From the saffron-coloured buildings and cobblestone-covered streets, to the sleek modern bars and trendy restaurants, Stockholm is a city of history, style and impeccable design. Stockholm Pocket Precincts takes you beyond the city's glittering surface - it's your guide to all the best places to eat, drink, shop and explore, from underground cafes and basement dance clubs to tiny vintage boutiques tucked inside historic buildings. Also included is a selection of 'field trips' to encourage you to explore outside the city, including the dazzling summer palace where the royal family lives, the windswept, dreamy islands of the Stockholm archipelago, and the lively, storied university city of Uppsala. Along the way, you'll discover the city's character, sense of humor, habits and principles. After all, fashion is fleeting, but fika (the daily coffee break) is forever. These are some of my very favorite places in Sweden's beautiful capital city. Some have probably never been in a guidebook before (no spoilers! but one is a pinball arcade). Others are well-known, like the Vasa Museum, or local favorites -- like the tiny restaurant in the farthest corner of an underground food market, where you'll get some of the best fish stew of your life. Full-color photos on every page tempt you to stop frequently to sample the city's delicious ice cream, chocolate and licorice, pickled herring, craft beer and cocktails, or to browse in high-end design stores for handmade gifts to take home. I've gathered all the practical details about getting around the city and how things work (including the stuff no one thinks about until it's too late, like how to pay for parking or public restrooms in a mostly cash-free society). In between, there's just enough culture and history woven in to keep things interesting. Hope you enjoy! Oregon-based Becky Ohlsen first visited Stockholm as a toddler, on a trip to meet her maternal grandparents. Later, as a teen, she mastered enough of the language and geography to make an important daily pilgrimage to the local snack kiosk for chocolate. Becky will still go out of her way for Swedish chocolate, but several stretches of living in Stockholm apartments over the years have expanded her tastes and interests. These days, she never misses a chance to revisit her favorite paintings at the Moderna Museet, tuck into a bowl of fish stew in the basement of Hötorgshallen food court, stop for a fika (coffee break) in an old-fashioned cafe, play some pinball in an underground billiards hall, or walk along the city's many bridges and canals. Becky has researched and written about Stockholm for Lonely Planet since 2004; she wrote about family travel in Sweden for The Independent, and landscape as a character in Swedish literature for The Bear Deluxe. She also writes about hiking and camping in Oregon. When she's not travelling for work, Becky rides motorcycles with the Sang-Froid Riding Club in Portland.