Malmö is a flirtatious smile and a suggestive shrug of the shoulder which leaves you wondering if you just received an invitation or a rejection. You amble along pleasant pedestrian streets and through relaxing gardens. Across historic squares, past typically Scandinavian boutiques and towards classic European cafés.

Malmö yearns for your affection but doesn’t quite know what to do with it when it succeeds. The city isn’t quite used to the attention. Malmö has always been pretty but these days more people are discovering the fact. Sweden’s third-largest city has traditionally been regarded by the rest of the country as provincial. It's a long way to Stockholm from here and their odd dialect hasn't helped either.

But Malmö is enjoying a revival these days. The reason is, ironically enough, a bridge to another country - Denmark. With the opening of the Öresunds Bridge Malmö was back on the map. Uncle Copenhagen may regard Malmö as a quaint new suburb, but Malmö has latched on tight to the benefits of its proximity close to a European capital after centuries of isolation.

The majority of visitors are from Copenhagen. (Unless you bought a ticket for “Copenhagen” from Ryanair – they land here and many people who didn’t read the small print are shocked to find themselves in Sweden). But from the Central Station in Copenhagen it’s only 35 minutes by train – a mere 130 kroner return. The Swedish krone is weaker so the savings for Danes are greater. Not to mention that being able to pop over to another country for lunch, shopping or art exhibitions is just plain cool. Danes joke that Malmö has come home since the southern region of Scania used to be Danish.

While Malmö resembles a large Danish town in its architecture and atmosphere, this is Sweden after all. Malmö’s smile will charm you. Go on then. Have a flirt.