- We like exploring off the beaten track places as a family.
- Arctic Norway offers nature experiences you can’t find anywhere else.
- The best thing about it was the chance it gave us to appreciate small things and connect with each other.
I think a lot about what makes a great family holiday. The travel industry can give you the impression that travel with kids should involve bright colors, ice creams and sandy beaches, but one size does not fit all.
I’m a travel writer and a mom of two, and I’ve refined what I need on holiday to a fine art: time away from work, nature, a chance to do things I love, including swimming and reading, and some new things to do and new people to meet as well. Location — and sunshine — aren’t always as important for me as the opportunity to do these things.
I also accommodate the family’s needs and wants for family holidays. My husband likes to cook; the kids like to play and meet new people too. Some kind of physical activity seems to work well: in previous years, we’ve swum our way around Iceland and hiked the coastal paths of Italy. This year, we took off to an Arctic island in Norway for a week of screen-free solitude — and loved it.
We went to Arctic Norway
We stayed in a nine-room hotel on a tiny, rocky, car-free island west of Bodø in Arctic Norway. It’s the ultimate in-nature getaway, a place where you can hear yourself think, watch sea eagles soar, and enjoy solitude. Hosted by the owner, a musician, and his manager, a poet, nothing is planned and the simplicity is the treat. You can walk to the end of the island and back in the morning and still have time for a coffee before lunch; it’s safe, and you don’t need to constantly apply sunscreen or insect repellent. Of course, it’s not somewhere to pick up a tan either.
Reaching the hotel took us a while, but that’s all part of the adventure. It’s a flight from Copenhagen to Oslo, then Oslo to Bodø, and then a two-hour ferry from Bodø to the island. As a metropolitan family, like many these days, the chance to immerse ourselves completely in nature is special. The quiet is intense, and the most activity we saw was one Saturday when waffles were served at the local community house, something that the kids loved. We also had communal dinners with the other delightful guests, and one night included musicians from the Arctic Philharmonic.
My kids brought things to keep them entertained
My daughters, ages 10 and 14, brought books, games, and toys to play with and spent time having fun together, running up and down the one hill and looking for globe-shaped sea urchin shells in the clear water. It was a welcome break from being stuck on screens for all of us: here, the biggest screen is the picture window in the lounge, from which you can gaze out at waves, hope to see orca, and spot sea otters floating on their backs.
We spent our days not doing much — getting up late, walking up the hill, swimming in the sea, and fishing. The kids made art with the artist who lives next to the hotel, making beautiful black and white prints that now hang on our walls, and I read books while my husband cooked. The hotel is laid across several cabins, so everyone has privacy and a space to eat together in the kitchen.
We connected with nature
Summer in the Arctic is a time for viewing the midnight sun: it’s a time when the sun barely sinks below the horizon before it is up again. From my bedroom, I watched the sun sink behind a neighboring island one night and paint a neon pink stripe in the sky. The phenomenon means that days seem to last forever. They blur into one and make the tempo drop, something we were really craving.
One day, I sat on the dock with my youngest daughter and we watched as hundreds of comb jellies swam by, tiny iridescent jellyfish rippling with bioluminescence, said to be a relic of the last ice age. Beside them, blowsy orange jellyfish trailed their long fronds, and an Arctic Tern dove into the water with a sharp splash, reappearing with a small silver fish. We noticed the little things and were amazed.
It was also a bittersweet holiday: I know it might be one of our last perfect family holidays. It’s hard to keep everybody happy, and parents of older teens tell me that teenage holidays can be particularly tough.
Meeting people your own age and being able to be in constant contact with your friends becomes more important than tiny moments watching wildlife as a family, and I understand that. I remember what it was like to be dragged on family holidays myself, and am already thinking about what a good holiday for teenagers could look like.
Laura Hall is a travel journalist specializing in Scandinavia and the Arctic. Follow her stories in Modern Scandinavian on Substack.
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