Fika on ice, Sweden
We booked a brilliant skating experience in the Stockholm archipelago with True Nature Sweden. There are one-day guided tours for beginners and more experienced skaters (from 13 years upwards). Skating on the sea, or on lakes, feeling the wind blow (faster as you up your speed!) is truly exhilarating. The day starts with some training and a safety briefing. True Nature Sweden organises everything, including lunches made over open fires and fika (coffee and cake) at sunset.
Asa
Feasting on the Faroes
We had an amazing week in the Faroes exploring every corner of the islands, which are known for their steep cliffs, coastal rock formations and sweeping fjords. In winter, these landscapes transform with snow-dusted mountains, frosty shores, and a sense of solitude that amplifies their natural beauty. The islands also have very little light pollution, making them a fantastic place to catch the northern lights. Traditional Faroese food lends itself to winter, you can sample hearty winter dishes in local restaurants, such as ræst (fermented fish or lamb).
Mike
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Sauna, lake, forest, aurora, Finland
Staying in a woodland, lakeside Finnish mökki (cottage) in winter is magical. They are nearly always equipped with a sauna and a jetty; you only need to break the ice and enter the water for the perfect retreat experience. Dark, silent, still, and very, very special. Skiing, hiking, ice-fishing from the door. The rail network in Finland is good and taxis are surprisingly obliging for getting to out-of-the way locations. My choice would be somewhere around Mikkeli, 140 miles north-east of Helsinki. Views of the aurora borealis from the doorstep are a bonus, too.
Chrissie
Cross-country skiing in Norway
We like to spend one winter weekend a year in Ustaoset, a mountain village two hours by train from Bergen. Unlike neighbouring Geilo, there’s no downhill ski resort or sophisticated Nordic cuisine; people come to Ustaoset for its cosy cabins and extensive cross-country skiing trails. From mid-February, some of the huts in the area (for example, Prestholt) open up and sell waffles and hot chocolate, making for a perfect skiing day trip goal, or you can choose to read your book by the fire with homemade pizza and local beer in the community-run cafe Presttun by the railway station.
Benjamin
Long snowy walks, Sweden
Embrace real winter! A day in Stockholm stocking up on food and a two-hour drive north through a blizzard to a cosy, quirky cottage in the woods (rescued and rebuilt there) near Sandviken. Our Airbnb host had filled the place with antique Christmas decorations and homemade treats. Nothing to do but take long snowy walks, try cross-country skiing in the nearby ski park, and play games. Utterly relaxing. The best part? The Swedes make Christmas feel special rather than tacky. Becca
Pastel pink sunrises, Norway
Tromsø in northern Norway is any winter-lover’s dream. Picture this: pastel pink sunrises, traditional Scandinavian fisher houses with a backdrop of snowy mountains, and a town full of cosy restaurants to escape the cold. We stayed in this gorgeous yet affordable Airbnb and spent our days exploring the frozen fjords. During the polar night, we hung out with a herd of reindeer and learned about Sámi traditions. Another highlight was Tromsø’s swimming pool: a huge waterpark and sauna complex that really warmed us up after our Arctic adventures.
Annmarie
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Back to Aarhus
I’m just back from my second trip to Aarhus, Denmark’s second city, and I am already planning to go back. I love the architecture: the cute traditional houses; the ultra-modern dock area; all the gorgeous brick apartment buildings everywhere; the cool 1940s Radhus by Arne Jacobsen; and the Aros gallery with Olafur Eliasson’s rainbow panorama nearby. The highlight for me was Den Gamle By, an outdoor museum of buildings from the 1600s to the 2000s, including 1970s interiors, 1920s shops and a real pizza restaurant from 2014. As a bonus, in December, it becomes a huge Christmas market.
Kaye
Iceland in January
My partner and I based ourselves at the Hotel Rangá in Hella, east of Reykjavík for a January break in Iceland. We then spent the next four days driving around Iceland’s very long straight roads between the spectacular scenery. We drove to beautiful icy waterfalls and geysers returning each evening in the hope of witnessing the northern lights from the geothermal hot pots outside the hotel rooms. On our last day, we drove for more than three hours to Jökulsárlón glacier lake and enjoyed a few hours of sunlight as the only visitors there - a heck of a drive but worth it. Everywhere in Iceland the landscape is bonkers and the people are friendly.
Layla Astley
Copenhagen with the kids
Travelling to Copenhagen with my seven-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter in February proved perfect. We wrapped up and wandered around the city, through parks, up spiral steps around a church spire and through colourful Christiania. There were plenty of indoor places to warm up in too; the aquarium, the Lego shop (of course) and the National Museum were highlights. Public ice rinks around the city are fun and inexpensive, if you like skating, or watching the kids skating while drinking hot wine! They both loved it and it was relaxing for me as a solo mum too.
Lucy
Winning tip: a hot tub and a cold dip in Sweden
Sweden’s beach towns are beautiful year-round, which I discovered on a November weekend break in the summer hotspot of Båstad. Without the bustle of the usual crowds, the picturesque, winding streets were silent and dusted with the first snowfall. As scrimping students, we stayed in a spare room, cooked meals surrounded by candles and wrapped up warm to brave the sauna. At about £12, the bathhouse and bubbling hot tub overlook views of the vast Bjäre peninsula, where you must take an invigorating dip in the Kattegat sea. Swedes aren’t fussed by the cold.
Caitlin
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