30pm: 30kr, students 20kr), even if your time in Stockholm is limited Beautifully located on the shores of leafy Lovon Island, 11km west of the centre it's a lovely fiftyminute boat trip to get there (see below). Drottningholm is perhaps the greatest achievement of the architects Tessin father and son. Work began in 1662 on the orders of Kng Karl X's widow Eleonora, Tessin the Elder modelling the new palace in a thoroughly French style leading to the usual tedious descriptions of a "Swedish Versailles". Apart from anything else, it's considerably smaller than its French contemporary, utilising false perspective and trompe I'oeil to bolster the elegant, though rather narrow, interior. On Tessin the Elder's death, in 1681, the palace was completed by his son, already at work on Stockholm's Royal Palace. Inside, good English notes are available to help you sort out each room's detail, a riot of Rococo decoration largely dating from the time when Drottningholm was bestowed as a wedding gift on Princess Louisa Ulrika (a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia). No hints, however, are needed to spot the influence in the Baroque "French" and later "English" gardens that back onto the palace. Since 1981 the Swedish royal family has slummed it at Drottningholm, using the palace as a permanent home, a move that has accelerated recent efforts to restore parts of the palace to their original appearance so that the monumental Grand Staircase is now exactly as envisaged by Tessin the Elder. Though it's an expensive extra, try not to miss the Court Theatre (MayAug MonSat 11.30am4.30pm, Sun 12.304.30pm; Sept daily 12.303pm; guided tours only, hourly in English; 25kr) in the grounds of the palace. It dates from 1766, its heyday a decade later when Gustav III imported French plays and acting troupes, making Drottningholm the centre of Swedish artistic life. Stick with the tour and you'll get a flowery though accurate account of the theatre's decoration: money to complete the building ran out in the eighteenth century, meaning that things are not what they seem, painted papiermache frontages pennypinching substitutes for the real thing. The original backdrops and stage machinery are still in place though, and the tour comes complete with a display of the eight eenthcentury special effects wind and thunder machines, trapdoors and simulated lightning. If you're in luck you might catch a performance here (usually JuneAug; drama, ballet and opera): the cheapest tickets run from around 60 80kr, though decent seats are more likely to be at least double that check the schedule at Drottningholm or ask at the tourist centres in the city. You can also book from abroad by writing to Drottningholms teatermuseum, Foestallningar, Box 27050, S102 51 Stockholm («08660 82 25 or 660 82 81). With time to spare, the extensive palace grounds also yield the Chine PaviUon (April & Sept daily l3.30pm; MayAug daily llam.30pm; 20kr), a sort of eighteenth4:entury royal summer house.