By Kathryn Romeyn, Brides
Thanks to the Danes and their compellingly cozy ideas about wintertime, the hygge concept (pronounced hoo-guh)
has taken off globally. The Scandinavian season marked by lots of
bright white snow and very few daylight hours would probably be
unbearable without this approach that is all about “a quality of
coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of
contentment or well-being.”
But one doesn’t
have to be in Denmark—notoriously named one of the world’s happiest
countries over and over—to create a feeling of hygge. It can be
approximated with, in part, a plethora of candles (apparently Danes burn
a stunning 13 pounds of candle wax per capita), a fireplace, cozy
knits, a bottle of red wine or hot cocoa,
creamy comfort-food dishes, sweet treats and your lover or collection
of great friends. Because not all honeymoons have to be heated by the
sun, here, a handful of places perfect for getting into that romantic,
cuddly hygge spirit.
Copenhagen, Denmark
The capital of this cozy concept is undoubtedly in Copenhagen,
which is stacked to the brim with locations for fireside cocktails and
meals, plus charming holiday markets in the wintertime. Just outside the
city center is the grand and gorgeous Kokkendal Castle, where there’s afternoon tea by a roaring fire, and right in town the just updated Nimb,
an intimate boutique hotel with new suites and the city’s first heated
outdoor pool—just one more way to heat up through and through. The
candlelit White Lines Sanders Hotel also guarantees those warm and fuzzy feelings.
Newport, Rhode Island
Scotland
Believe it or not, Scotland
actually has its own hygge-adjacent term: Còsagach. It’s the word for
feeling snug, sheltered and warm, and it’s very much a part of life in
the gorgeous country with wide-open spaces to discover alongside
super-private, intimate ones. There’s a wood-fired hot tub at the Lazy Duck Nethy Bridge, cozy log cabins at Eagle Brae, and a romantic treehouse at Brockloch Eco Retreat,
which will have you two snuggling up close in fair isle knits, ideally.
Of course whisky won’t hurt those feelings, and we all know Scotland’s
selection is epic.
Ozark Mountains, Missouri
It may be cold outside, but the Ozark Mountains provide plenty of opportunities for cozying up to your honey. Take Big Cedar Lodge, a wilderness resort overlooking Table Rock Lake where cabins are tucked away in the woods—no worries about nosy neighbors—and outfitted with massive stone-hearth wood-burning fireplaces along with heated stone floors in the bathrooms and opulent jetted soaking tubs. Grab a bottle of red and you’re set. The spa also hits the hygge high points with fireplaces in every treatment room, and a candlelit grotto with a soaking pool.
Oslo, Norway
Nowhere is hygge needed more than Oslo in wintertime, since daylight hours are limited to just a couple per day. It would be an easy place to get depressed if you weren’t holed up by a fire, flames dancing in your eyes, with a warm drink. The rustic-luxe Hotel Oslo Guldsmeden—think fur throws, raw wood, trays for drinking wine ensconced in the plush bed, and an onsite bar—is just the place to do just that. And don’t miss the chance for a private candlelit stint in the spa or bath, with rose petals strewn about.
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