From August until November, starlings flock to create a phenomenon known as the black sun. Once there, it’s possible to drive along compact sandy beaches or join organised tours to spot seals and white-tailed eagles. While a water-lapped road dam connects Romo to the mainland, Manso is best accessed with a tractor bus at high tide.
Part of the Unesco-listed Wadden Sea National Park, these tiny islands are part of the largest continuous system of intertidal sand and mud flats in the world. Doubles from £154 per night with breakfast (0045 56 90 44 44 bornholmhotels.dk/en)
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How to do it: Stay at Green Solution House, Denmark’s first climate positive hotel.
Dine at Michelin-star restaurant Kadeau in the dunes of Dueodde beach snack on herring cooked over alder wood and pop into the store where posh liquorice brand Lakrids started. Master of Nordic cuisine Rene Redzepi had his first foraging epiphany here and other chefs have followed suit. Plump blackberries, sweet-scented strawberries, delicate chanterelle mushrooms… nature’s pantry overflows on this sun-soaked island cast far into the Baltic. Following are the islands to suit every type of traveller. Yet, these tiny dots promise a world of possibilities. So many islands in northern Europe’s archipelagos barely register as a fleck on the map. And although the solstice has passed, there’s still a chance to paddle before breakfast, hike after dinner and fall asleep in the blue twilight hours. The only difference here being reliably crowd-free silence and solitude.Īt this latitude, longer daylight hours allow activities to be done at a slow Caribbean pace. Beaches rival the sparkling white sands of Antigua and the boulder-strewn stretches of the Seychelles. In reality, any ice has melted away, leaving behind a sculpted landscape of jagged mountains, steep cliffs and smooth granite boulders rolling into an almost unbelievably clear sea. But with the mercury soaring in southern Europe, the idea of an Arctic beach break sounds increasingly appealing. This far north, temperatures rarely rise above the mid-20s. Hopping on ferries or driving over bridges, they weave through a jigsaw of granite outcrops, leaving any stresses, worries and commitments back on the mainland. Despite their CV of achievements, I had the impression this was their most rewarding expedition to date.Īcross the Nordics and Scandinavia, where space is worshipped with religious fervour, owning an island is about much more than land rights – it’s become a state of mind.Įvery summer, Finns, Swedes, Danes and Norwegians head off on an annual pilgrimage to their summer cabins, often located in remote, off-grid locations. On neighbouring Naustholmen, Randi Skaug, the first Norwegian woman to scale Everest, had also bought land and opened a hostel.īoth veteran adventurers were drawn to the region’s emerald waters, golden mountain-backed beaches and limitless opportunities for adventure. Later, he would build cabins for tourists to rent. But I was surprised to discover a number had been snapped up and shaped by human hands.Ī seasoned explorer, Borge Ousland, who made headlines as the first man to complete a solo, unaided journey to the North Pole, purchased 55-acre Manshausen as a private escape for fishing, kayaking, diving, hiking and climbing – all his favourite pursuits, which could be done at a much more leisurely pace.
Rough and windswept, many were governed by the elements. Thousands of islets and skerries dotted glassy waters along the Steigen region’s fractured coastline.
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Several years ago, during a long weekend in Manshausen, a Norwegian island high above the Arctic Circle, I learnt why every Nordic person dreams of being king or queen of their own patch of floating land.
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