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Just forty minutes south of Helsingborg and fifteen minutes from Malmo, LUND is the most obvious target for a trip, a beautiful university town with a picturesque medieval centre and a unique buzz thanks to the student population. This does mean, though, that the life drains out of the place during the summer when the students are on vacation. Its weather-beaten Domkyrkan (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm, Sat 9.30am-5pm, Sun 9.30am-6pm), consecrated in 1145, is considered by many to be Scandinavia's finest medieval building. Its plain interior culminates in a delicate, semicircular apse with a gleaming fifteenth-century altarpiece and a mosaic of Christ surrounded by angels - although what draws most attention is a fourteenth-century astronomical clock, revealing an ecclesiastical Punch and Judy show daily at noon and 3pm. Below the apse is a crypt, supported by vividly sculpted pillars and littered with elaborately carved tombstones. Outside the cathedral, Kyrkogatan , lined with staunch, solid, nineteenth-century civic buildings, leads into the main square, Stortorget , off which Kattesund is home to a glassed-in set of excavated medieval walls. Adjacent is the Drottens Kyrkoruin (Tues-Fri & Sun noon-4pm, Sat 10am-2pm; 10kr), the remains of a medieval church in the basement of another modern building, but the real interest is in the powerful atmosphere of the old streets behind the Domkyrkan. Kiliansgatan , directly behind the cathedral's apse, is a delightful cobbled street, whose fine houses sport tiny courtyards and gardens. In this web of streets, Kulturen (mid-April to Sept daily 11am-5pm, rest of year Tues-Sun noon-4pm; 50kr, under 18s free) is a village in itself of indoor and open-air collections of southern Swedish art, silverware, ceramics, musical instruments, etc. Worth a visit at Finngatan 2 is Skissernas Museum (Museum of Sketches; Tues-Sat noon-4pm, Sun 1-5pm; 30kr special exhibitions, otherwise free) - though renovations may involve temporary closure. Inside the museum is an amazing collection of models, maquettes and sketches of internationally renowned works from Chagall to Matisse, Picasso to Henry Moore. Finish off your meanderings with a visit to the Botaniska Tradgard (daily 6am-8pm) just beyond, an extensive botanical garden with some shaded pathways. Trains arrive on the western edge of town, an easy walk from the centre. The tourist office is opposite the Domkyrkan at Kyrkogatan 11, and is well signposted from the train station (June-Aug Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat & Sun 10am-2pm; rest of year Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, May & Sept also Sat 10am-2pm; tel 046/35 50 40, turistbyran@lund.se ). Internet access is available at Nine (daily noon-1am; 55kr/hour; tel 046/15 90 50), Paradisgatan 1, and at the city library, St. Petri Kyrkogata 6 (tel 046/35 59 90; free). Lund makes an appealing alternative stopover to Malmo or Helsingborg by virtue of private rooms which the tourist office can book for 175kr plus a 50kr booking fee. Its unusual hostel , Taget, Vavaregatan 22 (tel 046/14 28 20; GBP5-10/$8-16), packs you into three-tiered sleeping compartments of six 1940s carriages parked on a branch line behind the train station; turn right and follow the signs. The Ahlstrom , Skomakaregatan 3 (tel 046/211 01 74; GBP20-25/$32-40; closed June-Aug), is a central hotel . Another good value option is Hotel Overliggaren , Bytaregatan 14 (tel 046/15 72 30; GBP20-25/$32-40). There are plenty of cheap places to eat . Cafe Ariman , attached to the Nordic Law Department on Kungsgatan, has been updated, but maintains its shabby, left-wing coffee house appeal with good, cheap light food; while Conditori Lundagard on Kyrkogatan is the classic student cafe. Fellini , opposite the train station, is a popular Italian eatery, while Spot , Klostergatan 14, does excellent meals during the day with gorgeous salads - upstairs is a more wallet-taxing European restaurant. Tegners , next to the student union, serves really fine food at student prices. Lund's most popular meeting place is the Stortorget on Stortorget with a bar, restaurant and club. The best club is Palladium , Stora Sodergatan 13, just south of Stortorget - it has a soul night on Thursdays, minimum age 20. Mejeriet , at the end of Stora Sodergatan, has a good art house cinema (tel 046/14 38 13) and a concert hall with a busy and varied programme.
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