Scandinavia: Melting myths in the Nordics

Nordic countries are the prime habitat for tourists wanting to get away from the crowds and back to nature, but the bulk of the UK population, including travel agents, know very little about Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland.

For a start, geography always trips up the unwary. These countries are usually thrown together as Scandinavia, a term which only encompasses Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Finland is in the Baltic, sandwiched between Sweden and Russia; Iceland is out on a limb in the North Atlantic.

All five countries were saddled for years with a reputation for being expensive, and that kept the visitors away. But falling exchange rates have brought prices – other than alcohol, which is still dear – down to London levels and below.

This, combined with their reputation for being safe and eco-friendly, has encouraged holidaymakers to visit Scandinavian and Nordic countries, with lakeside holidays, Father Christmas, holiday parks, gushing geysers and picturesque scenery all on offer.

So which country should your customer visit?

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• An 11-day return sailing from Bergen to Kirkenes on the Hurtigruten ferry. Established more than 110 years ago as a lifeline for Norway’s remote villages, the route is still a vital transport link. Ships depart daily and hug the coast, calling at over 30 ports to pick up and drop off people and cargo, and these days cruise passengers go along for the scenery.
  
• A motoring holiday with self-catering or hotel accommodation. Clients can take their car with Fjord Line from Newcastle to Bergen or DFDS Seaways from Newcastle to Kristiansand.
  
• A killer whale safari. These huge mammals arrive off the coast in October in pursuit of Atlantic herring, which spend winter off Norway.

Client profile: older clients from top socio-economic brackets, although families self-cater in summer and seek out the snow in winter.

Did you know? If you flip Norway on its very southern tip, Kirkenes, right up in the north, would reach Rome.

Typical packages: away from ski holidays and city breaks, Norway tends to be featured by specialist operators such as Fjord Line, DFDS Seaways, Nortours, Specialised Tours, Taber Holidays and Scantours, who between them offer packages ranging from an Arctic winter adventure in search of the King Crab to an escorted motoring tour. A four-day Killer Whale Safari with Nortours costs from £867 per person in October and November excluding flights.

• Visit Father Christmas and his elves at their home in Finnish Lapland.
  
• Relax in a country cottage – complete with sauna and boat – in the Finnish Lakeland to the east of the country.
  
• Go on a two-day husky safari spending a night in the wilderness, ride a snowmobile, lasso a reindeer, try your hand at snow-shoeing or cross-country skiing – all in one week, at the Harriniva Wilderness Holiday Centre.

Client profile: families and adventurous types looking for something very different.

Did you know? Finland became an autonomous Grand Duchy of Russia in 1809 and only gained independence in 1919.

Typical packages: Finland comes into its own in winter, when the brochures are full of day trips and short breaks to see Santa, and adventure holidays in the snow. Cosmos, First Choice, Canterbury Travel, Highlife, Nortours, Esprit and others offer visits to Lapland. Nortours also has activity and skiing holidays. Specialised Tours has a six-night winter adventure week at Harriniva from £1,295 per person full-board with flights and use of thermal clothing.

• Visit Tivoli Gardens theme park and see the famous Little Mermaid on a weekend break in Copenhagen. The rent-a-bike scheme is a great way to get around – put a coin in the slot and get it back when you return the bicycle.
  
• Pack the children into the car, book a holiday park and visit the original Legoland, in Billund. Clients can take their car with DFDS Seaways from Harwich to Esbjerg.
  
• Take a flydrive holiday from Copenhagen to Odense, the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen, and into Jutland, to visit Kolding and Ribe, the oldest town in Denmark.

Client profile: holiday parks attract families, Copenhagen is popular with visitors of all ages. Did you know? The Danish word Hygge roughly translates as generally feeling good with life – the Danes love it, even though it’s originally a Norwegian word.

Typical packages: there are plenty of city-break packages to Copenhagen. Scantours has holiday centres and Legoland weekends, but the biggest selection comes from DFDS Seaways, which has country cottages, holiday centres, an eight-night grand tour of Denmark from £469 per person and a 10-night motoring holiday between the Scandinavian capitals from £589 per person. Prices include return ferry crossing with a car and six or eight nights’ bed-and-breakfast accommodation.

• Soak away the stresses and strains of modern living in the geothermal waters of the mineral-rich Blue Lagoon, said to leave the skin healthy and glowing.
  
• See gushing geysers, the thundering Gullfoss waterfall and Thingvellir National Park on a Golden Circle tour from Reykjavik.
  
• Hire a car or organise a tour around Iceland in summer when the roads are open.

Client profile: adventurous types of all ages who want to get back to nature.

Did you know? Despite its name, Iceland does not spend the year frozen in ice. That joy is experienced by Greenland, which every 10 years or so sends one of its polar bears to Iceland on an ice floe. Iceland always sends it back.

Typical packages: city-break operators including Cresta, Thomas Cook Signature and Eurobreak have breaks to Reykjavik, and Nortours has escorted tours and flydrives in summer and short breaks based in and around Reykjavik in winter. Scantours offers similar product and is bringing out a dedicated Iceland brochure for summer 2006. The largest choice comes from Icelandair Holidays – short breaks, escorted tours and flydrives. The seven-night Three Corners flydrive starts in Egilsstadir in the east and takes drivers through Akureyri to Lake Myvatn and Reykjavik. Prices start at £1,119 per person bed and breakfast in April or October including flights and car hire.

• Chill out for a night in the original Ice Hotel at Jukkasjärvi in Swedish Lapland. The hotel is rebuilt each year in November and melts by April. There’s an Absolut Ice Bar, of course, and reindeer skins are provided to keep out the cold.
  
• Spend a few days in Stockholm, the city built on 14 islands connected by bridges and ferries. Have a coffee and cake in Gamla Stan – the old town – and don’t miss the Vasa Museum which houses the warship that sank in Stockholm harbour on its maiden voyage.
  
• Cruise through the countryside from Gothenburg to Stockholm on the Göta Canal. The 350-mile journey, through 65 locks and eight lakes, takes three days.

Client profile: well-travelled professionals aged 45-plus, but younger clientele are attracted to Stockholm.

Did you know? August is crayfish month in Sweden; they appear in all the supermarkets and are cooked in brine and eaten cold from their shells with gusto. Sucking and slurping noises – and bibs – are a must.

Typical packages: apart from Stockholm city breaks, featured by operators including Cresta and Thomas Cook Signature, Sweden is sold mainly by specialists such as Scantours and Nortours, which has flydrives in summer and skiing in winter. DFDS Seaways has motoring holidays and country cottages, and Crystal Ski keeps a toehold in the country with its Ice Hotel Adventure, which costs from £976 per person for a three-night break – one night in the Ice Hotel, one in an Arctic cottage and one in a ‘warm’ hotel – including snowmobiling and other activities.