Scandinavian Foodie Adventure

Enjoy your days exploring Stockholm, Sweden's beautiful capital. Set over 14 islands, it's a place of water and greenery as much as the urban, a place where centuries of history meet the constant forward thinking nature of its near 1 million inhabitants. As well as fine museums, trend-setting restaurants and vibrant nightclubs, a short cruise out of the city will find you among the thousands of beautiful islands that make up the Stockholm archipelago, making this a city that feels surprisingly outdoorsy.

On this tour, you'll get to see some of the city's most popular highlights, including the Vasa Museum, the Royal Palace and the City Hall. At the Vasa Museum, you'll get to marvel at the remnants of a wreck, which lay at the bottom of the ocean for some 333 years. Next, you'll breathe in the fresh air as you wander down hidden alleyways between medieval buildings in Gamla Stan (the old town). Pop into the Royal Palace of Stockholm and see the state apartments, pass by the cathedral, and discover the historic Stortorget and Mårten Trotzigs Gränd alleyways. Then you'll end the tour with glimpses of some of Stockholm's city districts, like Södermalm, Djurgården, Norrmalm and Östermalm.

The chef will prepare a sumptuous seasonal menu for you, featuring the best and freshest ingredients available. Think salmon, caviar, trout and wild game like moose and reindeer. After dinner you will head out to a nearby island by boat for coffee and tea prepared over a fire, and perhaps a glimpse of the northern lights.

Take a walk out into the forest with your guide and search for local delicacies. The forests around Pine Bay Lodge are full of autumn delicacies including blueberries, cloudberries, lingonberries, seabuckthorn (bursting with vitamin C) and a variety of mushrooms. These ripen in the late summer and autumn and enhance the flavours of many of Sweden's local dishes. On this walk, you will be specifically searching for these various types of berries and mushrooms and hoping to catch a glimpse of local wildlife. Later, you'll join your chef for an outdoor cooking class where you will learn to prepare a three-course dinner outdoors using local ingredients, including some of what you picked yourself.

Meet Eva Gunnare, culture guide, food connoisseur and specialist in local wild herbs and berries. This year-round tour includes a short walk through the beautiful pine and the birch forest to the meadows surrounding the Treehotel. Discover the flavours of nature as you make your way to the warm restaurant where Eva will serve some homemade treats made from her foraged treasures. This includes hot and cold drinks from local berries and herbs, and a variety of tasty bites made from natural, foraged food. Eva has lived with the reindeer herders for many years and experienced their traditions and living life close to nature. She is eager to give you an understanding of everyday Arctic life in Swedish Lapland.

Denmark often tops the polls of the world’s happiest countries and its capital tends to put a smile on the faces of all who visit. What it lacks in size it more than makes up for in character, its compact centre a maze of cobbled streets easily navigated by foot or on the Danes’ favourite mode of transport, the bicycle. Originally a Viking fishing village, Copenhagen has evolved into one of Europe’s most sophisticated cities. Spread across the two islands of Zealand and Amager and separated from Sweden by the Øresund Bridge, it is a city of contrasts, seamlessly blending classic architecture with cutting edge modern design.

This morning a guide will meet your hotel and introduce you to Copenhagen. You will start in the oldest part of town, dating back to 1160. You will pass by the University, the Queen’s Palace and the Round Tower. You will make your way to Christiansborg Palace where the parliament resides and here you can enter the tower and enjoy a view of the Copenhagen skyline.

Enjoy a guided tour of the famous and unique free town Christiania, which has been a symbol of the Danish free spirited mentality since the 70s. A citizen from Christiania will take you through the colourful houses, the painted walls and people hanging out and you will gain insider knowledge about this unique space.

Get a glimpse behind-the-scenes of New Nordic Cuisine with food expert and trained chef Rasmus Holmgård. He has excellent contacts in and around the food scene in Copenhagen, and together with him, you will meet restaurateurs, produce providers and chefs. While you move around the city you will sample many of the best products on offer before you end at Palægade – Copenhagen’s best open-faced sandwich place for lunch.

Known as ‘The City of the Seven Mountains and Seven Fjords’, Bergen is a bustling port town on Norway’s west coast. It is a relaxed and easy-going town, very much in touch with its nautical roots. The lively main harbour, Vagen, and the Fish Market lie at the town’s heart and the city is probably best known for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Bryggen Hanseatic Wharf with its colourful traditional wooden houses. Often touted as one of Norway’s most enjoyable cities, Bergen boasts some of the region’s best restaurants. There’s also a great choice of museums and galleries, meaning that you’ll have no trouble keeping yourself entertained during your stay.

Today you will explore Bergen, Norway's UNESCO gateway city to the fjords. Filled with history and tradition, this big city enjoys a small-town charm and is easily explored on foot. Stroll around the fairy-tale-like old cobbled streets and small wooden houses and discover the well-known, old Hanseatic wharf with its unique architecture.

Bryggen, recognised as the old wharf of Bergen, defined by a line of colourful heritage buildings, the architectural character here saw this area designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. A stop at the city's fish market for a little bit of local hustle and bustle in a picturesque setting will also be part of the tour, as will a trip up the funicular to Mount Floyen for remarkable views back across Bergen.

Get an inside look at the production of cheese as you visit Ostegården, a cheese farm outside the city centre. In 2006 the owner of a farm in Bergen decided to give up traditional farming in order to start using their main product, milk, in a better way. Cheese and yogurt production was their answer. After many years of focussing on improving their skills, they now produce more than 15 tons of cheese and 10 tons of yoghurt every year. Most of their cheese is sold to various restaurants in Norway.

You'll be taken out to Ulvik, the centre of Norway's largest fruit districts where are a large percentage of the country's fruit is grown. It's also where you'll find the country's only fruit- and cider route. You'll get to stop at some of the family-run cider farms and not only learn about the history of cider making, but also sample ciders and juices and meet the owners.

You'll be driven in a luxury vehicle between Hardangerfjord and Bergen, stopping along the way to pick various kinds of fruit, like apples, pears and plums.

Head south of Bergen to the idyllic village of Bekkjarvik on the island of Austevoll where you will visit the Austevoll Seaweed Farm. One of the first such farms in Norway, it is a pioneer in cultivating seaweed. They grow, harvest and develop high quality organic macro algae for high-end food products. Some of the organic seaweed ingredients for the cosmetic industry are also developed here.

Chef and winner of the Bocuse D'Or in 2015, Ørjan Johannessen runs the restaurant at Bekkjarvik Gjestgiveri. You will get to enjoy a private cooking class with him, and he will tell you more about his involvement with the Austevoll Seaweed Farm, and the initiative to use more seaweed in food production. During this part of your trip, you will also have the opportunity to indulge in a five-course meal at Ørjan's restaurant