Stockholm , the capital, is the country's supreme attraction, a bundle of islands housing monumental architecture, fine museums and the country's most active culture and nightlife. The two university towns, Lund and Uppsala, demand a visit too, while, moving northwards, Gavle and Gallivare both make justified demands on your time. This area, central and northern Sweden, is the country of tourist brochures: great swathes of forest, inexhaustible lakes - around 96,000 - and some of the best wilderness hiking in Europe. Two train routes link it with the south. The eastern run, close to the Bothnian coast , passes old wood-built towns and planned new ones, and ferry ports for connections to Finland. In the centre, the trains of the Inlandsbanan strike off through lakelands and mountains, clearing reindeer off the track as they go. The routes meet in Sweden's far north - home of the Sami, the oldest indigenous Scandinavian people.