In December my friends and I made an uninformed, spontaneous decision to go on a mini-break to Stockholm. Common sense should have forewarned that December in Scandinavia consists of bitterly cold days and very long nights. But, after mistaking the 2pm sunset for a solar eclipse on our first day, we resolved to spend our afternoons immersed in Stockholm’s indoor delights, namely its fantastic art galleries and coffee houses. The ‘Venice of the North’, the Swedish capital sprawls over clusters of islands, remaining in constant visual dialogue with the glassy waters of the Baltic Sea. My preconception of Swedish culture had been a hazy, ignorant conglomeration of Abba and Ikea, but the reality was infinitely classier: minimalist, ergonomic interiors and charming Swedes with a sense of style to match. Far from pervading the place with a kind of cold sterility, such insidious elegance makes Stockholm, not unlike Berlin, a decidedly modern city, teeming with youth, innovation and cutting-edge creatives.

1. Drink

Caffeine addicts will particularly enjoy Stockholm. The Swedes takes coffee breaks immensely seriously: fika is the term given to a leisurely pause in the working day for coffee and sandwiches (more fika needed in Cambridge, methinks). Our favourite was IlCaffe, a shudderingly cool coffee house-cum-gallery-cum- florist, serving devilishly strong flat whites and fluffy cinnamon buns.

2. See

Situated right on the waterfront in an Art Nouveau complex, Photografiska is one of the largest contemporary photography galleries in Europe. We knocked back some strong coffee and saw it all: unforgiving celebrity portraits from Martin Schoeller’s Up Close, followed by the glossy Seventies opulence of Guy Bourdin’s Image Maker, startlingly juxtaposed against Magnus Wennman’s haunting images of young Syrian refugees in Where the Children Sleep. In the city’s modern art gallery, Moderna Museet, we fell in love with Danish visual artist Olafur Eliasson, who famously installed a sun in the Tate’s turbine hall in 2003. His latest interactive exhibition Reality Machines was full of vibrant synthetic colours, squirting water and convex mirrors - bafflingly brilliant. Il Magasin III was another highlight: a contemporary gallery housed in a converted shipping warehouse. From the outside unassuming and accessed via a discreet industrial lift, entrance is free to students and the exhibitions showcase the avant-garde of Swedish and international contemporary art.

3. Eat

The wonderful Scandinavian tradition of smorgasbord means that many restaurants offer you free range of an impressive buffet spread at a reasonable fixed price – the best option for those with tight budgets and big appetites.Having nearly the highest rate of vegetarianism in Europe, there is an exceptional standard of plant-based cuisine, as well as plenty of traditional swish fare including smoked fish, rye bread, and meatballs (yum).

4. Stay 

We stayed in the neighbourhood of Sofo in Soldermalm – often compared to Shoreditch for its myriad of vintage shops, edgy cafes and mildly pretentious hipster vibes. Most of its streets, however, are peaceful and residential, and within walking distance of pretty much everything. We found Air BnB to be the best value option.