Finding 'Kos' by Travelling Slow

Fresh air, green rolling hills and waterfalls all within a UNESCO heritage fjord landscape make Aurland quite clearly a great choice. However much like the fjords themselves, there is much more to this recommendation below the surface. Aurland is more of a philosophical selection too, with the creation of an eco-lodge created from materials already existing in the area and turned into a better version of itself through careful design. An underlying symmetry we hope that our guests will absorb when spending time here.

After spending the previous day working from your new home you might take the family to stroll down the Kongeveien (The King’s road) with a local guide, uncovering impressive old cottages along the historic path and taking shade under the canopy and enjoying a lunch of locally sourced ingredients. Sundays might see you forge your own path with your loved one(s). Surprise them. Explore a glacier from the inside, visit one of the iconic wooden stave churches or simply head out on the open road and visit the little villages that hang on to the side of the fjord at uneven intervals. We’ll help you get there.

Your home & hosts: Tone & Bjørn at eco-lodge 29/2 Aurland

*Note: This lodge is closed in the winter season.

There’s nothing quite like the mountain air and having the freedom to bask in it over a longer period of time that can do wonders for the soul. We Norwegians have been making pilgrimages from the cities to the mountains for decades, the reasons for which will be long apparent before you’ve even arrived. The Sunnmøre Alps are the epitome of spectacular and in our mind perhaps the most beautiful of all the ranges. Making the most of a rather vertical landscape can be traversed by hiking but can also be had by driving along a mountain pass and taking a picnic at a lookout point. Sunnmøre might be challenging terrain but it doesn’t need to be a challenge, we will ensure a local guide accommodates your desired activity level.

Embark on a private boat journey with our favourite captains Terje or Tor. Nothing quite awakens the senses and invokes a feeling of kos like bobbing gently over the fjord under a blue sky and hemmed in by the mountains. A shared experience for your family undiluted by the company of others and a chance to bond. Alight on a self-guided adventure into the local areas rarely found in the guidebooks or explore ‘like a local’ along forest trails, by cooking waffles and coffee on an open fire on the beach where it is flat!

Your home and hosts: Small luxury Hotels’ member Storfjord Hotel and our wonderful partners scattered around the alps.

The northernmost reaches of the country explode into a bouquet of colours during the summer season making for a wonderful contrast against the battered landscape scarred from long, enduring winters. Finnmark as a destination is on few travellers' radar and it really should be - home to the Sami people and dark pagan history, Finnmark offers a cultural depth to rival any area of our country. The roads here are quiet and many of the villages dotted along the coast are home to fewer than a few hundred people allowing for a type of tranquillity seldom experienced. You really are at the top of the world here, so the arctic sun never sets at the height of summer, meaning evenings spent with new or old loved ones are doused in golden light.