The ICEHOTEL - officially one of the wonders of Sweden..!!

What are the 7 wonders of Sweden? And who votes for the 7 wonders of Sweden?

The Seven Wonders of Sweden really do exist. In mid-2007, amongst all the talk about the new "7 Wonders of the World", the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet called upon all readers to vote for their country's own favorite wonders. Having not been able to make the list of "7 Wonders of the World", over 80,000 Swedes voted and proudly selected the following wonders to be the "Seven Wonders of Sweden":

1. The Göta Kanal: With the most votes, Göta Canal came in first place. This 150-mile canal was built in the early 19th century and is highly popular. The canal stretches from Gothenburg on the west coast all the way to Söderköping on the east coast of Sweden.

2. Visby's City Wall: In second place, there's the city wall of Visby which was erected in the 13th century and stretches around the entire city, 2 miles in length. This location is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

3. The War Ship Vasa: The Vasa was built by King Gustavus Adolphus II in 1628 and is a major attraction in Stockholm. The king made his ship much too shallow and it had major design flaws. On her virgin voyage, the Vasa tipped over and sank only 900 ft from shore where the public was watching. See it at the Vasa Museum!

4. The ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjarvi/Kiruna: The ICEHOTEL in Sweden's Lapland region is the biggest attraction in the area. Originally, the creators started out building a simple igloo, which later turned into the elaborate and now famous ICEHOTEL. This place is made only from the waters of the nearby river Torne and melts each summer!

5. The Turning Torso: Swedish wonder number five is the Turning Torso, a skyscraper in Malmö, Sweden. The tower has 54 stories and is more than 600 ft high, with a unique design based on twisting bodies. The Turning Torso is one of the tallest buildings in Scandinavia and is Malmö's most popular landmark.

6. The Oresund Bridge: The bridge connecting Denmark and Sweden comes in at place 6. The world-famous Oresund Bridge has 4 lanes, 2 rail tracks, and runs for almost 28,000 ft (8,000 meters) to connect two countries. It crosses the sea held by cables.

7. The Globe: Last but not least, Swedes felt that Stockholm's Globa Arena should be included in Sweden's 7 Wonders. Found in southern Stockholm, Globen (The Globe) is the world's largest "round" spherical building. It is highly visible from all sides and hosts sporting and music events year-round.

Check out Sweden's amazing 4th wonder for yourself with the world's leading tour operator to the ICEHOTEL, Discover the World!

Top Gear is back with the ultimate ‘polar challenge’!

If you’re a Top Gear fan like me then make sure you tune in to Top Gear tomorrow night – when you can see the boys attempting a spine-chilling ‘polar challenge’ racing all the way from Canada to the North Pole!

Top Gear is back with its most ambitious challenge to date on Wednesday 25th July. Miss it and you will miss out! In this adrenalin-pumping episode you can watch Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond attempting to race all the way from Northern Canada to the North Pole, 450 miles away! This is Top Gear at it’s coolest that’s for sure!

The terrain the boys race across is some of the toughest on earth - a mixture of mountainous land masses and jagged sea ice where temperatures can drop to a mind-numbing minus 65 degrees Celcius. This is a serious challenge, not one for the faint-hearted viewers! Cheer the guys on as Jeremy and James drive a specially adapted pick up truck through seriously arduous conditions, whilst Richard travels on something a little more laid back - a sled pulled by a team of ten Inuit Dogs!

If like me, anything to do with cars is enough to get your heart racing, then you might like to consider our Saab Ice driving experience as part of a holiday to the ICEHOTEL® this winter. Feel the rush of icy fresh air as you drive at high speed around a rally track and prove once and for all that cars aren’t just for the boys! Believe me, this is a seriously cool activity - driving on ice was definitely the most fun I’ve ever had driving a car!

If you like the sound of winer activities like ice driving, husky sledging, skiing and more then you might like to consider a short break to Swedish Lapland. Or if you're inspired by the spectacular scenery you see in this seriously cool episode of Top Gear, then you might like to consider taking a look at our latest special offers on our Icebreaker voyages or take a look at our once in a lifetime North Pole voyage.

But whatever you decide don’t miss out on the programme: Top Gear's Special will air on BBC2 on Wednesday 25th July at 8pm and will be repeated on BBC2 at 8pm on Sunday 29th July.

'Top Gear' image courtesy of and © BBC. All other photo's © Cassandra Zoro, Discover the World.

Skiing in Lapland - midnight sun skiing until late june, huge amounts of fresh powder snow, affordable heli skiing...what more could you ask for?

“…but look what happened last season, I paid all that cash and didn’t get any snow so there’s no way I’m going away this season!”

If this sounds familiar to any of your readers, then Discover the World’s new Lapland & Beyond brochure has the answer – guaranteed snow!

