In an effort to show the people of Sweden the diversity of their country’s wildlife, Gustaf Kolthoff shot and stuffed great swathes of it and then had this museum built in 1893 to house the collection. The intricately carved dark wood exterior, based on Norwegian churches, is a clue that this is no ordinary museum, still that doesn’t prepare the visitor for what’s inside. The centrepiece is a two-floor, 360-degree diorama that places Kolthoff’s trophies against painted landscapes – an amazing sight, at this late date curious and slightly unsettling. Much the same can be said of the glass case of bears on the ground floor, which has them in a family group, tentatively holding each other’s paws.

Anyone who thinks that they don’t make ’em like they used to should head this way, to an entirely new eatery that looks as if it’s always been here. Parquet floors, comfortable booths with glass dividers and above them lit signs for goods from the famous original Russ & Daughters store, still thriving a few streets away: canned sprats, kippered salmon, marble halvah, rugelach, bialys. There’s a counter around the bar at which to savour a remarkable Bloody Mary and inventive takes on Jewish-American food – the Eggs Benny has our highest recommendation. Avoid the weekend brunch melee if at all possible, it’s best Monday to Friday.

Time evaporates in these beautiful surroundings. Completed in 1911, this is truly a palace of knowledge and learning, with long marble corridors, murals, chandeliers and a world-class archive. To better appreciate the NYPL’s architecture, audio tours are available. Or settle down in the DeWitt Wallace room, selecting from 200 current magazines and 22 US and foreign newspapers. Homesick Englishmen are advised to avoid the Children’s Center, where the stuffed toys that inspired the characters of Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Kanga, Eeyore and Tigger reside in permanent exile.

The family home of sculptor Chaim Gross (1904-1991) and his wife Renee has been maintained as an exquisite, intimate museum, comprising his studio, exhibition space and private rooms. The house, built in the 1830s and subsequently adapted for industrial use, was converted back for residential living by the Grosses in 1963, with many modern features including a skylight and recessed lighting. Visitors are led through the house by an engaging guide, who will point out the many highlights among Gross’s own works as well as his significant collection of paintings, sculpture and tribal masks. Domestic and culturally enriching too – you may want to move in.

Bahnhof means station, and that’s what this used to be – although not since 1906. Today it’s a modern art museum, with a collection that includes many heavyweights, including Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol and Joseph Beuys, but for us it’s Dan Flavin’s internal and external light installations which really make this museum. The juxtaposition of an elegant 19th-century Prussian building with fluorescent lights feels distinctively of this city.

We can count on a single finger the number of times we’ve eaten really good apple strudel, and it was here that it happened, sitting on a Swiss army blanket at a wooden picnic bench, enjoying the view of leafy Kollwitzstrasse. The strudel was light, nutty and barely sweet at all; an accompanying sandwich was similarly tasty. For those truly smitten by the Meierei experience, they sell the Swiss army blankets too.