FINLAND

The country is set to come alive with centenary celebrations as it enters its 100th year of independence from Russia. The festivities begin on New Year’s Day and culminate with an Independence Day week in December that will remember famous Finns such as Tove Jansson, creator of The Moomins.

Visit the brand-new national park in Kainuu, which has 11,000ha of breathtaking forests, lakes and tundras with the Hossa Hiking Area at its heart. This region hosted a historic convention which was central in the country’s fight for independence and is home to mysterious paintings daubed on the walls of caves by Stone Age settlers.

The theme of the celebrations is ‘together’, and locals will be gathering to enjoy everything from a life-size castle sculpted from ice to pop-up saunas.