Whether it’s superb, affordable heli-skiing, great off-piste slopes or skiing under the midnight sun until late June, read on for some ski holiday ideas that your readers are sure to love Download discover_the_world_lapland_beyond_brochure_ski_release.doc

WWII plane recovered beneath Greenland ice, back in sky to complete mission

This is a great story I found on www.zeenews.com: Teterboro, New Jersey, June 30: A World War II fighter plane once entombed under several hundred feet (nearly 100 meters) of snow and ice in Greenland is back in the skies to complete a mission it began nearly 65 years ago.

The plane was part of a group that became known as the Lost Squadron that was forced by foul weather in 1942 to crash-land onto a glacier in Greenland.

Brad McManus, 89, who was the first member of his squadron to crash-land onto the glacier, is now the only pilot still alive from the group to see one of their planes attempt to complete the mission to Britain — a flight he never expected to see any of the damaged aircraft complete.

Visit this website for more details - http://p38assn.org/glacier-girl.htm

We offer plenty of unique holiday experiences to Greenland whether summer or winter, East or West Greenland. Take a look at our website or call for more info - www.discover-the-world.co.uk/greenland

Discover the World announce new direct flight to Kiruna - more information

We now have more details about our our new direct flight with SAS to Kiruna, Swedish Lapland. For more information, please click on the press release button in the navigation pane above or click here

In addition to the new flight, we are also developing combined Icehotel/Ski packages as well as ski-only itineraries which will be detailed in our Lapland & Beyond brochure (due out in the second week of June). The resorts are Riksgransen & Bjorkliden and offer some of the world's best  off-piste skiing as well as very affordable and absolutely amazing heli skiing opportunities (I was there last week and it was incredible - sunshine, fresh powder snow (this late in the season!) and    people-free mountains!).

We were even skiing at 1230 in the morning thanks to the midnight sun - where else can you do that!

What a combination - especially if you visit the icehotel in the same holiday.

Watch this space for more details and if you would like our Lapland & Beyond brochure (2007/2008 winter season) then let me know - 01737 214 294 / alexis@discover-the-world.co.uk

thanks

New SAS direct flight to Kiruna, Swedish Lapland

Visiting the Swedish Icehotel will become even easier next winter thanks to Discover the World & Scandinavian Airlines' ground breaking agreement to operate an exclusive charter flight series between Heathrow and Kiruna on selected dates between December 2007 and April 2008.

This means that the Icehotel will be brought within only three and a half hours of London, making the lengthy transit through Stockholm unnecessary.

We will also be adding skiing to our winter in Lapland programme as Swedish Lapland offers some of the most exciting and challenging skiing in Europe and with guaranteed snow right the way into June, this is an experience not to be missed.

I'll keep the media room posted on further developments so watch this space!
If, in the meantime, you would like further information then call me on 01737 214 294.
Thanks
alexis

Ice driving - what an experience!!!

One of the perks of travel for us people on the other side of the 'journalist fence' (i.e. PROs) are fam trips. Occasionally we're lucky and snag a great trip and I did just that over the weekend, returning from the Swedish Icehotel on Tuesday.

With DTW strong on sending its staff out to the front line (woohoo!) to experience first hand what our clients/journalists do, I couldn't have asked for a better trip.

With our direct flight (with SAS) beginning next winter, we are also adding skiing options (where snow is virtually guaranteed, unlike southern Europe's mountains!), as well as exclusive packages to stay in both the Icehotel and the Esrange Spacecentre, chosen by Virgin Galactic as its European launch pad for its non-astronaut flights.

I can't get over the sheer amount of amazing activities - avalanche training, ice driving (absolutely amazing!), northern lights by snowmobile, reindeer sledging, husky sledging, ice climbing, skiing, off piste skiing, xc skiing, heli skiing, snow shoeing, ice sculpting and the list goes on.

However, the thing I'll take away from the trip is the stunning scenery and the HUGE amounts of snow. The Kiruna region offers so much anyway in the form of activities and attractions but the mountains, lakes and rivers covered in several feet of snow literally took my breath away time after time. Sounds cheesy I know but it was just so amazing.

Ok, so the ice driving experience is also something I'll never ever forget!!

You can download plenty of unique story angles here - Download icehotel_angles_discover_the_world.doc - that will no doubt inspire (it's a big document so may take a minute or two to download. Email me - alexis@discover-the-world.co.uk - instead and I'll send it through).

Should you need further details of our Icehotel holiday, please visit www.discover-the-world.co.uk/icehotel or call me on 01737 214 294.

Thanks. Alexis.

Virgin Galactic takes off in Kiruna - Swedish Lapland

Story Angle: Space travel for mere mortals takes a step forward - Branson stamps his mark on Lapland and the city of Kiruna, whilst close by is an experience of a different sort - the Swedish Icehotel

According to www.sweden.se, british entrepreneur Richard Branson and his Virgin Galactic have picked Kiruna (the northernmost city of Sweden) as one of their platforms for space tourism. In September 2004 Branson announced that his Virgin Group of companies had commissioned five spacecrafts. These vessels would be the first in the Virgin Galactic fleet, aiming to carry private passengers with adventurous spirits, not to mention fat wallets, beyond the atmosphere of Earth and into space.

