Into the cold

Image via Wikipedia

Need a nip? Add fjord sighting and Xmas shopping to your winter holiday

Norway: Stare into the abyss

Most tourists look at Norway's breathtaking fjords from the bottom up, as they slide along the country's narrow inlets on cruise ships.

For a really intimate experience, you can choose to see a fjord, a channel long gouged out by a glacier, from a cliff staring straight down 600m into the azure water.

Hiking up to Preikestolen, or Pulpit Rock, on the south-west coast of Norway near Stavanger can be an unforgettable experience.

Adventurous visitors have been climbing to the top - from inland, not straight up - for about 100 years. Now it's one of the more popular hikes in southern Norway, drawing more than 90,000 people a year.

The rock surface looks like a pulpit overlooking the Lysefjord far below. It is a natural rock plateau, about 25m by 25m, where hikers can get a spectacular view of the 40km-long Lysefjord, the southernmost fjord in Norway that's connected to the North Sea.

Oslo fjord

There are well-worn mountains as far as the eye can see, the gray broken by dark patches of hardy trees as well as light-green meadows on rare flat spots. It's too far south to see glaciers here.

Some visitors who aren't afraid of heights lie on their stomachs and look straight down to the saltwater below. (This is Norway - there are no safety railings.)

Only near Preikestolen itself do hikers need to worry about falling into an abyss, so people who are afraid of heights could probably handle the hike itself and appreciate the view from a safe spot.

The two-hour hike up isn't overly difficult, but it does take some stamina and sturdy footwear. You don't have to be a Norwegian or a mountain goat, but that would help. Some sections of the trail require climbing up rock steps or picking your way through boulders.

Oslo bound

Preikestolen is an easy day trip from Stavanger, an oil centre on the west coast. The city is a one-hour flight or eight-hour train ride from Oslo.

Thai Airways recently launched affordable flights from Bangkok to Olso, so you can warm yourself up with some tom yum soup before you go sightseeing in cold climes.

Christmas market on the Munich Marienplatz - Stall with christmas decorations

Germany: Xmas stuffing

Christmas may be months away but to embark on the ultimate Christmas shopping trip, now's the time to plan, especially when the destination is Germany and euros need to be stocked up.

Every year, more than 130 places in the country are lit up by multitudinous lights, showing wooden stalls that sell Christmas ornaments ranging from wooden toys to nativity displays. The markets draw tourists from all over the world.

In Munich, the Christkindl market is held from Nov 27 to Dec 24 on Marienplatz square, which will have a towering Christmas tree covered in lights.

In Dresden, the "tree" is 14m high and made from wood with decorated tiers. The Striezelmarkt is the oldest documented Christmas market in the country, dating to 1434. Meanwhile, the fair in Nuremberg attracts some 2 million visitors annually, including those from Japan and China.

All this, plus sausages, gingerbread and mulled wine. In Germany, Christmas begins in November.

Munich bound

For details on Germany's Christmas markets, visit tinyurl.com/5c9n9d.

Lufthansa flies to Munich and other cities in Germany.

----------

From TODAY, Living – Weekend, 29/30-Aug-2009

Related articles by Zemanta

• The world's first floating wind turbine goes on line in Norway (dailyfinance.com)
• London Design Festival 2009: Northern lights (telegraph.co.uk)