- We love to explore off the beaten path as a family.
- Arctic Norway offers nature experiences you can’t find anywhere else.
- The best thing about it was the opportunity it gave us to appreciate the little things and bond with each other.
I think a lot about what makes a great family holiday. The travel industry may give you the impression that traveling with children should involve bright colors, ice cream and sandy beaches, but one size does not fit all.
I’m a travel writer and mother of two, and I’ve got what I need for a vacation down to a fine art: time away from work, nature, a chance to do things I love, including swimming and reading, and some cloud. things to do and new people to meet too. Location – and sunshine – are not always as important to me as being able to do these things.
I also fulfill the needs and wishes of the family for family vacations. My husband likes to cook; children love to play and meet new people too. Some kind of physical activity seems to work well: in previous years, we’ve swum across Iceland and hiked the coastal paths of Italy. This year, we headed 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 small, car-free rocky island west of Bodo in Arctic Norway. It’s the ultimate escape into nature, a place where you can hear yourself think, watch sea eagles soar and enjoy solitude. Organized by the owner, a musician, and his manager, a poet, nothing is planned and simplicity is a pleasure. You can walk to the end of the island and come 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 even somewhere to get a tan.
It took us a while to get to the hotel, 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 Bodo to the island. As a metropolitan family, like many others these days, the chance to fully immerse yourself in nature is special. The quiet is intense and the biggest activity we saw was on a Saturday when waffles were served at the local community house, something the kids loved. We also had dinners together with other lovely guests, and one night included musicians from the Arctic Philharmonic.
My kids brought things to entertain them
My daughters, ages 10 and 14, brought books, games and toys to play with and spent time having fun together, running up and down a 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 watch the waves, hope to see orcas and spot sea otters swimming in back. .
The author understands that vacations like these are transitory as her children are growing up. Courtesy of the author
We spent our days not doing much – waking up late, walking on 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 spread over several cabins, so everyone has privacy and a space to eat together in the kitchen.
We connected with nature
Arctic summer is a time to see the midnight sun: it’s a time when the sun barely dips below the horizon before rising again. From my bedroom, I watched the sun sink behind a neighboring island one night and paint a neon pink streak across the sky. The phenomenon means that the days seem to last forever. They blur into one and make the tempo drop, something we really wanted.
One day, I sat on the dock with my youngest daughter and we watched hundreds of comb jellyfish swim by, tiny iridescent jellyfish that flickered with bioluminescence, said to be a relic of the last era. of ice. Beside them, orange jellyfish trailed their long leaves, and an arctic dove dove into the water with a sharp splash, reappearing with a small silver fish. We noticed the little things and were amazed.
It was a sweet holiday too: I know it might be one of our last perfect family holidays. It’s hard to keep everyone happy, and parents of older teens tell me that teenage vacations can be especially difficult.
Meeting people your own age and being in constant contact with your friends becomes more important than the small moments watching wildlife as a family, and I understand that. I remember what it was like to be dragged to family parties by myself, and I’m already thinking about what a good teenage party might look like.
Laura Hall is a travel journalist specializing in Scandinavia and the Arctic. Follow her Modern Scandinavian stories on Substack.
