Scandinavia: Northern Delights

Cool, stylish, clean and modern - the moment you step off a plane and take in a little of one of Scandinavia's major cities you'll see why they're constantly named as amongst the best places in the world to live. We take a look at some of the city break options available from Birmingham International Airport,  visiting Copenhagen, Billund, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Oslo.

Copenhagen, as well as being the capital and largest city in Denmark, is also the country's largest tourist destination. The city's importance comes from its position on the Oresund straight, which separates it from Sweden - a natural trading superhighway linking the Baltic ports with the North Sea and the world beyond.

 Denmark, like the rest of Scandinavia, is synonymous with good functional design, reflected in the city's architecture. Traditional pastel-washed 17th and 18th century buildings, sit easily next to striking modernist structures, giving the feeling that someone's really thought about how the city should both look and function.

As a city built around water, a great way to start your visit is on one of the many canal tours. Weaving through the heart of the old city, guided tours take about an hour and help you spot and choose the highlights that might be worth a closer look.
 If you've got the energy for it, you can use one of the brightly painted city bikes dotted around the heart of Copenhagen.
A simple supermarket trolley-styled coin deposit system releases the bike for you to tour around the heart of the town (as long as you stick to the areas shown on the map fixed to each one). Once finished, just return the bike to any of the many drop-off points to get your deposit back. Very Copenhagen.

 However you prefer to get around, there's plenty that's worth the trip here. Aside from the natural photo opportunity presented by world famous statue of the Little Mermaid, or a tour around the home of Copenhagen's biggest export - Carlsberg - there's plenty to pack in to a short break.

 Tivoli Gardens near the heart of Copenhagen provides a mix of modern and old-fashioned rides; ideal if your party can't agree on how much 'g-force' makes for good entertainment. For a longer look at a city panorama than you find at the top of a fairground ride, try the Round Tower in the old Latin Quarter.

 Closer to the ground, the Danish National Museum is a comprehensive sweep of the country's cultural genes, from the Viking era, through the controversies of the Danish Empire, right up to modern times.

 While a trip to Copenhagen offers plenty to choose from, there's one dominant reason to visit Billund, but it's a pretty good reason: Legoland. The town is the birthplace of the famous plastic building bricks, with a theme park to match which opened in 1968.

 The site attracts over 1.6m visitors each year, drawn by the combination of exciting rides and ingenious use of the Lego to build all kinds of knobbly novelties.

 There are eight 'lands' in Legoland Billund, catering for a varieity of ages - from Duplo Land for smaller ones, through to the extreme rides in Adventure Land, with plenty in-between to keep everyone enthralled. There is hotel accommodation on site for those staying for a multi-day tour, with packages available, rolling park entry and rooms together.

 If Denmark shares some of its heritage with the European mainland it borders, Sweden is purely Scandinavian. The capital, Stockholm, is one of the great Baltic Sea ports and home to over 750,000 souls, making it by far the biggest city in the country. Established as late as 1250, it occupies an important position between the intricate Lake Malaren and the sea, built across an archipelago of islands.

 Unlike so many of Europe's major urban centres, Stockholm was left un-touched by 20th Century war, so its evolution has been by selective destruction and re-invention, most notably in the modernisation of the 50's, 60's and 70's. As a result, the architectural landscape includes a mixture of buildings dating back as far as the 15th Century.

 The picturesque old town of Gamia Stan has medieval-era winding streets perfect for exploring with a camera in hand. The royal Drottningholm Palace is another ideal spot to take your camera, and capture the Swedish version of changing the guard, but once past the display of military pomp visitors are allowed inside to see some of the history and splendour of the country's royalty.

 Stockholm has a wealth of museums on offer for visitors. The largest is the National Museum, boasting over 15,000 paintings, plus sculptures and other relics of Scandinavian history. The Nobel Museum records the history and achievement of the various recipients of the Nobel Prize since 1901, as well as the prize's founder, Alfred Nobel.

 While being excellent for culture vultures, the city's aesthetic appeal is not all man-made. The islands on which Stockholm is built are part of an archipelago that numbers 24,000 plus, spread out over some 80km. Boat trips from the city centre are a big attraction in the warm summer months, a great way of seeing a little of the natural beauty the country has on offer.

 On the opposite side of Sweden, the port of Gothenburg is one of the most westerly points in the country. Its position gives access to the open-sea trade routes that define the city, a major commercial and industrial hub and Sweden's 'front door' to the rest of the world.
 
 The city started to grow from the 18th century onwards, when the Swedish East India Company established its headquarters there, giving rise to an influx of trade wealth still visible in the city's architecture - not least East India House, which is now home to the Gothenburg City Museum.

 Like so much of Scandinavia, the old sits easily with the new, such as Liseberg amusement park, near the city centre.
The largest park of its kind on the peninsula for both number of rides and annual visitors, it offers a perfect antidote to culture for the younger members of the family.

 Possibly the most exotic side of Nordic culture for the British palette is Swedish cuisine, especially some of the more 'interesting' fish dishes. A port city, Gothenburg has many excellent fish restaurants - but those with unadventurous tastes should be careful when ordering, in case of discovering the potent results of traditional Nordic fish preservation methods!
 

Move north along the coast from Gothenburg, crossing the border into Norway and you arrive at its capital, Oslo. The city is located in the natural shelter at the end of a fjord, and spread over a large area with wide open spaces, forests and beaches, but its city centre is compact and easy to walk around. With some 20 per cent of the city's population being from overseas (albeit many of them from other Nordic populations) the city is the closest that Norway gets to a melting pot.
 

Thanks to the country's oil industry, Norway is one of the most well-developed and affluent countries in the world - and affluent means expensive. Oslo has been ranked as having the 6th highest cost of living, so visits can be a little hard on
the pocket.

 The city transforms itself after dark, with many of the day-time bars and restaurants transforming themselves into night clubs. Some venues may change their age limits as they change usage - a daytime family establishment may become over-25s only. Also, some places may levy a cover charge, so it might be a good idea to check before getting a surprise bill when you try to leave!