The Kangos Guesthouse in Sweden

SOMETIMES all we really want is the quiet side of the mountain.

We want that idyllic setting but we don’t want to share it with hundreds of other people. Ahh, but to get that requires moving off the beaten path, often pushing ourselves and putting up with discomfort along the way – which is, in its simplest form, what adventure’s is all about, right?

But every so often a holiday brochure comes along that captures our imagination so much that it doesn’t matter if a lot of the organisation is taken care of by others, it’s the longing to live the life which those photographs on the pages show so vividly.

Inntravel’s latest brochure does exactly this. It’s called ‘Skiing and so much more: The Quiet Side Of The Mountain’. I know it’s late summer, but thinking about booking a winter escape (or at least saving the pennies up for one) will be passing through the minds of every one of us who loves the snow. And the Kangos Guesthouse has got to be one of the most magical looking destinations to visit by far…especially when haloed by the Northern Lights.

Set in a tiny and remote village in northern Sweden, the Kangos Guesthouse is owned by two couples – Johan and Eva, and Peter and Maria. And as you can see from the interior photos here they’ve made it one of the cosiest places imaginable. Below is the living room with candlelight, warm fleecy chair covers and magical wizard-like hats across the top beam.

The dining room has a similar charm – imagine coming down here for breakfast, piling the plate up high and looking out over the snow as we fill our mug with hot sweet coffee and watch the steam rise in front of the cold glass of the window. Canvas photos on the walls show the sights in the local area; tempting, inspiring and brimming with adventure. We can even cut our bread on a rustic tree-trunk chopping board.

But it’s after breakfast when the real fun starts and we can step outside and meet these Huskies before going on a safari through the forests.

Johan and Sara also act as guides and take guests to their kennels to introduce them to the dogs and describe the basics of mushing before leading us out into the snowy wilderness for an unforgettable ride through silent forests, alongside rivers and across frozen lakes.

Or we can go on a snowmobile excursion to visit a nearby reindeer herder or journey into the wilds for a night in a wilderness cabin. There are also 156 lakes where we can learn the basics of ice-fishing.

But if all that seems too much perhaps we can just relax in the solitude of this bewitching land…because the quiet side of anywhere is hard to find these days.

Maybe Kangos might help us find it.

Price: From £2,070 inc. 7 nights’ full board, extreme weather clothing and guide or a 3-night break from £1,215.

See Inntravels’s brochure here.