Due to its strategic location on 14 islands of a vast archipelago, Stockholm's relationship with the sea is both long and complex, so it makes sense that the city would boast a world class museum dedicated to all things water. The Aquaria Water Museum on Djurgården Island has exhibits dedicated to the world's many different aquatic ecosystems, with colorful fish, lush plants, and interactive exhibits that explain how everything is interconnected. Explore life on the Amazon in a living rain forest, complete with mangrove trees, giant catfish, and poison arrow frogs hopping among the giant green leaves. Watch the graceful movements of reef sharks and see eye-to-eye with a moray eel in the Tropical Sea aquarium, with a coral reef that teems with life. And learn about the local waters at the Nordic Waters exhibit, which has both fresh- and saltwater habitats filled with the fish, reptiles, and amphibians common to the area. Visitors during November and December are in for a special treat, as the museum's sea trout breeding program (pictured) welcomes a parade of sea trout that climb up a "fish ladder" to spawn inside the museum. Marine biologists then take eggs from a number of sea trout and place the fertilized roe in an incubator, where they'll hatch in March of the following year. Guests at the nearby Sheraton Stockholm Hotel might enjoy this fascinating glimpse into the undersea world.

[image via Aquaria Water Museum]