Welcome to Enchanting Journeys

Off the beaten track…experience Finland….now

 

Effortlessly chic cities meet remote forests, drawing style gurus and wilderness hikers alike. Endless day, perpetual night. Rocking festivals, majestic aurora borealis. Scandinavia's menu is anything but bland.& Finland is deep north: vast horizons of forests and lakes with revitalising crisp air plus cutting-edge urbanity. Choose summer’s endless light or winter’s eerie frozen magic.

 

Explore the Scandinavia is a historical & cultural region in Northern Europe characterized by a common ethno-cultural North Germanic heritage and mutually intelligible North Germanic languages. In the past, Scandinavia has been defined as the three kingdoms that historically shared the Scandinavian Peninsula. ... Scandinavia is considered to be the northern European peninsula that includes the countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland.

 

The great outdoors is rarely greater than in Europe's big north. Epic expanses of wilderness - forests, lakes, volcanoes - and intoxicatingly pure air mean engaging with nature is utter pleasure. National parks cover the region, offering some of Europe's best hiking as well as anything from kayaking to glacier -walking to bear-watching. Spectacular coasts, whether rugged fjords, cliffs teeming with seabirds, or archipelagos so speckled with islands it looks like an artist flicked a paintbrush at a canvas, invite exploration from the sea.

 

Stolid Nordic stereotypes dissolve in the region's vibrant capitals. Crest-of-the-wave design can be seen in them all, backed by outstanding modern architecture, excellent museums, imaginative solutions for 21^st century urban living, internationally acclaimed restaurants & a nightlife that fizzes along despite hefty beer prices. Live music is a given: you are bound to come across some inspiring local act whether your taste is Viking metal or chamber music. Style here manages to be conservative and innovative at the same time, or perhaps it's just that the new and the old blend with less effort than elsewhere.

 

They have proper seasons up here. Long, cold winters with thick snow carpeting the ground and the sun making only cameo appearances - if at all. Despite the scary subzero temperatures, there is a wealth of things to do: skiing, sledding behind huskies or reindeer, snowmobile safaris to the Arctic Sea, ice fishing, romantic nights in snow hotels, visiting Santa Claus and gazing at the soul-piercing Northern Lights.

 

Spring sees nature's tentative awakening before the explosive summer's long, long days, filled with festivals, beer terraces and wonderful boating, hiking and cycling. Autumn in Scandinavia's forested lands can be the most beautiful of all, as the birches & other deciduous trees display a glorious array of colours, offering marvellous woodland walking before the first snows. You will rarely come across the word ecotourism in Scandinavia, but those values have long been an important part of life here. Generally, green, sustainable solutions are a way of living, rather than a gimmick to attract visitors.

 

Those first breaths of Nordic air always seem fresh and pure & you will be enthralled by Scandinavia's smart modern cities & cosy cottage culture in the wilderness. Spotting the first roadside reindeer will tell you that you have reached the far north, whether for endless Arctic summer days or the eerily sunless polar night. Then, depending on season & place, you will enjoy brilliant hikes, the northern lights, baying huskies, smoking volcanoes, indigenous culture or intriguing wildlife.

 

Your first impression of Finland will be a winter one, when snow-hushed forests & Christmastime conviviality made an instant impact. Everyone will tell you to come back in summer for midnight ‘daytime’ saunas by impossibly picturesque lakes and melt-in-the-mouth fresh berries & potatoes. Fresh air, the Lapland wilderness, the hiking, the wildlife: it is a natural wonderland within an impressively technological modern nation.

 

Winter, too, has a special charm as snow blankets the pines and lakes freeze over. The best way to banish those frosty sub-zero temperatures is to get out & be active. For starters, there is great skiing until May. But how about chartering a team of dogs, a posse of reindeer, or a snowmobile for a trek across snowy solitudes, lit by a beautiful, pale winter sun? Catch the aurora borealis (Northern Lights) after your wood-fired sauna and you will feel blessed by the universe. Need to cool down? A night in an ice hotel or a session of ice-fishing - drill your own hole - should do the trick.

 

Don’t get the idea that the country is just a backwoods emptiness, though. Vibrant cities stock the southern parts, headed by the capital, Helsinki, a cutting-edge urban space with world-famous design & music scenes. Embraced by the Baltic, it is an enticing ensemble of modern & stately architecture, island restaurants, and stylish & quirky bars. And complaints about Finnish food are so last century: the ‘new Suomi’ restaurant scene is kicking, with locally foraged flavours to the fore.

 

The Finland you encounter will depend on the season of your visit, but whatever the month, the call of the wilderness is a siren song not to be resisted. There is something pure in the Finnish air & spirit that is really vital & exciting. With vast tracts of forest, speckled by picture-perfect lakes as if an artist had flicked a blue paintbrush at the map, Suomi offers some of Europe’s best hiking, kayaking & canoeing. A fabulous network of national parks has well-marked routes & regularly spaced huts for overnighting. Bears & elk deep in the forests can be observed on nature-watching trips.

 

Finland’s short but reliable sunny season sees the country burst into life. Finns seem to want to suck every last golden drop out of the summer in the hope that it will last them through the long dark winter months, and there is an explosion of good cheer & optimism. It is a time for music festivals, art exhibitions, lake cruises, midnight sunshine on convivial beer terraces, lazy days at remote waterside cottages & mouth-watering market produce.

 

The real bonus though? The Finns, who do their own thing and are much the better for it. Independent, loyal & welcoming - memorable people in an inspirational country. Make it your business to get to know some.

 

It is really fascinating that there is such awe-inspiringly untamed nature in these upright modern nations. A unique experience is just the beginning……. Take the plunge now & Yep…. the Finland is waiting…….and The Journeys is ready to take you on well, a journey (or journeys) of discovery.

 

 

Come……be inspired & discover the World with us

 

We are in the process of updating our Offerings of experiential journeys to Finland. Please contact us in the interim if you want to explore more options & we will be happy to customise & offer suggestions based on your personal preferences………