May 4th, 2013 at 4:00PM: Considering a trip to see the Northern Lights? This year may very well be the best time to go. 2013 is the height of the 11-year solar cycle. September and October offer peak activity. They can be seen in Alaska, Norway, Finland and Canada on a clear night. Better yet, try viewing on a ship at sea.
Common tips for viewing the Northern Lights say to go North, inside the Arctic circle, bring ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Finland posts
Northern Lights Best Viewed At Sea, On A Yacht, French Style
May 4th, 2013 at 4:00PM: Considering a trip to see the Northern Lights? This year may very well be the best time to go. 2013 is the height of the 11-year solar cycle. September and October offer peak activity. They can be seen in Alaska, Norway, Finland and Canada on a clear night. Better yet, try viewing on a ship at sea.
Common tips for viewing the Northern Lights say to go North, inside the Arctic circle, bring ...New Finnish Passport Is Also A Flip-Book
Mar 27th, 2013 at 4:00PM:
Your passport has many uses beyond getting you in and out of a country. It can serve as a travelogue of sorts, showing you where you've been and taking you back in time as you relive trips stamp by stamp. It can also be a form of identification, or a way to remember what you looked like five years earlier, when you had that flattering (or not so flattering) photo taken.
Now, if you live in ...
VIDEO: The Wife Carrying Championships In Finland
Mar 18th, 2013 at 2:00PM:
Last week we reported on kiiking, an extreme swing set that's popular in Estonia and surrounding countries. That area of the world seems to breed weird sports. Perhaps the weirdest is the increasingly popular sport of wife carrying.
Guys, it's pretty simple: hoist your wife into the air and run a race. If you make it first and don't drop her, you win. Oh, and you have to drink beer along the ...
Discover Scandinavia In Washington DC: Nordic Cool 2013
Feb 20th, 2013 at 11:00AM:
Aurora Borealis, new Nordic cuisine, ice hotels, hot springs, fjords, moose, meatballs and music? Scandinavia is at the top of the list for a lot of travelers these days. But if you can't book a ticket to the northern countries this year, Washington, D.C., might be your next best bet.
The city is the host of Nordic Cool 2013, a month-long international festival celebrating the culture of ...Audio Slideshow: From Helsinki To Suomenlinna
Nov 14th, 2012 at 9:00AM:
Gadling Labs takes the ferry out to Suomenlinna, the historic fort on the outskirts of Helsinki, Finland. Click to watch the audio slideshow above.
[Photos by Stephen Greenwood and Grant Martin] ...
The World's Most Recommended Country To Visit
Sep 18th, 2012 at 3:00PM: The world's most recommended country to visit is Canada, says a study measuring public perceptions of countries around the world. The ranking is a component of the best overall country reputation that also considers employment, living conditions, investment potential and more.
Beating out Australia, Sweden and Switzerland for the second year in a row for the number one spot, Canada is one of 50 ...A Tour Through The Best Airline Lounge In The World
Aug 10th, 2012 at 11:00AM:
Nordic countries are often well regarded as the design hotspots in Europe, and their airports are no exception. Helsinki is a prime example. In addition to its well laid out and spacious construction, the airport is also home to the top voted airline lounge in the world. Its operator? Finnair.
Passing through the airport on the way back from a week in Helsinki last month, Gadling Labs ...
Helsinki, Finland By Bicycle
Jul 31st, 2012 at 9:00AM:
Why fret over taxi fares, bus schedules and confusing subway maps when you can bike an entire city, street by street? Helsinki is the perfect size for navigation by bicycle. You can cross the downtown stretch in a matter of minutes, and jumps from the raucous bars in Kallio to the sultry restaurants in Punavuori are but a minor commute.
Gadling Labs took a few bikes out onto the streets of ...
Video Of The Day: Midnight Sun Shines In Iceland
May 7th, 2012 at 6:00PM:
The "midnight sun" is a natural phenomenon occurring north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle when the sun never fully sets and remains visible 24 hours a day. Since there are no permanent human settlements south of the Antarctic Circle, countries and territories that experience the midnight sun are limited to those crossed by the Arctic Circle, including Canada, ...
