If you have two weeks to spend on your next holiday outing, why not spend the time touring around Sweden, one of the most beautiful countries in Scandinavia? There, you can enjoy a wide variety of activities, sightseeing opportunities, and local flavors. Here's how to make the most of your 14 days overseas.

Begin your Sweden adventure in the capital city of Stockholm, but plan to spend several days or even a week exploring this locale. Take a boat tour to Birka, an old Viking settlement (now in ruins but no less spectacular) on the island of Bjorko, and make sure you trek to and around Gamla Stan (?Old Town?). If you have kids with you, they'll love the Grona Lund amusement park and the child-friendly Modema museet (?Modern Museum.?) Make sure you keep your credit cards or Kronor (the national currency) handy; Stockholm is known for being a European shopping mecca. There, you'll find designer apparel and accessories, as well as handcrafted souvenirs.

From Stockholm, you may want to cross the width of the country via rail, auto, or bus to continue your Swedish adventure in the Swedes? second-largest city, Gothenburg (Goteborg). This seaside town is about a third the size of Stockholm population-wise, but is still as modern and trendy. There, you can bask in the loveliness of well-kept public parks and gardens or stroll along the beach in calmer or milder weather. Again, there are plenty of places for the younger tourists to see, including the Liseberg amusement park, the largest such attraction in northern Europe. Additionally, the Universeum science and technology museum caters to the natural curiosities of youngsters of any age.

After Gothenburg, head to the southernmost tip of Sweden to Malmo. This third-largest city in the kingdom used to be an industrial city, but now is heralded as a ?knowledge city?. Consequently, there are numerous cultural attractions, including the Malmo Art Gallery, Malmo Music Theatre, and a 2 kilometer beach just aching to be strolled. If you head here in August, you can enjoy the Malmo Festival, a huge undertaking that occurs over an eventful but well-planned 900-hour period.

At this point, if your time in Sweden hasn't ended, it may be your opportunity to explore the northernmost part of the country. Because Sweden is a little bigger than the state of California, it's recommended that you travel either via rail or, better still, airplane.

When you arrive in ?Lapland?, you'll discover an undisturbed, hauntingly beautiful spectacle thanks to Mother Nature. There, the sun never seems to set at the height of the summertime, so you can enjoy light 24 hours a day; conversely, the dark winter months are exactly that ? dark any time. If you're into hiking, Lapland is the place to go.

If you're not thrilled with the idea of Lapland, you can travel northeast instead to the High Coast along the Baltic Sea. There, you can take the World Heritage ?tour? via car, starting in either Kramfors or Omskoldsvik. Just be careful ? there's plenty of wildlife, including sizeable reindeer, who are not shy about using the roadways themselves. Not crazy about driving? If you visit during the summer months, you may be able to cruise on a ferry boat up and down the coastline, visiting particular spots and saving others for your next time to this Norse paradise.

Of course, Central Sweden is nothing to scoff at, and if you want to extend your vacation by another week, you can visit Dalarna, Uppland, Varmland, or Narke. Then again, why not wait? After all, it's a great excuse to visit this cultural hotspot again.