Copenhagen, Denmark
If you manage to bag yourself a reasonably priced cruise deal you might find yourself setting sail from Denmark’s capital city. Small and welcoming, Copenhagen is probably most famous forTivoli Gardens and the Little Mermaid. Although the city has a lot more to offer – it’s filled with a multitude of pavement cafes and cosy (often world-class) restaurants. The hipsters migrate to the Meatpacking district – an area of former meat processing plants now transformed into a collection of intimate clubs and cool DJ bars, and the collection of historic royal palaces, national museums, galleries, parks and excellent shopping seem to keep the masses happy.
Architecturally, the city is an eclectic mix of futuristically modern buildings and an ensemble of handsome Renaissance palaces, parks and merchant houses laid out around the waterways and canals that give Copenhagen a distinctive Dutch flavour.
Oslo and the Fjords, Norway
Oslo – the capital of Norway – is one of the most expensive but underrated cities in Europe. It’s also the oldest of the Scandinavian capital cities, although the centre embodies the urban elegance of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with wide streets, immaculate parks and gardens, solid buildings and long vistas. The city also has a superb collection of museums from the fabulous Viking Ships Museum to the Munch Museum which is dedicated to the life and works of the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (make sure you visit for ‘The Scream’ – one of the most recognisable paintings the world).
Head on further to the rainy but beautiful city of Bergen. The city is filled with medieval buildings and a selection of good museums but its biggest draw is its status as being the gateway to the famous fjords – one of the most naturally beautiful and dramatic landscapes in Europe (and listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List). The glacial valleys are eerily silent, and are surrounded by high, snow-topped mountains and waterfalls that give the area an other-worldly beauty. Sognefjord is the longest, deepest and most celebrated of the country’s waterways closely followed by Hardangerfjord. Although also make sure you include a visit to the Jostedalsbreen glacier (the largest ice sheet in Europe), Nordfjord, and Geirangerfjord, perhaps the most scenically impressive of all the fjords.
Helsinki, Finland
In Finland, life revolves around sauna culture and nature. While you will probably have the chance to experience a sauna in Finland’s capital city, chances are you will not have time to see a taiga forest, in Finnish Lapland, or take a boat ride on one of the country’s 180,000 lakes. Finnish lake cruising is a whole separate type of holiday.
Helsinki is known for its art, architecture and modern design. In fact, the city has been named theWorld Design Capital for 2012. Alvar Aalto, a Finnish architect, completed around 500 buildings in his career, and many of them can be found in Finland. Do not miss Aalto’s Finlandia Talo; this stunning concert hall is open for tours. From furniture and tableware to fabrics and crafts, Finland is celebrated for its design traditions and its cutting-edge approach to form and function. Spend your time in Helsinki exploring the Design Museum or the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma.
Stockholm, Sweden
Built across 14 islands in the Baltic Sea, Stockholm is a beautiful and ultra-modern city. In fact, two-thirds of the city is water and green space, which makes it one of the cleanest and most environmentally friendly places in the world. Known for its tolerance and high quality of life, the city you see when you get off the ship is thankfully not going to look like what Stieg Larsson conjured up in the crime novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
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