10 best places to live for avoiding world conflict
Mar 13th, 2012 at 5:00PM: Expatify.com asked the question, "Where would you be the safest if World War III broke out tomorrow?" The answers arrived in a post titled "10 Best Places to Live for Avoiding World Conflict." Irrelevant as it may seem to you, the claws of conflict affect a revolving roster of nations. The knowledge of where not to go because of conflict, or better yet, where to go to avoid it, can be useful if ...10 unique experiential hotels from around the world
Sep 30th, 2011 at 8:30AM: A trend in the travel world that is becoming increasingly popular is the "experiential" hotel. Many travelers are no longer looking for a basic room in a premier location, but instead for an experience that will allow them to get to know an (often remote) area, or at least have their hotel be something they'll never forget. From staying in mines in the deepest hotel suite in the world to getting ...Brand Finland, Finnair, and Blue Wings
Sep 26th, 2011 at 11:00AM:
Finland is widely recognized for having an amazing brand, which draws substance from several sources: its educational system, its technological strengths, its tradition of modern design and architecture, its physical environment (forests, water, and the extreme north), and distinctive cultural experiences like sauna.
In light of Finland's high performance across several broad categories of ...Arktikum: Finland's extraordinary Arctic museum
Sep 22nd, 2011 at 1:30PM:
Rovaniemi is one of the world's most northerly cities. Located just a few kilometers south of the Arctic Circle, it is the biggest city in Finland at its latitude, with a population of 60,000. There are bigger cities at more northerly latitudes in Norway and Russia, to be sure, but Rovaniemi is indisputably pretty far north, all things considered.
Rovaniemi lures visitors in with the ...Visa-free travel by the numbers
Aug 15th, 2011 at 11:30AM:
Visa-free travel is easy travel. Procuring visas takes time, energy, and money, and is beyond debate a pain for frequent travelers. The erection of visa barriers responds to a number of factors, though it can be said without too many qualifications that the citizens of rich countries tend to have a much easier time accessing the world visa-free than do the citizens of poor countries.
The ...European low-cost airlines fail to enforce charges and fees
Jul 7th, 2011 at 11:30AM:
Flying around Europe on low-cost airlines over the last few months has taught me a few things. Among the most useful lessons I've picked up: Baggage and check-in fees and charges are enforced quite unevenly.
European low-cost carriers present their customers with a frightening thicket of charges and fees. These charges, which serve as a revenue stream for the airlines, are less readily ...Finland in London
Jun 27th, 2011 at 9:00AM:
Week before last, I traveled to Oulu to bask in the midnight sun. Dusk and dawn were indistinguishable. I needed little sleep to feel energized. At midnight I looked north and imagined landscapes bathed in even brighter sunlight.
Back in London this past week, I was faced with rain and general drenching. The clouds were low and foreboding; the gray skies interminably soul-annihilating. ...Five ways to enjoy the midnight sun in Oulu
Jun 23rd, 2011 at 10:30AM:
As the days grew longer this spring I began to fantasize about spending summer solstice under the midnight sun. I recalled with excitement that dulled buzz that comes from not getting enough sleep when it's constantly light out, a gently energizing sensation so unlike sheer exhaustion. Last week I succumbed to the urge and flew off to the city of Oulu in Finland.
Why Oulu? As is usually the ...Top 20 least sexist countries in the world
Apr 24th, 2011 at 9:00AM:
Have you ever wondered which countries are the least sexist in the world?
The Global Gender Gap report calculates such a thing. The study chronicles gender disparities and progress for rights across the sexes in several countries. It essentially gauges the treatment of women using various data points including educational attainment, health, and political empowerment. The study encompasses ...Schengen and the disappearance of European passport stamps
Mar 1st, 2011 at 10:00AM:
Creative new use for border crossing posts at German/Austrian border.
In the late 1980s, an American spending a summer traveling across Europe with a Eurailpass would see his or her passport stamped possibly dozens of times. With a few exceptions, every time a border was crossed, an immigration agent would pop his or her head into a train compartment, look at everyone's passports, in most ...Gadling's favorite destinations for 2011
Dec 7th, 2010 at 10:00AM:
We travel a lot, to destinations both well-known and unfamiliar. In our defense, it is our job to travel like mad, to explore the world and then write about our discoveries.
Though most travel writers find something or other of interest in most places we visit, there are always those personal favorites that rise above the rest. This year, we decided to scribble our favorites down for you. ...
