It's hard to overstate the beauty of Norway's natural environment. Sheer-faced mountains that disappear into the clouds, icy crystalline fjords and deep-sided gorges scattered with remote communities are what this northern nation is rightly famed for.

The capital city combines tradition with contemporary Scandinavian cool, while coastal Bergen with its colourful wooden architecture is the gateway to the fjords. The UNESCO-listed waterfront was once the hub of a Hanseatic trading port and still bustles with life today. Way to the north the country slips above the Arctic Circle. Svalbard is a glacier-covered northern wonderland, vast and unpopulated. Here you can try out Nordic skiing and try to spot polar bears in the wild. During the summer the sun really does shine at midnight, and if you're lucky you may see the magical Northern Lights. Take a boat trip down the majestic Geirangerfjord, there are waterfalls tumbling down sheer ravines, mist-covered mountain tops and forests everywhere you look.