Living in New Zealand taught me lots of things but one of the biggest was to appreciate the travel opportunities we have on our European doorstep. Since being back in the UK I’ve been better but it was a chance meeting with some Norweigans in India (clearly not quite on board with my own advice there) that made me realise I’ve never explored any of Scandinavia.

Starting with a simple city break I plan to explore lots more of Scandinavia in the year to come. The adventurous outdoors was a little hard to come by over a cold November weekend but I’ve a few plans in the pipeline for some trips with a more outdoorsy slant. Here are some of my ideas, I’d love to hear your experiences to help me narrow down the list!

• Hiking the seven summits of Bergen
• Kayaking around Stockholm
• Getting geothermal and wild camping in Iceland
• Cross country skiing in Oslo – You can get the metro to the ski tracks!
• Snow shoeing in the Finnish Arctic Circle
• Exploring the Lofoten Islands by bike
• Norway Mountain festival, Andalsnes
• Adventure weekend in Voss, Norway
• Karhunkierros (Bears Ring Trail), Oulanka National Park, Finland

Meanwhile here is a picture story of my weekend…

I would heartily recommend Copenhagen for a city break. Tivoli even managed to make a scrooge like me feel pretty festive. We ate and drank so well and walked our little socks off – my daily step count was well up there with some of my longer mountain days. One piece of advice I would give is to avoid including a Monday in your stay as nearly all the museums, galleries and, much to my disappointment, the Botanical Gardens are shut.

Happy Travels,

Zoe