Cycling in Copenhagen tips for tourists: - Stay on the right. - Don’t even try it at rush hour (7-9am, 3-5pm). - Keep your wits about you. - The Harbour Ring Route is a great circular path to follow that shows you the city. Try it! - DO NOT WALK IN THE BIKE LANE: IT IS FOR BIKES.

To be or not to be... today I’m pondering if I will actually get this feature about Hamlet’s castle written or if I will deviate into a long-winded essay that has no place in anyone’s travel pages...

What’s Copenhagen’s pizza of the moment? Find out here... www.timeout.com/restaurants/...

The 19 best pizzas in the world, ranked

Is your stomach rumbling? Same.

timeout.com

This is more than a shopping guide. It’s a cultural dive into Copenhagen. Oh, and it includes a spot where you can buy a perfume that smells of the Battle of Trafalgar. You’re welcome. www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/...

12 of the best independent shops in Copenhagen

From sleek interior stores to modern perfumiers and quirky sex shops, the Danish capital has no shortage of unusual shopping opportunities

theguardian.com

Today seems a good time to repost this story from Denmark. 80 years ago, a town saved the Danish jews from the Nazis, risking their lives to hide them in their homes and take them in their boats overnight to freedom. Collective resistance has a precendent. www.bbc.com/travel/artic...

The town that stood up to the Nazis

This October, a fishing town on the Danish Riviera remembers one of the greatest collective acts of resistance of World War Two: its role in the flight and escape of the Danish Jews.

bbc.com

“The White Lotus isn't the first drama to have an outsized effect on the travel industry...But what's interesting right now, in the digital age, is how quickly news about a streamed TV show setting can have an impact.” My latest on BBC Travel today... www.bbc.co.uk/travel/artic...

Measuring the 'White Lotus effect': How TV and film locations impact travel

As White Lotus season three is released, executive producer Mark Kamine explains the behind-the-scenes wrangling and key challenges when choosing a filming location.

bbc.co.uk

My MFA Diary. I couldn’t find much about MFA programmes in the UK online so I’m writing a series about the one I’m on. Are they like the US MFAs? What is it like to go on one? Is it worth it? Let’s find out... #writing #amwriting #writers #mfa #creativewriting www.hellolaurahall.com/mfa-diary

My MFA diary

A personal diary following my late in life decision to take an MFA course in Creative Writing

hellolaurahall.com

Joining in with a bit of #yellow because I love this house in South Greenland. #TravelAddicts #TopTravelPics

Is your city one of Time Out’s 50 best cities in the world? www.timeout.com/things-to-do...

The 50 best cities in the world for 2025

We polled thousands of locals to rank the world’s greatest cities. Ready?

timeout.com

If you’re struggling with your attention span – and I know I am – maybe you should try this... www.bbc.co.uk/travel/artic...

The new museum trend helping us regain our lost attention

In a Manchester art gallery, a quiet room with just three paintings is starting a mental health movement aimed at reclaiming our lost attention spans.

bbc.co.uk

"You could say that perhaps we are looking for new anchors. Travel trends like stargazing, holiday romance, nostalgia tourism, and so on show us that people are searching to be reconnected to something bigger than themselves." Philosophy + travel in my new BBC piece. www.bbc.co.uk/travel/artic...

The seven travel trends that will shape 2025

As firms around the globe reveal how they think we'll be travelling in 2025, we look at why it matters – and what it says about us.

bbc.co.uk

A special one-off MODERN SCANDINAVIAN today looks at Greenland and what Trump and so many commentators are missing when they turn it into a strippable asset. modernscandinavian.substack.com

Meet the man who kayaked Greenland’s West Coast while eating an ancestral Inuit diet. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Dried halibut and whale jerky: how a traditional Inuit diet fuelled an epic kayak adventure

British chef Mike Keen paddled up the coast of Greenland eating only what local people did, and the health benefits led him to question the global food system

theguardian.com

Woke up to snow in Copenhagen today. What a lovely start to the work year.

Hanging out with trees and talking about how slowly they grow is somehow something I love to do now. TL,DR: I went to Lapland with the kids, avoided all the santa schmaltz, went arctic cocooning in the forest and found a state of bliss. www.intrepidtravel.com/adventures/a...

