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Featured in the Times, 25 December 2025.
Let me tell you a story. About 15 years ago I visited the Lofoten islands in early February. It was awesome but hard, an austere land of monochrome beauty. When I returned a few years later in early summer the islands had the brightly coloured brilliance of early Disney films. Acid-green leaves! Red cabins beside cobalt sea! No wonder so many happy Norwegians were outside.
Although thousands of Britons visit Scandinavia in winter, spring and summer are the seasons Scandinavians live for. That’s when they go for utepils (drinking beer outdoors) and embrace friluftsliv, the concept of “open-air living” best understood as the life-affirming value of being outside. I mean, who wouldn’t? Denmark, Norway and Sweden, as well as their Nordic neighbour Finland, have a helluva lot of outside to be in.
That’s why we’ve compiled this list of new spring and summer holidays (with a few new winter trips in case you can’t wait). Skim through and you’ll notice two things. First, our pictures seem to have been created by AI. They weren’t, honestly. You never quite get used to the scale and drama of the landscapes here, especially in Norway’s fjords and Svalbard. Though less exaggerated, Finland and Sweden have a calm, understated beauty — go north for low pine-forested hills or south to to take it easy among lakes and islands.
The second thing you’ll notice is just how many activities are on offer. Getting out and actually doing stuff is part of Scandinavia’s cultural DNA, encouraged by laws about the right to roam and enabled by endless summer days. That’s why even luxury hotels nudge you outdoors.
Do so and you’ll notice something else. To be in nature in Scandinavia makes you feel better. It’s something the Inuit call nanurevinja, a concept which combines ideas of wonder and reverence in nature. Think of it as awe. There’s not much awe on a Spanish costa in high summer, even if you can handle the temperatures. Indeed, I’d argue it’s only once you’ve experienced a Nordic summer that you appreciate the distinct awe of a Nordic winter. That, however, is another story.
Rail and sail the length of Norway
Clear space in your phone memory because this Hurtigruten Signature voyage up the length of Norway packs in the scenery. First up, one of the world’s most beautiful rail journeys, the three-day Bergen and Flam Railway from Oslo via Unesco-listed Naeroyfjord. You’re right: extraordinary. Also just a warm-up for ten days’ cruising up the Norwegian coast. When you’ve finished goggling at the scenery in Traena and Lofoten there’s a crossing of the Baring Sea to Svalbard. You’ll arrive at Longyearbyen by sea, like Arctic explorers of old. Unlike them you’ve a 14-course menu waiting at Huset restaurant.
Whales and lights in Tromso
All set for a quick blast of Arctic this winter? Then to Tromso we go for a bucket-list long weekend. After a day pottering around Norway’s polar town, 220 miles inside the Arctic Circle, you board a small ship for an overnight mini-cruise in search of the humpback, fin and orca whales that come to feed each winter. That’s the first bucket-list experience. The second is to see the northern lights at sea, where light pollution is at its lowest. The last night returns to Tromso — and I can recommend the world’s most northerly brewpub, Olhallen.
Remote luxury on the Traena
Before you read this, find the Traena archipelago on a map. Remote isn’t it? Now go to Google Images. Yup, those mountains and fishing villages are genuine. Its wild escapism will become more refined when Ytri Island Retreat opens in April. I’ve no idea what the fishing village of Husoy thinks of having a Relais & Châteaux stay in its midst, but it looks splendid: minimalist decor that doesn’t upstage the scenery, sea views from every room, a good restaurant and a spa, everything from kayaks to diving gear to borrow.
Through Sweden by train
When I travelled through Sweden by train recently I ate meatballs, scored hiking tips from passengers and drank a lot of coffee as scenery slipped past. The journey felt peak Swedish. Goodness knows why you’d self-drive.
A gourmet break in Gothenburg
Heads up, food lovers. Hallsnas is a historic lakeside manor hotel 20 minutes from Gothenburg with a two-Michelin-star restaurant, Signum. It’s the sort of sophisticated dining experience Scandinavia does so well: effortlessly relaxed style with an 18-course new Nordic menu inspired, apparently, by air, water, earth and fire. You’ll experience all four elements in sauna suites which open in February — air and water can be enjoyed from private terraces that overlook Lake Landvettersjon, your wood-fired sauna ticks fire, and woodland walks take care of earth. Just add shopping in Gothenburg’s Haga district for a long weekend of dreams.
Self-drive in Dalarna
When I asked a Swedish pal about the Dalarna region of central Sweden he told me about pine-forested mountains and rust-red houses beside lakes; the paint was a by-product of the local copper industry, he explained. He mentioned Sami culture and that Sweden’s wooden horse toys originated here. It’s as Swedish as it gets, he said.
Summer in the Swedish Arctic
When I visited Arctic Retreat in winter some years ago, when the Rane River was frozen and ambient temperatures of minus 22C casually numbed my face, I asked what it was like in summer. A guide told me how he took guests on hikes and fat-bike rides in the pine forest where we had taken a snowshoe walk. How people went canoeing and fishing on the river and swam beneath the midnight sun. The luxury log cabins with hot tubs and top-notch cuisine? Entirely unchanged. In short, it’s a similar wilderness escape but in T-shirts.
Island-hop the world’s largest archipelago
It’s a tough decision: which of northern Europe’s loveliest archipelagos to visit, Stockholm or Finland’s Turku? The solution’s obvious: do both. That’s the thinking of a self-guided tour by ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki. It’s a two-nation trip where identities blur in Mariehamn, the cute capital of Aland island, then Turku, a medieval city of islets and saunas. Your time is yours to programme, but it would be a shame to miss the shore-hugging cycle ride from Mariehamn to Jarso. Bring a picnic and your swimming cossie.
Luxury cabins in Lapland
Although multigen breaks in the Arctic sound tempting, cabins in winter can be a bit, well, rustic. Wilderness Hotel Saariselka, which opened in Finnish Lapland this month, introduces luxe to the log cabin. Its spacious Kairapolanne Villas are sophisticated havens with five en suite bedrooms, a proper kitchen for relaxed nights in (there’s a restaurant on site) and picture windows should the northern lights shimmer. If they do, head to your terrace hot tub pronto. This trip includes a husky safari, aurora snowmobiling and snowshoeing — just some of the Arctic jollies available at an activity centre.
A Bothnian Bay road trip
Congratulations, Oulu in Finland, 2026’s European Capital of Culture. It’s the gateway for a two-nation road-trip circuit along the Gulf of Bothnia coastline. En route are Unesco-listed Gammelstad in Sweden, where hundreds of 17th-century cottages stand in neat rows, and a snug cabin stay on Rovogern after a fish dinner at Kvarkenfisk. There’s also a soaring bridge drive to access the low-lying Kvarken archipelago, Finland’s only world heritage site. Yet just as memorable are the quiet pleasures of a Nordic road trip, such as sunlit water strobing through trees and big skies.
Like James Stewart, we fell in love with the Nordics almost 20 years ago. It is a region that holds a special place in our hearts and one which continues to excite and inspire on every visit. Our destination specialists - who between them have travelled the length and breadth of Norway, Sweden and Finland - are on hand to advise, inspire and plan your perfect break. Call us on 020 8568 4499 or reach out to us on Live Chat.
6th January 2026
Sunvil's holidays are designed by passionate travellers just like you. Our reservations experts and product teams, many of whom have been with us for many years, are passionate about our destinations and, through their personal, first-hand knowledge can answer any questions that you may have. They are well qualified to advise and recommend, based on your own holiday criteria. We can point you to those special, little-known places, some not found even in guidebooks.
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