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The Nordic Nomad

The Nordics

The Nordic hot list
Autumn 2025

The Nordics • Insider guides • The Nordic hot list Autumn 2025

What we’re loving in Autumn 2025 (and you will too)

Stay informed and stay inspired! The Nordic hot list is your monthly dossier of what’s shaping the cultural and creative landscape across the Nordics. From smart new openings and design-forward projects to events worth pencilling into your diary, we spotlight the ideas and initiatives that matter. Whether you’re a local with a keen eye on your surroundings or a traveller seeking authentic inspiration, this is your curated guide to the things that are getting our attention (and deserve your’s, too).

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Top photography courtesy of Mike Karlsson Lundgren and Sibbjäns

Sibbjäns: Gotland’s farmhouse turned poetic retreat

On Gotland, the Baltic island known for its medieval towns, limestone quarries and summer influx of Stockholmers, Sibbjӓns bills itself as Sweden’s first boutique farmstay. At the island’s southern tip, a cluster of 19th-century limestone barns has been turned into a farm hotel and restaurant. The project comes from four founders: restaurateur Susanna Rönn and film agent Pontus Rönn, journalist Kina Zeidler and her husband Jonas Nordlander — the tech entrepreneur behind Tradera and Avito. The kitchen follows their idea of bonngastronomi: generous, seasonal menus shaped by the farm’s own gardens and animals. Nine boutique rooms, 13 rustic lodge bunks and a natural pool, sauna and farm shop complete this Swedish take on agriturismo.

Sibbjäns
Vamlingbo Sibbjäns 102
Burgsvik
Sweden

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Photography courtesy of Mike Karlsson Lundgren and Sibbjäns

Substans: Nordic and Japanese fusion in Oslo

Substans is a high-profile restaurant in central Oslo, led by chef Håkan Wiik, formerly of Michelin-rated Apostrophe. The restaurant’s ethos is all about sourcing super-fresh local ingredients and combining Nordic and Japanese techniques to bring something innovative to the dining table. The dining room is a glass-sided pavilion overlooking the harbour, providing panoramic fjord views. In this main dining room, you can enjoy the 10-course omakase-style tasting menu. Upstairs, you’ll find the wine bar, where you can enjoy tapas-style snacks like tenderloin katsu sando (Japanese breaded pork) and house-made gyoza (dumplings).

Substans
Rådhusgata 27
Oslo
Norway

Photography courtesy of Substans

Charles: the understated newcomer in Stockholm

Charles is Stockholm’s new rooftop destination and it’s a must-visit if you are a cocktail lover. Kasai Group’s Paulo Fagundez, along with Jonas Ghauri, brought this vision to life atop the historic Strand Hotel. This location on Strandvägen had never before been open to the public – Charles now occupies that penthouse-level space. With room for about 150 guests, the bar offers sweeping views of Djurgården, Strandvägen and the archipelago. The design, executed with branding agency Frima, is bright and contemporary – think modern Nordic décor, comfortable lounge seating and a long bar – all with one of the city’s best views as a backdrop. Charles serves bespoke cocktails and small plates in a casual, late-summer-sky vibe. Try the Northern Star cocktail made with Takamaka white rum, white grapes, lovage and condensed milk – it’s unique and delicious.

Charles
Nybrokajen 9
Stockholm
Sweden

Photography courtesy of Charles

La Cabra Frederiksberg: Copenhagen’s coffee soul reborn

Danish roastery La Cabra, famed for its speciality coffee, has opened a new café in Copenhagen’s Frederiksberg district. The design is clean, warm and very Scandi-industrial – concrete floors form a sturdy base, offset by custom-built oak kitchen modules from Vermland. Stainless-steel accents add a modern edge and vaulted slatted gables on the bar units create visual interest while keeping lines clean. Co-founder Anton Bak explains that the material palette mirrors La Cabra’s balance of tradition and innovation in coffee. Of course, the main draw is La Cabra’s award-winning coffee and attention to brewing craft – now served in a gorgeous Scandinavian setting.

La Cabra Frederiksberg
Frederiksberg
Denmark

Photography courtesy of La Cabra Frederiksberg

Soria Moria: a sauna experience like no other in Vestfold og Telemark

Soria Moria is a one-of-a-kind floating sauna and art installation on the shores of Lake Bandak in Telemark. This Nordic sauna was designed by architect David Fjågesund of Feste Landscape and a Nordic team of designers. Its form is an interpretation of the steep mountainsides around the lake – a glistening black-shingled hull topped with a peaked silhouette. Criss-crossing the dark wood are gold shingle accents – a subtle nod to Norwegian folklore. The name Soria Moria itself refers to a local fairytale about a golden castle in the mountains. Inside the floating structure are a wood-fired sauna, a changing room and a covered bench overlooking the fjord. The building rests on stilts along the shallow inlet, giving direct lake access for swims.

