Norway

Norway's fjords make even seasoned travellers go quiet. Sheer walls of rock rising a kilometre straight from still, dark water, farms clinging to ledges, waterfalls dropping out of the clouds. You can meet them by scenic train, by kayak, or from the deck of a boat with a coffee going cold in your hand because you keep forgetting it. That is the south. Head north and Norway becomes Arctic: the Lofoten Islands' fishing villages under jagged peaks, whales in the polar night, the aurora overhead, and hotels made of glass so you can watch it from bed. Summer brings the midnight sun and hiking that belongs in screensavers. It is effortless to travel, spotless, safe and stunning. Norway is nature designed by a perfectionist.