Year after year, international press keeps reporting that the happiest people on Earth live in the Nordic countries. There’s a reason for that overall happiness and contentment and it has nothing to do with spas.

Wellness in the Nordics doesn’t offer a treatment menu. It is a system of being, rooted in nature, culture, peace, and an almost radical commitment to balance. The Nordic approach to wellbeing – combined with cooler temperatures in an increasingly warmer world – has quietly become one of the most compelling reasons to travel north, way north. The Travelicious team have listed some transformative wellness encounters in the Nordics with corresponding destinations, although, with few exceptions, these are culturally rooted, so virtually any country in this region can offer these experiences.

Geothermal Immersion (Iceland)

Iceland sits atop a volcanic heartbeat, and its geothermal waters are nothing short of medicinal. Iceland straddles both the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates which are in constant motion. The reimagined Blue Lagoon — completely man-made — features a full luxury Retreat component with private lagoon access, mineral treatments, and award-winning cuisine. In 2026 alone, five new commercial geothermal baths have been opened in the country, with more sure to come. But this isn’t a new thing, the not-very-secret Secret Lagoon, formed from natural springs, was opened in 1891 and quickly became an integral part of the local community. Icelandic water isn’t an amenity; first offering social structure to communities, it now produces energy, heats homes, and cooks food, while offering mineral-rich medicinal benefits to the skin.

Forest Bathing (Sweden)

Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton hotel in Muscat; the entrance to a home in a village near Jabal Akhdar, one of the highest mountains in Oman.

In the vast stretches of Swedish forest filled with birch, pine, and lichen-covered granite, something measurable happens to the body: just 72 hours outdoors in nature can reduce stress levels by 70%, lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and cortisol levels and increasing well-being and creativity (according to a 2017 study by Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet), Since 70% of Sweden is forest, nature is close by and the ancient “right to roam” law, or Allemansrätten, means these forests belong to everyone. Swedes have practiced skogsbad for centuries and you can enjoy it on your own, with a local guide who can also introduce you to foraging, or experiences now available at a luxury level, organized by exceptional lodges like any of the number of hotels housed atop trees or built on lakes featuring floating (or ice-locked) water cabins and elevated glass cabins.

Friluftsliv , The Open-Air Life (Norway)

Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton hotel in Muscat; the entrance to a home in a village near Jabal Akhdar, one of the highest mountains in Oman.

The Norwegian concept of friluftsliv (literally “open-air living”) follows closely on the heels of forest bathing. But it’s not hiking, and it’s not skiing; it’s more of a philosophy that regular, unhurried time in nature is not optional, but essential. It’s not the kind of activity that makes you shout “parkour, ” although you can, if you like. A morning on the water (canoe, kayak or SUP) in the Oslo Fjord or even an afternoon doing nothing on a smooth granite rock overlooking a UNESCO World Heritage site with a catered picnic. These constitute experiences that recalibrate the body and mind something no indoor spa retreat can replicate.

Power Food & Foraging

The Royal Opera House in Muscat, Oman; an infinity pool at Anantara resort.

Nordic cuisine is wellness cuisine before it is anything else. Foraged berries, wild herbs, cold-freshly-caught fresh water fish and seafood, fermented grains: foods with deep nutritional intelligence, eaten in rhythm with the seasons. Private foraging experiences with expert guides are available throughout Norway, Sweden, and Finland, typically followed by a meal prepared from what was gathered. In Iceland there’s the added benefit of cooking what you’ve gathered in a geothermal vent. There is something profoundly grounding about eating what the sea and land just gave you.

The Sauna (Finland)

“I am not Bedouin,” said Ali, once we’d disembarked from the camels. “I am from Pakistan.”

In Finland, the sauna is neither a luxury nor an afterthought, as it is in so many fitness centers world-wide; it is a birthright, and arguably Finland’s greatest cultural export, practiced throughout the Nordics, the Baltics, and across Eastern Europe and with 3 million saunas for a country of 5 ½ million residents. The ritual is simple, ancient, and deeply serious: heat, steam, silence, cold water, repeat. Private lakeside sauna lodges — where the only sound is birch branches on water and the only agenda is your own — offer a level of restorative simplicity that no amount of complexity can achieve. Sometimes wellness is exactly this elemental.

Darkness, Silence & the Northern Lights

A Bedouin-style tent set up by the luxury camping company Canvas Club

In Iceland, the vast Swedish, Finnish, and Norwegian Lapland region, and Norway’s Svalbard, winter offers what no spa can recreate: true silence, true darkness, and the sometimes the elusive aurora borealis rippling enigmatically overhead. The effect on the nervous system is unlike anything else. Luxury lodges with glass-roofed suites and igloos, private hot tubs under the Arctic sky, and guides (or apps) with an uncanny sense of where these lights will appear turn this into the ultimate restorative experience.

A courtyard at Anantara; the ruins of Birkat al Mawz, a town at the base of Jabal Akhdar.

Not a cold weather fan? Not to worry. In the warmer months, the Midnight Sun offers the lengthiest golden hour your camera can capture, prime time for canoeing or sailing, golfing, and so much more.

The Nordics don’t ask you to slow down, the collective culture simply makes it impossible to do otherwise. Let our team design your wellness journey in the north

Images courtesy of VisitSweden, VisitOslo, VisitFinland, Inspired by Iceland imagebanks, and Unsplash and PIxabay

OMAN ITINERARY

City, Desert, Mountains, Beach

Oman is a place of diverse landscapes — give yourself a week or more to get a taste of several.

Getting There

The best option is to connect through a neighboring Gulf city like Doha or Dubai, both just a 90-minute hop away from Muscat. U.S. citizens should apply for an e-visa in advance.

Muscat

The seaside Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel recently unveiled a renovation that emphasizes traditional Omani design. Other world-class openings around the capital include the Kempinski Hotel Muscat and the Jumeirah Muscat Bay, coming later this year.

Wahiba Sands

This desert region, a few hours southeast of Muscat, is closer (and more hospitable) than the better-known Empty Quarter, the unforgiving expanse that covers a fourth of the Arabian Peninsula. Canvas Club can set you up in a luxe, Bedouin-style camp under the stars.

Jabal Akhdar

From Wahiba, a three-hour drive northwest takes you through hillside villages and date plantations. The newest property in the area is the striking, 115-room Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar, the highest-elevation resort in Arabia. Another excellent option is Alila Jabal Akhdar, the first luxury resort in the area — which we named to our It List of best new hotels in 2015.

Musandam Peninsula

About a five-hour drive northwest from Muscat, this exclave is separated from the rest of Oman ­by the eastern United Arab Emirates; avoid multiple land border crossings by flying to Dubai and driving from there. The luxury resort Six Senses Zighy Bay makes the detour worth it.