14-Day Land of the Midnight Sun

Andalsnes is your starting point for a ride on the Trollstigvein (troll’s path), a zig-zag drive up mountains and over waterfalls
that’s out of this world! Trollstigven’s often cloud-shrouded summit is the ultimate challenge for mountain climbers.

This is the town where north was invented. That’s right no village in the entire world is further north than Honningsvag, Norway. How far north is it? It is so far north the sun doesn’t even think of setting from mid-May until the end of July-which seems like an awful lot of work, and that could explain its need to set and stay set from late November to late January. (This period is especially difficult if you have a night job.) Honningsvag is the gateway to the North Cape, but hey, if you want to head that direction, you’re on your own.

Restless, enduring and wonderful, London is Europe’s largest city. And surely, if you have the choice to visit only two or three cities of the world in your lifetime, by all means make one of them London.

The Romans started it all. The city they developed was “the square mile,” – and Londoners still hunt for Roman relics in the Thames. History is everywhere you look in London, yet today the city is as modern and metropolitan as any city on earth.

By day, London is buzzing with the frenetic pace of commerce not even Dickens could have imagined. By night, the excitement and glitter of theatres, cinemas, pubs and restaurants beckons throngs of travellers from around the world. But there is another London, a peaceful London of cool museums, quiet tea rooms, immaculate gardens and hushed churches.

There is Royal London – ancient pageantry in a modern kingdom – with its palaces, pomp and precise manoeuvres at the Changing of the Guard. And there’s outrageous London, the urban gathering ground for Cockney pitchmen, “fringe” theatre and the city’s youth, with their own distinctive style.

There is also Greenwich, easily accessed from central London by public transport, or take a more scenic route and arrive by riverboat. Notable for both its maritime history and royal heritage, it is perhaps best known for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time, based at the Royal Observatory.

London, this extraordinary city of contrasts, holds a stunning abundance of hidden-round-the-corner surprises. You owe it to yourself to explore them all. Here, then, is the London you’ll come to know and remember.

The world’s northernmost university – only one institute of higher learning may boast of that distinction, and at the moment anyway, that institution is the University of Norway at Tromso. Situated about 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Tromso has continuous sunshine from late May to mid-July. Nearby is the city of Narvik, known for mysterious lightning that occurs every August.

Located 245 miles north of Oslo, Trondheim was originally called Nidaros. Venture to Nidaros Cathedral, considered one of the most beautiful Gothic buildings in Northern Europe. Visit Ringve Museum of Musical History for a lively experience, with a collection of over 2000 instuments.