‘This region's food adventures will become addictive for your clients’

NORWAY: THE COAST WITH THE MOST 

Welcome to the longest coastline in Europe and one of the world’s most compelling. The secret to tasting ingredients from the source here is on a cruise, with the likes of Havila Voyages cresting the waves from Bergen to Kirkenes on the Russian border. The operator’s battery-powered boats bid to show your clients Scandinavia’s greatest fjords, but also to cultivate a deeper appreciation of the country’s food culture.

Onboard, menus are strictly Norwegian, with dishes changing to reflect the specialities of each place visited. Highlights embrace gloss-white cod, cloudberries that only grow in the high north and lefse griddle cakes. On land, meanwhile, excursions include Viking feasts and bucket-list king crab fishing. Recommend to your clients, as it’s something they shouldn’t miss this.

In many ways, a trip with Viking Cruises is the mirror image. It’ll come as no surprise that Norwegian cuisine tops the agenda, and the line’s signature Viking Homelands voyage is busy-busy with only-in-Norway experiences. Your clients can learn about herring traditions at a traditional smokehouse in Gudhjem, taste Aland’s renowned fruit, or sample seafood the Norwegian way — fresh from the net, salt-tanged skin included free of charge.

“Scandinavian food has its roots in the times of the Vikings, when communities had to be self-sufficient and most of their food was sourced from the North Sea,” says Neil Barclay, head of sales at Viking UK. “The Scandinavian concept of lagom, which means not too much, not too little, but perfectly balanced, is also at the heart of the culinary experience we offer across the Viking fleet.”

Book it: Havila Voyage’s five-night Voyage South itinerary, from £516pp excluding flights on full-board basis; havilavoyages.com

Viking’s 14-night Viking Homelands itinerary, from £6,990pp, including flights, transfers, onboard meals and an excursion in each port; viking.com

SWEDEN: FROM FINGER-LICKING TO FIKA

Meatballs are another Nordic obligation. When in Stockholm, recommend your clients book on a tour that lets them craft their own during a hands-on class at a local restaurant. The trick, they’ll learn, is also in the trimmings – explicitly, a creamy, gravy-style sauce with allspice and lingonberry jam.

Above all else, the pairing of coffee and cake is the sacred native ritual of Sweden. The west coast is known as the capital of fika, and Gothenburg’s Haga quarter offers an inkling of what lies in wait. The must-have accessory? A cinnamon hagabulle pastry and preferably one from Cafe Husaren, which sells the biggest buns in the city.

“Fika is universal in Swedish culture,” says Garance Chuzel, European product and operations manager at Exodus.

“By taking fika in Gothenburg, our guests get a unique insight into the importance of a custom so ubiquitous that employees in most workplaces will break without fail during the day for a catch-up over coffee and buns.”

Book it: Exodus’ new 10-night Best of Norway, Sweden & Finland itinerary costs from £3,499pp, excluding flights and including B&B accommodation, all listed meals, transfers and activities; exodus.co.uk

Abercrombie & Kent offers a seven-night Taste tour of West Sweden, visiting Stockholm, Gothenburg and Marstrand, from £8,750pp, including flights; abercrombiekent.co.uk

ICELAND: FOOD OF FIRE AND ICE

Akureyri, now increasingly accessible with easyJet holidays from London and Manchester, is where dishes are commonly found in response to the cold weather and wild landscapes. Here, age-old delicacies such as hangikjot (smoked lamb), hjonabandssæla (oatmeal cake) and kleinur (knotted doughnuts) can be sampled alongside Kaldi beers from the region’s oldest microbrewery.

For many though, the Golden Circle is the main event and tradition here underscores the interaction between the land and time. At lakefront retreat Laugarvatn Fontana with Audley Travel, for instance, rye bread can be baked deep below the soil using geothermal energy — an oddly normal practice in a country as wildly thrilling as Iceland. The traditional loaf, most memorably served with trout and Icelandic butter, is baked for 24 hours, plugging into a rare vein of elemental pleasure. There’s consciousness about the Viking ways here and your clients will have a front row seat on how this volcanic land continues to shape the country’s eating habits.

“These itineraries are an excellent choice for groups interested in geology and nature,” says Ashley Barrows, product manager for Iceland at Audley Travel. “Clients walk along tectonic plates, experience geysers erupting and explore lava caves — it’s a fully immersive geology class.”

Book it: Audley Travel has a seven-night Iceland Family Adventure, from £6,250pp, including flights and transfers and a three-night Highlights of Reykjavik & the Golden Circle, from £1,980pp including flights and transfers; audleytravel.com

FINLAND: INTO THE WILD

The land of a thousand lakes shares a love for reindeer, lingonberries and herring with Norway and Sweden, but the influence of the Baltic countries is also felt. The larder here is shot through with fermented yoghurt, soft cheese and kaalikaaryleet, cabbage rolls that draw inspiration from the east, not the sea.

This year, Lake Saimaa has been named European Region of Gastronomy for 2024 and, with the world’s longest lake coastline, it’s an essential stop for food discoveries.

“We possess the skills of living in perfect harmony with nature, just like our ancestors,” says local chef and fisherman Ilkka Arvola. “The north’s long, light summer nights create the ideal conditions for growing pure, aromatic ingredients. In the Saimaa region, creativity is our resource, flourishing in both beautiful and challenging conditions.”

In sub-zero Arctic Finland, meanwhile, tour operators have capitalised by introducing winter experiences modelled on ancient ways of living.

“One of the highlights of our Finnish Wilderness Week in Oulanka National Park is a husky-sledding adventure,” says senior marketing executive at Exodus, Sarah Hibbert. “With the wind in your hair, the invitation to soak up the warmth of a tent is very welcome, particularly when greeted with a steaming cup of rich and hearty Finnish lentil soup paired with a mug of sweet berry tea.”

On the same itinerary, following cross-country skiing and building quinzhees (Finnish igloos), the rewards are wild salmon, game stew and desserts made with foraged cloudberries. Send your clients to the Nordics and one thing will ring true: they’ll savour every mouthful they take.

Book it: Exodus offers a seven-night Finnish Wilderness Week, from £2,299pp, excluding flights and including B&B accommodation, all listed meals, transport and activities; exodus.co.uk