Category Archives for "North Europe"

During the winter, you’ll find plenty of things to do in Lapland, a stunning, snowy extravaganza that shimmers with the oomph of the human spirit. Lapland itself spans Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia. It reflects the long held traditions of the Sami more than modern map making convention.

Fika. So said the letters, so said my host. It was not yet four in the afternoon and I began to brace myself.

The word fika, I decided, had all the hallmarks of a potent local spirit, the sort that could stand in for paint stripper on an identity parade and would give you a headache as soon as look at you…

As walks in the woods go, it’s an unusual twist on a peaceful time: fitting my face to a metal grid, taking a deep breath and letting out a scream. And another. And another.

What makes it even stranger is that that’s what Oslo encourages you to do.

Searching for the northern lights in the Arctic Circle can be one of the very best things to do in Lapland in the winter. Here’s my experience of the Aurora Domes in Finland and the quest to see the northern lights. What is it like to look for the northern lights in Finland? The very words […]

Sponsored Post: Visit Sweden 7 Things You Didn’t Know About Sweden Sweden. Somehow it’s somewhere I’ve only managed to visit in the cold. A little cold, in Malmo. And a lot cold in the Arctic Circle, slipping beneath reindeer skins and slipping hot lingonberry juice in the dazzling Ice Hotel where the rooms felt balmy […]

The Lure of Finnish Design Shops When the streets outside wear inky black and swathes of snow, it stands to reason that people focus more on what’s inside. Of the many intriguing aspects of Helsinki, one facet was the capital’s obvious love of design. For over 130 years, a national organisation has been promoting design in Finland […]

Living Below Freezing Travel lady luck seems to be teasing me of late. She whisks me away to cool locations (in this case, quite literally) then douses me with fever as if to challenge my travel nerves of steel. I stumbled from the train into the inky night at Seinajoki, battling internal hot toxins with an […]

Ice Fishing in Finland Today’s travel article on ice fishing in Finland comes from writer Mike Took. Take it away Mike… Give a man an auger and he’ll fish… eventually All is calm in the sleepy wilderness of Torassieppi Reindeer Farm. Located in the far north of Finnish Lapland, this is where people come to […]

Why would you sleep in an ice hotel? Why would you sleep in an ice hotel? Because it is beautiful. Because it is like sleeping in art. And waking with poetry. Introducing the Ice Hotel The Ice Hotel in Kiruna, Sweden is a masterpiece in glacial sculpture. Built and then dissolved by the sun each […]

Picture the scene. You’re walking through a Swedish market, your young daughter holding your hand. She sees row upon row of sweet candy canes, bright luminescent swirls of sugar and mint that gleam in scarlet and white, holly leaf green and ivy, forming…

In Copenhagen, hygge is the honeyed word on everyone’s lips, an audio mashup of “huggy” and “ooh-ga.” The rain may fall and the winds may howl, while…