Meet us at Destinations Travel Show London

For those of you who don't know, Destinations Travel Show is one of the largest consumer travel shows in the UK. We will be at Earls Court (stand E112) and look forward to seeing you there from Thursday 2nd Feb through Sunday 5th Feb 2012.

Our experts can guide you through your Scandinavian holiday decision making process and put together a Nordic holiday tailored for you, whether it be a weekend away at the Swedish ICEHOTEL, searching for the Northern Lights in Norway or and Iceland holiday getaway at the Hotel Ranga and beyond. Time is running out for a winter experience this year, but it's never too early to book for 2013 where the Northern lights in Norway are expected to be some of the best of the decade.

If winter is not your thing, then we have some interesting summer experiences to Iceland and Norway to name but a few.

Come and visit us on our stand, or if you can't make it take a look at our Nordic Experience website and give either Francesca or Ian a call on 01206 708888 where we can talk you through your Scandinavian holiday.

Location:Earls Court

New Year in Reykjavik

New Year in Reykjavik

Are you stuck for the ideas for the New Year ? Reykjavik is a tried and tested option for an explosive start to the New Year.  Every year the residents (and temporary residents) welcome in the New Year with a fantastic display of fireworks and bonfires throughout the city.  An organised tour is recommended, or you can simply view the specactular displays from the comfort of your hotel.

Our picks for accomodation include the Hotel Borg, Reykjavik Centrum and the Grand Hotel Reykjavik.  The style of hotel varies from contemporary luxury at the Hotel Borg, modest simplicity at the Hotel Centrum, to modern business at the Grand Hotel Reykjavik.


With many hotels to choose from this is an exciting opportunity to celebrate the New Year in style in a vibrant and cosmopolitan city.

Can I visit the ICEHOTEL in the summer ?

The obvious answer to the question, "Can I visit the ICEHOTEL in the summer ?" is no, however the clever chaps in Sweden have found a way of allowing you to experience the cool ICEHOTEL during the more temperate months.

Sounding more like an April Fools story, the answer is to build a smaller ICEHOTEL inside what amounts to a large freezer set at -5c. If you know anything about the construction or building of the ICEHOTEL, you may know that the ice used is stored over the summer in giant warehouses ready for the winter season. It's one of these "halls" that the little sister to the main ICEHOTEL will be built.

It will have three different Art suites, just like in the wintertime, Ice Chandelier suite and the main Hall Suite to enable people to experience what they may have seen in the media. It will also have the ubiquitous ABSOLUTE ICEBAR to enjoy a refreshing drink after trying your hand at ice sculpting.

The summer ICEHOTEL is opening on the 10th June 2011, and "warm" accommodation can also be booked whilst you enjoy activities such as ratfting, canoeing, hiking and fishing., instead of dog sledding, snowmobile tours and northern light safaris.

Welcome to 2011 and a new decade

It's 2011 and the start of a new decade. We've left the "noughties" and are now in uncharted territory. Are we now in the "tens"? Only time will tell.
Nordic Experience is welcoming the new year with it's new website, and a plethora of new tours for our summer programme, which will be released in the next month.
In the meantime our current Arctic winter programme is in full swing, with Northern Lights a firm favourite. We've also released dates for our Father Christmas programme in Lapland.
Full details of all these can be, or soon will be on our website.

We wish you a Happy New Year and look forward to helping you with your holiday plans.

New Nordic Experience Website

The new Nordic Experience website has finally been launched in time for the New Year. It's still a work in progress and we would be delighted to hear feedback from you. Over the coming weeks we will be adding more information.

We are also hoping to add a dedicated Travel Agents section where you will be able to find additional comprehensive information that will help you promote our tailor made tours.

Take a look and let us know what you think.

www.NordicExperience.co.uk

Location:Colchester

Knock on effect of the snow situation

Sitting here at Harriniva in Lapland, you realise that this current snow situation is not confined to the UK.
I'm watching the poor receptionist, taking phone call after phone call, cancelling reservations over Christmas. France seems to have been affected quite badly, with a whole charter flight cancelled here. The knock on effect, can be felt here, as the place is eerily quiet. To be honest, it's rather nice.

However, it does show our total reliance on air travel, and how something so underestimated can cause so much havoc, for so many people. Christmas has been spoilt for so many families.

Other effects are not so obvious. A family are here without any luggage, which presumably got caught up in the backlog from the weekend. Luckily, it was found and is heading here by train, bus and taxi from Helsinki (for some reason the airline thought it safer not to fly it !)
I suppose the moral of the story is to make sure you have enough contingency clothes in your hand luggage!

Location:Torniontie,Muonio,Finland

UK Snowfall causes havoc with Father Christmas

The closure of London Heathrow by the extreme snowfall over the past few days, has disappointed many children who were hoping to travel to Lapland to see Father Christmas, my own 3 year old daughter included.

They were sitting on the tarmac at Heathrow for 4 hours, before finally being shepherded off the plane and left on their own. We, as Nordic Experience, arranged overnight accomodation for all our guests at Heathrow as soon as we found out information from Finnair, which was not exactly forthcoming.
However, despite our best endeavours, the flights could not go ahead, and we were forced to abandon plans to take our customers to Lapland.

The ironic thing is, that two families managed to join me in Harriniva, and have enjoyed a full personalised programme. Where did one of them come from? New Zealand!

Location:Torniontie,Muonio,Finland