Sweden's long, cold nights might put you off going there in winter, unless, that is, you are in search of that elusive 21st-Century luxury: a good night's sleep.

The ferry cuts through the icy Baltic waters as it makes its way around the eastern Swedish archipelago. Place names like Skarpö, Hjälmö and Gällnö are painted on rust-red huts lining the jetties. The suffix "Ö" means island in Swedish, a pictorial representation of a land mass surrounded by sea with two tiny people about to dock.

I am the only person to disembark at Svartsö, one of the few islands in the archipelago where accommodation remains open in winter. I make my way along a snowy track to Skärgårdshotell where I am shown to a cabin on the edge of a forest overlooking the dark expanse of Lake Svartsöfladen. It feels about as far away from it all as you can get.

My room is Swedish simplicity at its most minimal: a bed, a chair and a bedside table. No television, and not much else to distract me from the pristine tranquillity of my surroundings. This is just as well as I am here, primarily, to sleep.

In an age of relentless connectivity, sleep has become the ultimate luxury and spawned a new travel trend: sleep tourism, where sleep-deprived travellers are choosing their hotel on the basis of its pillow menu or booking themselves into away-from-it-all sleep retreats with tailored sleep-inducing activities.

Sweden has a different, more natural approach to sleep tourism, however, taking its cue from the landscape and a more traditional way of life. Often associated with bustling, connected cities like Stockholm and Gothenberg, come winter Sweden embraces its sleepy side and is inviting visitors to do the same.

"The abundance of accessible nature and large areas of peaceful wilderness, combined with dark nights, cool temperatures and a cultural emphasis on relaxation, makes Sweden an ideal location for sleep tourism," explains Christian Benedict, a sleep researcher at Sweden's Uppsala University. "Studies have shown that technology and the way it impinges on our lives has a significant effect on our sleep, and spending more time in nature is tied to better mental health and fewer sleepless nights."

Well World

BBC Travel's Well World is a global take on wellness that explores different ways that cultures the world over strive for a healthy lifestyle.

When I decided to try it for myself, I chose the Stockholm archipelago, a nature-lovers paradise with more than 30,000 islands, many of them uninhabited. Svartsö is one of the larger isles but has only around 65 year-round residents. A two-hour ferry ride from Stockholm, in summer it's a popular getaway, luring weekenders and holiday makers with summerhouses, a clutch of restaurants and abundance of nature in which to walk, swim, cycle and kayak.

In the winter months, the Skärgårdshotell is the only accommodation open and its cosy forest cabins, set away from the main building in their own peaceful wooded area, offer the type of peace and quiet that I am after, while not leaving me completely alone in the wilderness.

I am a city dweller with a restless mind. I often wake several times a night and rise early feeling the need to tackle the long list of things that have kept me awake. Here, on the island in winter, there is little for me to do except hike, read and........

© BBC