This 10-Day Journey By Norway Celebrates Robust Ladies, From a Distant Distillery Founder to the Nation’s First Feminine to Summit Everest

Very like our wildly lovely, untamed landscapes, I’ve all the time believed that Norway’s girls possess a outstanding energy and energy. After I based bespoke the luxurious journey firm, Up Norway, my purpose was to offer friends an genuine, off-the-beaten monitor expertise in my homeland, however I additionally wished to showcase the ground-breaking feminine tales of Norway’s previous and current. I’m proud to say that Norway counts itself among the many prime 5 gender-equal nations on this planet, and it was with this in thoughts that we set about creating a singular new journey, Tracing Norway’s Tremendous Ladies. It’s an enlightening, soul-stirring journey that delves into Norway’s wealthy historical past and tradition to disclose some extraordinary tales of girls residing in one of many world’s most unspoiled, rugged landscapes. Listed below are a number of examples of what to do and who to fulfill in Norway.

One among my favorite elements of this itinerary is visiting the female-run Feddie Ocean Distillery on Fedje Island, a wild speck of land accessed by boat from Bergen. I really feel a way of freedom as our ferry approaches this distant outpost, dwelling to only 551 inhabitants and a group entrepreneurial spirited girls. After I say “spirited,” I actually imply it: their mission is to make use of whisky to make a  constructive change. Founder Anne Koppang and her crew are distilling what is going to ultimately be an natural handcrafted Norwegian single malt, aimed to rival Scotland’s finest and be prepared for whisky lovers in 2024. Koppang has additionally made a degree of inviting solely girls as buyers: her intention is to encourage girls to step up and study extra about investing whereas readdressing the steadiness, since 80 % of the Norwegian inventory trade continues to be owned by males.

With a ardour for pushing boundaries, Koppang’s not one to relaxation on her laurels. The distillery’s award-winning flagship gin, 9 Sisters, is called after Norse mythology — the 9 daughters of the god Jotne Aegir and the goddess Ran, who’re mentioned to personify the ocean. After I sip the gin I can style a touch of saltiness, together with floral notes and a peppery kick. For some contemporary air to clear our heads, we then hike alongside the dramatic North Sea Path, the place I fill my lungs with pure sea air and maintain eyes peeled for seals taking part in within the foamy waves. After we cease to benefit from the solar’s heat and the ocean view from an area dagsturhytta (which interprets to ‘day-trip-cabin’), it’s the proper second to mirror on this pioneering enterprise and the ladies driving its success.  

Contrasting Feddie’s edge-of-the-world really feel and entrepreneurial spirit, a keep in Camillas Hus, an exquisitely restored boutique lodge in Oslo, affords one other likelihood to mirror upon Norway’s historical past of game-changing girls. As soon as dwelling to creator Camilla Collett, certainly one of Norway’s most important novelists and ladies’s rights activists, it’s certainly one of my favourite city hideaways for its cloud-like beds and supremely elegant decor.  

The girl who most embodies the Norwegian spirit is perhaps the adventurer Randi Skaug, the primary Norwegian girl to achieve the summit of Mount Everest — after which tick off the Seven Summits, climbing the very best mountain peak on every continent. After such a rare achievement, what do you do subsequent? In Randi’s case, she headed dwelling and purchased the unspoiled island of Naustholmen in northern Norway, the place she’s surrounded by nature and peace. I’m thrilled that we will organize for friends to a keep on Randi’s Island and listen to her unbelievable tales. She has coined a saying in Norwegian referred to as kongefølelsen, which loosely interprets as “feeling that you just’re on prime of the world”. That’s precisely the sensation that I intention to offer each traveler who joins this unbelievable journey — together with a brand new feminine perspective on this magnificent nation.

Torunn Tronsvang is a member of Journey + Leisure’s A-Record of journey advisors and creates customized journeys throughout Norway. Contact her at +47 57 11 99 88 or [email protected].