Soria Moria
Markensvegen 20
Dalen
Norway

Photography courtesy of Dag Jenssen and Visit Telemark

Studio Kukkapuro: a modernist icon in Uusimaa

Just beyond Helsinki’s hum, in the leafy suburb of Kauniainen, Studio Kukkapuro quietly redefines what a design pilgrimage can be. Designed in 1968 by the late Yrjö Kukkapuro – Finland’s modernist maverick – and engineer Eero Paloheimo, the studio’s wave‑like concrete shell still feels radical today. Now opening to the public as a museum, the once-private live-work space is a rare, tactile encounter with Kukkapuro’s legacy, from early Carousel chair prototypes to the ghost-traces of Irmeli Kukkapuro’s paint-stained studio floor. Tours are limited, intimate and often led by the designer’s daughter or granddaughter. For design-minded travellers, this isn’t just a house – it’s a time capsule carved in concrete, humming with creative energy.

Studio Kukkapuro
Alppitie 23
Kauniainen
Finland

Photography courtesy of Studio Kukkapuro

Hobo Oslo: a creative commune in Norway

Hobo Oslo is a young-at-heart hotel with creative design and social spaces that blur the line between trendy startup and luxury lodging. There are 181 rooms total, including compact Snug rooms with curated peg-wall storage and larger Studio and Suite categories with living areas. The interiors are striking and playful with checkered and pastel tiles, pegboard walls for hanging your things, colourful furniture and plenty of plants. When staying at Hobo Oslo, you will have access to a communal bar, restaurant, café and co-working lounges. These spaces were all designed with the idea of community and collaboration in mind. Hobo Oslo emphasises togetherness and creativity by regularly hosting pop-up events, art exhibitions and flexible programmed spaces.

Hobo Oslo
Dronningens gt. 23
Oslo
Norway

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Photography courtesy of Hobo Oslo

Hagastrand: Stockholm’s new social sanctuary by the water

Wellness just got louder. Sitting pretty by Brunnsviken, Hagastrand is the new social wellness playground from Nobis Hospitality Group – the team behind hits like Hotel Skeppsholmen and Nobis Hotel. Designed by Wingårdhs, the 200+ rooms lean Nordic and natural, but it’s the 2,500-square-metre spa that steals the robe. Expect infrared glow sessions, snow rooms, gong baths and Sweden’s first-ever ‘event sauna’ – think rituals, scent, sound and a sauna master with stage presence. Add restaurants themed around forest, sea, earth and fire, plus lounges that shift from soft whispers to social swirl. Five minutes from Stockholm, Hagastrand is proof that wellness doesn’t have to be quiet.

Hagastrand
Frösundaviks Allé 15
Solna
Sweden

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Photography courtesy of Beatrice Graalheim and Hagastrand

Café Niko: Copenhagen’s must-visit sunlit café

The creators of Niko June, the experimental homeware brand and multidisciplinary design incubator, have launched their new venture, Café Niko, in Copenhagen’s up-and-coming Papirøen. Cafe Niko’s interiors, done by Niko June and architect Kim Lenschow, fuse Brutalism with Scandinavian restraint. Raw concrete and exposed metal are softened by pale wood, parquet flooring and a marble counter centrepiece. Clean-lined furniture, open shelving and vast windows keep the space minimal and inviting, while handwritten menus, quirky art and subtle pops of colour add personality. At Café Niko, you can enjoy speciality coffee alongside a simple but delicious breakfast and lunch menu. The space also functions as a showroom and shop where you can purchase products by Niko June.

Café Niko
Papirøen 81
København
Denmark

Photography courtesy of Café Niko

SMK Thy: North Jutland’s national gallery, now breathing in new light

SMK Thy is Denmark’s National Gallery’s new branch in the small town of Hurup. Housed in the historic Doverodde Köbmandsgård (a repurposed stone grain warehouse) near the Limfjord, it is SMK’s first permanent outpost outside Copenhagen. The converted warehouse offers sweeping views over the fjord and its industrial brick-and-beam architecture has been adapted into bright gallery halls. The opening exhibition, Journey from Paris, presents an intriguing selection of modern French paintings from SMK’s collection. This exhibition takes you back to the early twentieth century and tells the story of how works by some of the most visionary artists of the century – including Henri Matisse, André Derain and Pablo Picasso – made their way from Paris to Denmark and became part of Denmark’s national treasury of art.