The Times - UK (2022-06-11)

the times Saturday June 11 2022

44 Travel

pandemic? The lighthouse has just come

on to the British market, spruced into a

swish nine-bedroom hotel of pared-back

design. You’re remote on wave-washed

Hamneskar island but they’ve installed

a cracking bar and restaurant. With

kayaking, fishing and sailing, there’s

plenty to keep you occupied, although

I expect you’ll spend as much time

gawping at seascapes. In summer they

set up one bed on the sea cliffs. Perfect.

Details Four nights’ full board from

£2,395pp, including flights and transfers

(regent-holidays.co.uk)

but there’s no faulting the variety in

one of the Nordics’ largest spas: more

than 50 treatments, myriad rituals and

good old-fashioned swimming in a

brisk sea. Upgrade to deluxe for views

over the coast.

Details B&B doubles from £200

(farrisbad.no). Fly to Oslo

Pater Noster

Gothenburg, Sweden

Did you read about the Gothenburg film

festival held in a lighthouse during the

W near by — Noma or Hart bakery for
starters — I wouldn’t bet on using it.
Details Room-only doubles from £344
(kajhotel.dk). Fly to Copenhagen

Houseboat

Jyvaskyla, Finland
Why are Finns officially the happiest
nation? Because where the rest of us slum
it on boats, they take summer holidays on
these floating cottages with onboard
saunas, abundant outdoor seating and
a barbecue area — just the job for
summer’s endless twilight. Unlike your
standard cottage, they’re a cinch to move
should the mood take you. Beyond the
marina base at Jyvaskyla are lakes
Paijanne and Keitele, vast waterworlds
where birch-fuzzed islets appear like
mirages, tiny beaches scallop wooded
bays, and village restaurants serve grilled
fish for dinner.
Details Five nights’ self-catering for two
from £2,434, including transfers
(discover-the-world.com). Fly to Helsinki

Hotel Union Oye

Alesund, Norway
Norwegian royalty came for holidays in
the 1890s. So did Edvard Grieg, Jerome
K Jerome and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Now it’s your turn to check into a chalet-
style luxury hotel that reopened under
new owners this month. They haven’t
mucked around with it too much, just
introduced modern food and comforts
into an interior like a set for a period
drama. What’s outside is unchanged.
If royals came for elegance, artists and

adventurers came for the mountainous

fjord, a limitless playground for guests.

Details B&B doubles from £398 (62.no).

Fly to Alesund

Farris Bad

Larvik, Norway

Spas are all about relaxation, so it’s

appropriate to find a good beach two

hours from Oslo and erect a hotel on

pylons above the soft swish of waves.

What Larvik residents thought of its

daring glass-walled design is unknown,

Hotel Union Oye,

Alesund, Norway

Pater Noster Lighthouse,

Gothenburg, Sweden

THOMAS EKSTROM; ERIK NISSEN JOHANSEN