Scandinavia is a large region of northern Europe that is mainly made up of the Scandinavian Peninsula. It includes the countries of Norway and Sweden. Neighboring Denmark and Finland, as well as Iceland, are also considered to be part of this region.
Geographically, the Scandinavian Peninsula is the largest in Europe, extending from above the Arctic Circle to the shores of the Baltic Sea and covering about 289,500 square miles. You can learn more about the countries of Scandinavia, their population, capitals, and other facts with this list.
Outdoors
The great outdoors is rarely greater than in Europe's big north. Epic expanses of wilderness – forests, lakes, volcanoes – and intoxicatingly pure air mean engaging with nature is a viscerally pleasurable experience. National parks cover the region, offering some of Europe's best hiking as well as anything from kayaking to glacier-walking to bear-watching. Spectacular coasts invite exploration from the sea, whether there be rugged fjords, cliffs teeming with seabirds or archipelagos so speckled with islands it looks like an artist flicked a paintbrush at a canvas. Wildlife from whales to wolverines awaits the fortunate observer.
City Style
Stolid Nordic stereotypes dissolve in the region's vibrant capitals. Crest-of-the-wave design can be seen in them all, backed by outstanding modern architecture, excellent museums, imaginative solutions for 21st-century urban living, internationally acclaimed restaurants and a nightlife that fizzes along despite hefty beer prices. Live music is a given: you're bound to come across some inspiring local act, whether your taste is Viking metal or chamber music. Style here manages to be conservative and innovative at the same time, or perhaps it's just that the new and the old blend with less effort than elsewhere.
Seasons
They have proper seasons up here. Long winters carpeted with thick snow, the sun making cameo appearances if at all. Despite scary subzero temperatures, there's a wealth of things to do: skiing, sledding behind huskies or reindeer, snowmobile safaris to the Arctic Sea, ice fishing, romantic nights in snow hotels, visiting Santa Claus and gazing at the soul-piercing aurora borealis. Spring sees nature's tentative awakening before the explosive summer's long, long days, filled with festivals, beer terraces and wonderful boating, hiking and cycling. Autumn forests display a glorious array of colours, offering marvellous woodland walking before the first snows.
Green Choices
You'll rarely come across the word 'ecotourism' in Scandinavia, but those values have long been an important part of life here. Generally, green, sustainable solutions are a way of living, rather than a gimmick to attract visitors. Scandinavia will likely be affected by climate change significantly, and big efforts to reduce emissions are being made across the region. Travelling here, you'll be struck by the excellent levels of environmental protection, the sensible 'why don't we do that back home' impact-reducing strategies and the forward thinking. It makes for pleasurably enlightening travel.
he central part of Scandinavia from Oslo to Stockholm has a more humid continental climate, which gradually gives way to subarctic climate further north, a lot like the weather in Finland. ... Further north, in the regions of Greenland and Iceland, you experience a northern climate with cold winters.
Public transport
Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland offer a wide range of transportation facilities and you can choose whichever suits you the best. ... The Scandinavianpublic transport is not only buses or trains, there are boats, car ferries and passenger express ferries, and the hub and a coach.
Germanic and Scandinavian languages and cultureoriginated there. The kingdom of Denmark is part ofScandinavia, like Norway and Sweden, and Iceland and Finland are also parts of the Nordic countries. ... West Norse was Icelandic and Norwegian, and East Norse was Danish and Swedish including Finnish Swedish
