The Times - UK (2022-06-11)

the times Saturday June 11 2022

Travel 43

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rorbuer (fishermen’s huts) offer rustic-

chic in an uncluttered, no-nonsense

way, while the restaurant adheres to

the New Nordic ethos of hyper-local

and super-fresh. By all means join the

team foraging and cooking, fishing and

hiking. But leave time to unplug from

life. Glorious.

Details B&B doubles from £1,350

for three nights (holmenlofoten.no).

Fly to Narvik

Sammal Cottage

Tampere, Finland

Finland’s Tampere district is the sauna

capital of the world — there are more

here than anywhere else. Shared

saunas for the five cottages at Niemi-

Kapee farm in the Finnish lakeland

come in three varieties: smoke (very

traditional), old (a tub stove in a

charmingly rickety cabin) and new

(a modern wooden number) and

shamans lead esoteric rituals of song

and whisky. Equally you can stick to

the private sauna at your modern,

glass-walled cabin amid juniper and ash

forest. Lake Nasijarvi is just there. So is

a rowing boat.

Details Four nights’ self-catering for six

from £587 (niemikapee.fi). Fly to

Tampere or Helsinki

The Thief

Oslo, Norway

After the opening of last year’s

blockbuster new Munch Museum, Oslo

comes of age as a travel destination with

the opening on June 11 of the National

Museum, the largest display of arts in

the Nordic region. Stay moments away

in the design hotel that pioneered

waterside living. It’s glamorous and pop-

art spectacular in public areas, all dark

walls, leather sofas and artworks nabbed

from the neighbouring Astrup Fearnley

Museum. While balconies come as

standard, an extra 60 quid buys views

down the Oslofjord in premium rooms.

Details B&B doubles from £289

(thethief.com). Fly to Oslo

Jakobs

Gotland, Sweden

Mention Gotland to Swedes and they’ll

talk about the special combination of

luminous light, magical beaches and

traditional villages found in the country’s

largest island. You’ll roll your eyes, book

this three-bedroom farmhouse anyway

then discover it was all true. In two acres

of garden, this is a farmhouse of

understated style with the beach a mile

away through fields. It’s a place to live

your #bestlife: simple days on the coast

and meals curated from farm shops

where you pay via honesty box.

Details Seven nights’ self-catering for

eight from £1,600 (jakobsgotland.com).

Fly to Visby or to Stockholm then ferry

to Gotland

KAJ Hotel

Copenhagen, Denmark

There are many grand hotels in

Copenhagen. This is not one of those,

although it is a similarly special stay

with the best water views in the capital.

North of Christianshavn, it’s a floating

microhotel made with recycled

materials, furnished simply with laid-

back Danish flair, and offering a couple

of kayaks should you fancy paddling

to Nyhavn harbour. It also has a

kitchenette, but given the stellar eating

relax afterwards? Of course you would:

try a sauna or bath on the wharf or a

massage in the forest, then meals of

grilled venison and fresh trout.

Details One night’s full board for two

from £484, including bike hire

(canopyandstars.co.uk).

Fly to Kristiansand

Hotel Brosundet

Alesund, Norway

You want seaside escapism.

You also want a city break.

The solution is a former

harbour warehouse where

fishing boats and sea kayaks

pass right under the windows.

Expect old beams, linen in

soothing shades of coffee and pale

grey, conversation-killing views at

breakfast, and nightcaps before the fire

in a spectacular central atrium.

Outside is what Norwegians

consider their most beautiful city,

a pastel townscape of art

nouveau gables, turrets and

flourishes.

Details Three nights’ B&B

from £1,050pp, including

flights and transfers

(originaltravel.co.uk)

Holmen

Lofoten, Norway

It’s a great plan: get back to basics

in a fisherman’s cabin at the edge of

the world. The flaw? No showers or food.

Holmen takes care of all that. Set on an

awesome bay in the Lofoten Islands, its

shore across a gangway to join him on
farm chores and nature walks.
Details One night’s self-catering for
five from £245 (canopyandstars.co.uk).
Fly to Kristiansand

Solstrand Hotel & Spa

Bergen, Norway
Before Norway was swept by minimalist
design, its holiday hotels were like this
weatherboard place near Bergen.
Christian Michelsen built it in 1896 then
left to become independent Norway’s
first prime minister. What madness —
the views across Bjornafjorden beat
anything in Oslo. Still managed by the
family, it strikes the balance between
elegant and casual that Norwegians
seem to achieve intuitively: handsome
interiors, a classy restaurant and a spa
with fjord views. Swim in the lake then
bolt for the sauna.
Details Seven nights’ B&B from
£1,652pp, including flights and car hire
(sunvil.co.uk)

Isbolaget

Donso, Sweden
This is the best of both worlds in the
Gothenburg archipelago: it’s on a slow-
paced island almost free of cars yet an
hour from the city by ferry. Occupying
an old ice store on the harbour pier, it
has muted colours to match the water
and skies, and lots of natural wood in the
rooms. The pace quickens at weekends
when surrounding islanders arrive for
the restaurant’s excellent unfussy food.
Just what you need after a day on rented

bikes. Just what you need after a day

simply watching boats too.

Details B&B doubles from £120

(wherethewildis.co.uk). Fly to

Gothenburg

Arctic Bath

Harads, Sweden

When I visited a few years ago

the coolest new spa hotel in

Swedish Lapland was locked in

ice. In summer it’s afloat in the

broad Lule River: same

wonderful massages, same

saunas and steam rooms, no ice

in the central pool of its

doughnut-shaped building.

Double-height land cabins are

more glamorous, but I’d choose

minimalist floating cabins right now.

You’ll wake to reflected light

shimmering on walls, and start each

day by the water with a coffee on

the deck. A swim? Why not?

Details Three nights’ half-board

from £798pp, including

transfers (discover-the-

world.com). Fly to Lulea

Canvas Hotel

Telemark, Norway

The manager is ex-Royal

Marines, the cook has been to

the South Pole eight times, the

butler is a wildlife guide — this was

never going to be ordinary. See it as a

Nordic safari camp except with lakeside

yurts and mountain biking on bespoke

trails. Would sir and madam care to

massage in

grilled veni

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A canal in

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Helenekilde Badehotel,

Copenhagen

ALAMY; INGEBORG LINDSETH