Fire and Ice; spend winter in Norway for something very different.

If you want something truly different to float your boat this winter season, then it might be worth taking a look at the Hurtigruten boats that sail up and down the rocky spine of Norway, voyaging deep into the fjords to deliver cargoes of cars, furs and food, while carrying passengers to and from ports all along the route.

As experiences go, a voyage on Hurtigruten is a million miles removed from the conventional cruise experience. Their vessels are coastal ferries, solid and comfortable rather than full on luxurious. There's no enetrtainment, and evening meals are traditional, three course affairs.Think delicious rather than diverse, but the fresh local ingredients make for superb creations all the same.

Cabins, too, are relatively small, but very comfortable. They come with snow white duvets, and even the small bathrooms have heated, tiled floors. There's a coffee shop that's open more or less 24/7, a main lounge bar, and a forward facing observation lounge that allows you to take in the amazing seascape at all hours of the day and night.

And what a seascape it is, too. With the sun still below the horizon, a pale, rosy glow glances across tumbling mountains dusted with fresh snow, thier slopes studded with skeletal pine forests. Clusters of grass roofed houses crouch for cover around small stave churches that appear suddenly from around some distant headland.

At the top of the North Cape, vast, jagged cliffs tumble straight down to the still grey Arctic Ocean. As far as the eye can see, a field of rolling, blush pink snow carpets the landscape. It's a silent, sensational scenario that forms a stark contrast to the endless days of summer, when the crowds flood Europe's northernmost headland.

Take a sleigh ride under the shimmering, ethereal glow of the Northern Lights, as undulating bands of ghostly green weave like wraiths above you in an ink black sky. You're tucked in under a reindeer blanket as a team of eight yelping, straining Arctic huskies takes you on a shuddering, stupendous run through dense, menacing pines, along tracks that are anything but even. Then take in the warm, welcoming fire in a local hut as you revive yourself with hot coffee and chocolate cake.

Norway in winter is diverse, thrilling, and totally different. Go with an open mind, forget the finesse of normal cruise ship service, and you'll savour an experience to remember all your lifetime.