At NOLS Scandinavia, you’ll embrace the Scandinavian concept of wilderness: not as a place you visit, but as a place you live. You’ll start your backcountry adventure on the tundra of northern Sweden, 140 miles above the Arctic Circle. Our wilderness classrooms are rich with human history, from the Stone Age to the Vikings and Second World War. Many of the areas you’ll explore are still home to the Sami people, and you may have the opportunity to learn firsthand about their culture and traditions. Although you’ll enjoy nearly 24 hours of daylight in the summer, be prepared to face the weather of all four seasons in a single day. Backpacking courses travel across the tundra above the treeline in both Sweden and Norway as the border is open in the backcountry. In the Scandes Mountains, you’ll find a mixture of alpine peaks and valleys, marshland, and snowfields. You’ll spot reindeer near the coast as well as in the mountains. Sea kayaking courses explore the Norwegian fjords, a combination of open coastline, sheltered islands, sandy beaches, and spruce forests. NOLS Scandinavia students are often surprised by the abundance of waterfalls and lakes, the 2 a.m. sunlight, the variety and quality of traditional Scandinavian food—and how everyone seems to be headed off to go camping!