Mainly, a chapter on royal weekend escapes .
Aranjuez - Aranjuez, Spain (just south of Madrid)
Sanssouci - Potsdam, Germany (former residence of Prussian king Frederick the Great)
Drottingholm - Stockholm, Sweden
Schonbrunn - Vienna, Austria
La Quinta del Duque de Arco - Madrid, Spain
Schwetzingen - Mannheim, Germany
You have to read the book. I almost packed up tonight, these gardens are amazing!
Continuing my review (and praise) or the Affordable Europe series in the NY Times, I just realized that I have unfairly remarked upon the absence of Stockholm from this review. As it seems, the editors did not treat Scandinavia unjustly and did feature Copenhagen, the Danish capital. While their choice is arguable (why go for Copenhagen and not for Stockholm? after all, IKEA sells better than Carlsberg), there are too many cities in Europe to be covered in this 16-city review.
If you read the article, you will find out that most top Copenhagen museums are now free of charge, and the new Copenhagen Opera House is much revered.
Also, you might want to consider the following hotels for your stay:
Avenue
Clarion
Comfort Esplanaden
First Skt Petri
Opera
If you are equally divided between Sweden and Denmark, consider this package Copenhagen - Stockholm combining both capitals.
While they have ignored this Scandinavian city during their April Budget Europe release, the NY Times thoughtfully published a travel article on Stockholm this past weekend. If you like IKEA, then you will like Stockholm, the thinking goes, but Denny Lee certainly offers you more reasons to like the Swedish capital. From 'Why Go Now' to 'How to Get Around', this article certainly rivals the more established city guides (although not nearly as detailed).
For those in the mood for a bit of Scandinavian exploration, Frommer's guide Europe by Rail promotes a 10-day Scandinavian Triangle: Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm.
I can only offer you the first and the last points, because inter-country railway agreements make rail travel to Oslo less smooth than previously thought. The Scandinavian Triangle will be coming soon to a website near you. However, until then, enjoy the Scandinavian duo: Copenhagen - Stockholm by X2000 (the futuristic-named high-speed train).