The first commercial space tourism adventures will be launched in the US, from Spaceport America in New Mexico, starting as soon as 2008. Shortly thereafter, perhaps in 2011 or 2012, these atmospheric escapes will begin in Kiruna as well.

So...if unique experiences to space aren't quite within your readers' budgets, how about an alternative experience, visiting the icehotel and even taking part in husky sledging, snowmobiling, moose watching and of course sleeping on ice!

It just so happens that the Swedish Icehotel is around 20 minutes from the satellite control center and Discover the World offer a 3 night holiday experience (Dec - Apr each year) to the Swedish Icehotel from £751 based on twin share (1 night on ice, 2 nights in 'warm' accomodation). Click here for more details.

For images and further info then call me on 01737 214 294.

thanks.
Alexis

North Pole Solar Eclipse Voyage - July/August 2008

In a really special addition to our Arctic Voyage offerings, clients can now journey to the very top of the world and be one of the few to experience a dramatic Solar Eclipse on this unique voyage in the Arctic seas.

The total eclipse will only be visible from a narrow corridor on the 1st August 2008, where the vessel hopes to sit in the very centre of the eclipse path across the earth, which will cross the northern island of Novaya Zemlya.

Of course, availability is limited and it has so far proven extremely popular, so the old story of booking early definitely applies. The starting price is from £12,490pp for a twin cabin (which doesn't include a flight to Helsinki - from around £220pp), bookable through Discover the World. Here are a few vital details:

Departure Date:   Duration:  Vessel:   Prices From:
19th July 2008   17days      Yamal    GBP 12,490

Please also Download discover_the_world_north_pole_solar_eclipse_voyage.doc  for more information including an outline itinerary and pricing.

Thanks and any questions or for images then call me (Alexis) on 01737 241 294 or email alexis@discover-the-world.co.uk

Feature ideas - Discover the World - Lapland, Iceland, Greenland and beyond...

Here are a few different story angles across a selection of our destinations. If you need images or further information then let me know (01737 214 294 / alexis@discover-the-world.co.uk):

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The Icehotel with a wildlife twist... Icehotel & Orca safari – Swedish & Norwegian Lapland (5 nights) – a short break that (probably) can’t be rivalled for sheer excitement. This escorted two-centre trip combines an amazing wildlife experience – swimming with orca whales as they feed on the shoals of herring - amidst breathtaking scenery on Norway’s stunning coastline with a stay at the Swedish Icehotel®, one of the world’s most unusual hotels. Needless to say, an array of snowy activities are available.

Prices start from £1262 per person which includes flights, accommodation and all other inclusions which can be seen on our website.

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Husky mushing in its true form (

Greenland

)

With departures between March & April 2007, the chance to learn about a way of life unique to the Arctic region is what our Greenland Husky Safari is all about. Explore the frozen wilderness of East Greenland by husky sledge and visit a traditional Greenlandic community amongst other activities on this 5, 6 or 9 night adventure that includes at least 1 night in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik at either end of the trip.

Prices start from £1214 per person based on 2 sharing and includes flights, accommodation and husky sledge tours as described in the itinerary and all other inclusions which can be seen on our website.

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Pure nature and total indulgence

Aurora spa break – Finnish Lapland (4 nights) - The fell area of northern Finland with its never ending pristine and glittering landscape, is perfect for all types of adventure (including husky sledging and snowmobiling) for the boys, whilst the ladies can pamper themselves with two superb spa treatments, leaving everyone involved exhilarated and/or relaxed. A taste of

Lapland

quite unlike anything else in our brochure...

Prices start from £1038 per person based on 2 people sharing and full board basis (drinks not included) and include flights, two spa treatments and other activities which can be seen on our website.

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Pristine snow cloaked log cabins (as well as huge amounts of adventure!)

Kakslauttanen Cabins and igloos – Finnish Lapland (3 nights) - Authentic Finnish log cabins with their own private sauna, ice igloos, glass igloos, northern lights (possibly!), pristine snow-cloaked forests...the list of unique attractions goes on!

In addition to the numerous excursions (reindeer sledging, husky sledging, snowmobiling, cross country skiing, etc), this short 3 night break is an ideal surprise getaway, romantic escape or even a family break. This is an unforgettable long weekend with a choice of accommodation – various log  cabins, glass igloos or ice rooms

Prices start from £695 including flights, accommodation and other inclusions which can be seen on our website.

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Romance is in the (purest) air (in the world):

A new break for the winter time and a perfect break for the festive and/or valentine romantics, our Iceland based Romantic Winter Retreat self drive visits Reykjavik as well as the stunning Hotel Budir, located on the beautiful Snaefellsness peninsula in Iceland’s west. The 5-night holiday finds just the right balance between long cosy nights spent in romantic hotels and days out exploring

Iceland

’s spectacular and peaceful countryside.

Prices start from £552 per person including flights, accommodation, car hire and other inclusions which can be seen on our website.

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thanks and happy christmas!