The festive period might have wrapped, but the winter travel season is just getting going. From Northern Lights experiences to outdoor activities, including skiing, hiking and dog-sledding, these design-driven Nordic retreats offer the best seasonal adventure amid staggering surroundings.
Trevarefabrikken, Lofoten Islands, Norway
Near Jusfjord, in the village of Henningsvaer, this former cod liver oil factory was repurposed by Tuckey Design Studio into a post-industrial playground, with fjord-view guest rooms gracefully appointed amid the original concrete shell. Named for the original factory, it also has a café, pizza restaurant, wine bar and sauna. The vast common rooms host live music, club nights, and karaoke, though you can also go for three-day rock-climbing retreats, ski tours, and Northern Lights hunting throughout winter. Read more about the hotel and its transformation.
Highland Base, Sellfoss, Iceland
A volcanic mountain range at the centre of Iceland is the formidable setting for Highland Base, a sturdy, sustainable suite of rooms and private lodges. The tactile wood panelling, vaulted ceilings and muted, minimalist decor were conceived by Design Group Italia and Basalt Architects, who also designed the Retreat at Blue Lagoon. Accessible only by a professionally driven 4×4 Super-Jeep in winter, the Base provides a soothing, warming hub for cross-country and backcountry skiing, snowmobiling and hiking the steaming geothermal valleys and glacial rivers. There are also steaming hot springs, cold plunges and saunas with views of Kerlingarfjöll mountain.
Niehku, Riksgränsen, Sweden
A ruined rail depot on the Swedish side of Lapland has become a ski-tour and heliski hotspot thanks to a deft intervention by architects Krook&Tjäder. Breaking out of the original footprint, they created a staggered structure resembling three houses fused together, each with a gently peaked roof. The original depot wall runs through the structure in one grand curve, providing a division between the restaurant and woody guest rooms. Founder Johan Lindblom named it Niehku – ‘dream’ in the local Sámi language – and hired Stylt Trampolii to oversee the interiors in graphite grey and copper, with earthen reds moss growing over a tall stone wall.
Nusfjord Resort, Lofoten Islands, Norway
The Norwegian village Nusfjord, on the mountainous Lofoten archipelago, gets its first snowfall early, which adds sparkle to the Christmas festivities. If you stay at the eponymous hotel – encompassing refurbished 25 fisherman’s cabins, or rorbu, plus a family villa – you can watch the annual Christmas tree-felling and meet Santa in his grotto. Many residents from the village’s population of 20 work for the hotel, serving traditional holiday dinners, leading Northern Lights adventures, and providing equipment for ski-touring and kayaking. There’s also a Christmas market and an outdoor spa designed by recent graduates of Oslo’s School of Architecture and Design.
Arctic Treehouse, Rovaniemi, Finland
The name refers to the isolated forest location of these shingle-clad suites stepping down the hillside near SantaPark Arctic World in Finnish Lapland. Helsinki architects Studio Puisto designed the main resort’s reception and restaurant, shaped like a five-pointed snowflake. Then they went to work on the remote stilted guest cabins and suites lined on the inside with white-stained wood panelling. Lighting was kept subtle to enable aurora views with maximum impact. Winter activities include snowmobiling, reindeer tours, ‘ice-floating’ in full wetsuit gear and, of course, the right-of-passage visit to Santa.
The Fell, Levi, Finland
Snow is pretty much guaranteed for skiers on the gentle pistes of Levi in western Finnish Lapland. But sport isn’t the region’s be-all. This quintessential log-cabin stay comes with its own reindeer herd and an outdoor hot tub in which to watch them roam around the yard. Aside from a calming loft bedroom for four with faux-fur throws, there’s a small second bedroom, a wood-burning stone fireplace, a brand new sleek kitchen, where a private chef will serve dinner and a bathroom with an adjacent sauna. The blown-glass lighting casts a warm amber glow, and the twinkle at holiday time in the village is equally rousing. From here, you can take a snowmobile, snowshoe or husky safari into the national park to hunt for Northern Lights.
