the least - the road was only built in 1984. This means no lift queues, no traffic jams and no crowded pistes.
You know you're not in another purpose-built Alpine resort as soon as you arrive at tiny Kiruna airport.
A huge stuffed bear stands guard over baggage reclaim and there isn't a customs officer in sight.
Riksgransen - an hour's drive from Kiruna - is the world's most northerly ski resort. It is surprisingly warm, considering the latitude, as the Gulf Stream runs by neighbouring Norway.
It is also home to one of the most northerly spas in the world, which opened this winter.
With pale grey tiles, wooden walls, a log fire, floating candles and an outdoor hot tub, the spa looks out across the mountains and frozen lake.
It offers several types of massage, facials, thalassotherapy treatments and full-body mud wraps - the mineral-rich black mud is shipped in from Iceland. Being smeared head-to-toe in the stuff was quite an experience. Therapist Charlotte wrapped me in a sort of heated duvet to allow the mud to do its cleansing work. A mud-mask followed and, after the whole lot was rinsed off, a divinely relaxing face massage. ... more

Stockholm's Grand hotel

From the Mail on Sunday

Ladies and Gentlemen,' announced the esteemed head of the Swedish Academy, 'this year's Nobel Prize Winner for Literature is Simon Heptinstall for his excellent travel articles in The Mail on Sunday.'
The cheers rang out as I stood to receive the world's greatest writing prize. The international recognition was, of course, no more than I deserved. The million-pound cheque would come in handy, too.
But, as I waved to the crowds, it seemed that the trumpet fanfares were sounding increasingly like bells. Then I woke up. It was my alarm clock.
Oh well, it's easy to have ambitious dreams when you are sleeping in the Nobel Suite in Stockholm's Grand Hotel. This magnificent four-roomed penthouse is where the Nobel Literature prize-winner is put up before the awards ceremony each year.
The British writer V.S. Naipaul has become the 100th recipient of the Nobel Literature Prize and stayed in the room I occupied.
I can picture him anxiously pacing around the glass-topped coffee table practising his acceptance speech - there's a copy of Alfred Nobel's will on the wall to remind him of what it's all about.
Or he may have calmed his nerves in the giant whirlpool bath under its glass-domed roof or enjoyed the private mosaic-tiled sauna cubicle.
But if he tried to hide in the bedroom, with its wonderful view over the Royal Palace across the harbour, there is a stern portrait of Alfred Nobel staring down at him.
The Nobel prize-winners get the best rooms at the Grand - but during the rest of the year ordinary guests like me get to stay in them. The Nobel Suite, though, costs a hefty £740 a night.
Do many people really go on holiday to use the bath where Samuel Beckett wallowed in 1969 or to eat breakfast in the rooms where Einstein ate in 1921? ... more

Stockholm without the expense

Ever since I was a little girl I've longed for clogs and spotted just the pair in Stockholm for me.
Black, with hand-painted strawberries I found them in Dys-Boden, a handicraft shop in the narrow cobbled streets of Gamla Stan or old town.
But I decided to return the next morning having whizzed (whizzed is no exaggeration as shops shut at 2pm on Saturdays) into the 'antik' shops Nautiska - a sailor's den of charts and instruments, and Jobs which sell bright traditional floral fabrics.
A long weekend in Stockholm may not have been my first choice of destination but unlike most capital cities I returned refreshed and revitalised after a dose of clean air, big skies and handsome architecture.
Imagine how relaxing it feels to walk through quiet streets in this city of just 700,000.
It's an invigorating place, encircled by islands, accessible by ferry or bridge where Lake Malaren meets the Baltic.
Here locals swim and fish in water that supplies the city. I couldn't believe how deliciously clear tap water tasted and after bathing my skin felt spa-soft, the secret, obviously, of the fabulous Swedish complexion.
Sweden's only five-star hotel, The Grand, has perched on the waterfront since 1874 and were the Royal Family still in residence I might have waved to the Royal Palace on the opposite bank as I worked through the smorgasbord breakfast on the veranda.
Toast will never be the same after plates of smoked herring, anchovy, sausage, prawn blinis and waffles (originally a Swedish staple, not American).
I had expected exorbitant prices but Stockholm is on a par with London. A chicken salad for two and four glasses of champagne came to £45.
In some areas, however, prices do border on the ridiculous - a small mug of hot chocolate at Sjocafe on the river boardwalk came in at £2.70. ... more