An extraordinary example of 17th-century Swedish baroque architecture, Läckö Slott lies 23km north of Lidköping. There's been a castle here since 1298; Count Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie acquired it in 1615 and made substantial improvements. Admission includes 40-minute guided tours, with access to the most interesting rooms, including the representative apartments, the count’s private chambers, the Banquet Hall where guests enjoyed 55-course meals, and the chamber with the German double-headed eagle, perhaps intended as mockery of the enemy.

　　The lakeside castle has 240 rooms in all. The most impressive is the King’s Hall, with 13 angels hanging from the ceiling and nine epic paintings depicting the Thirty Years War. Most rooms are largely unadorned, with the exception of their spectacularly painted ceilings.

　　If you don't manage to catch a tour, you’re free to bumble about in the kitchen, dungeon, armour chamber, chapel and the terraced castle gardens that overlook the lake. The lower floors contain shops and the atmospheric castle restaurant, which uses vegetables and herbs from the castle garden.

　　Classical-music and opera events are held in the courtyard several times in July and August; enquire at Lidköping tourist office or find tickets online. From mid-June to mid-August, bus 132 runs three times daily from Lidköping to the castle (32kr, 50 minutes).