I took my kids arctic cocooning in Finland - here's what we learned

Travel writer Laura Hall takes her kids arctic cocooning in Finland and discovers a whole new way to see the world.

intrepidtravel.com

Book recommendations apropos of nothing: Modern Nature by Derek Jarman - just the most staggeringly beautiful memoir about life in the shadow of death, and gardening in the shadow of a power station. The Baby on the Fire Escape by Julie Phillips - valuable portraits of creative motherhood.

My latest, out on Adventure.com, about Deinfluencing travel. Reddit says it best: “Many of us are sick and tired of being treated as endless buying machines instead of people... We don’t need the latest, trendiest things to be happy.” adventure.com/de-influence...

Meet the de-influencers: The social media pros trying to burst the bubble of ‘perfect travel’

There’s a new kid in town, calling out clichéd images and misleading travel ideals. Laura Hall looks at the rise of the de-influencers.

adventure.com

Wrapping up December with some stories about truly inspiring people: one kayaked Greenland while eating only Inuit food, and another is rethinking museums and adding mindfulness to them. It’s a reminder that there are incredible people out there, not just the ones we read about on the front page.

Would you fly in an airship to the North Pole? Because soon you will be able to... www.bbc.co.uk/travel/artic...

Could the airship be the answer to sustainable air travel – or is it all a load of hot air?

Amid talk of sustainable aviation fuel and electric flights, there's another form of air travel currently being mooted as a green alternative to flying: the airship.

bbc.co.uk

My favourite story of the year: about a trip to Greenland to listen to a whale radio station, just published in Beau Monde Traveller. #greenland beaumondetraveler.com/3d-flip-book...

This is a poem for right now. Thanks Joseph Fasano. poets.org/poem/student...

Absolutely delighted: Norway has suspended deep sea mining "It has been truly embarrassing to watch Norway positioning itself as an ocean leader, while planning to give green light to ocean destruction in its own waters." - Greenpeace Norway's Haldis Tjeldflaat Helle. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Deep-sea mining: Norway suspends controversial plan

Oslo's plan to open up its Arctic seabed for mining prompted stark environmental opposition.

bbc.com

In other news, I was at the Nordic Food Innovation Summit yesterday, and there are exciting things happening. Claus Meyer: “The fight against climate change and the combined health crisis can be won in the kitchen and around the dining table.” Ambitions are huge; projects are coming. Soon.

My Alchemist experience last night – it’s not a dinner, it’s so much more – was utterly mind-bending. I ate my own face. I ATE MY OWN FACE. I don’t know what else there is to say. For a feature on the head chef, Mr Rasmus Munk, just voted The Best Chef in The World, for Artful Living next year.

Old school writing advice: Always take notes, and always save your own version before you submit text into a CMS. I am doing queries for a book chapter I wrote this summer, and I would be LOST without my notes. My brain is fried. I remember nothing. If it’s not written down, it does not exist...

Not mentioned here, but we’ve had this alert in Denmark too and are prepping... www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...

‘Would you survive 72 hours?’ Germany and the Nordic countries prepare citizens for possible war

Apps and booklets are offering advice on how to build a bunker, stockpile food and live without electricity in case the worst happens

theguardian.com

Posting one of my favourite photos of the year, from my summer trip to Greenland. I started taking my photography seriously last year. I still have a long way to go, but I’m working hard on it. I figured that if I’m going to beautiful places, I might as well photograph them as well as write...

Some things I’m working on today: - Writing a story about sustainable aviation - Writing about a chef-adventurer whose changing how we look at food - Preparing for a trip to the Arctic during the polar night - Pitching stories for 2025 already. What are you guys up to?

Coming up later this week on Modern Scandinavian, my substack about life in northern Europe... - Greenland’s new airports! - Travelling without a phone! - Underrated travel destinations! - Train travel in Europe! - And some things that have caught my eye... modernscandinavian.substack.com

Laura’s Substack | Modern Scandinavian | Substack

Modern Scandinavian - the inside track to travel, lifestyle and culture in Scandinavia & the Nordics, written by journalist Laura Hall. Click to read Laura’s Substack, by Modern Scandinavian, a Substa...

modernscandinavian.substack.com

December is next week! Here’s my best ideas for a festive trip Copenhagen: - The new ice rink at Kongens Nytorv - A cold dip and a sauna at Copenhot - Tivoli Xmas market - Saunagus at Glæcier - Shopping at Louisiana - A wild walk on Amager strand beach - Gløgg at Ark