Most Christmassy travel list, biggest ship and sleepiest hotel

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It's time for the last travel news before Christmas. This week, we present the Christmassy travel top list, the biggest cruise ship and the sleepiest hotel, among others.

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How Swedes travelled in 2022

After years of restrictions and limitations in travel, the desire to travel is strong among Swedes, writes Ticket in a press release. Despite a summer with passport problems, airport chaos and strikes, the number of booked trips is only 11 per cent lower than before the pandemic. Well-known and safe travel destinations are at the top for Swedes in 2022, where destinations in Europe are the most popular. Spain are particularly strong. Most popular destinations in 2022 according to Ticket:

1. Gran Canaria
2. Malaga
3. Bangkok
4. Barcelona
5. London

Where Swedish travellers go on Christmas and New Year's Eve

With Christmas approaching, many people take the opportunity to travel abroad. Norwegian has compiled a list of the most popular foreign destinations during Christmas and New Year:

1. London
2. Malaga
3. Las Palmas
4. Alicante
5. Amsterdam

The giant ship Icon of the Seas has been launched

The world's largest cruise ship has now Icon of the Seas launched, bringing Icon even closer to her long-awaited debut in January 2024, according to a press release from Royal Caribbean. The launch marks a major milestone in her construction at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland when the first Icon-Class ship floated out of the dry dock where she had been under construction for more than eight months. The Icon was then moved to the shipyard's equipment quay where the vessel will remain until its debut.

Finnlines will soon open for foot passengers Sweden - Finland

Finnlines already offers two departures per day to Åland and the UK. Finland, every day of the week. At the moment, you need to come in your own vehicle, which is just as good by bike as by car. But when two newly built and much larger ships in the Superstar class are deployed on the route from September 2023, they will also accept foot passengers. The new ships will also offer greater comfort. For example, they offer panoramic views, a Finnish sauna, more cabin categories and more restaurants.

Scandic opens Sweden's sleepiest hotel

On 21-22 January 2023, Scandic Park in Stockholm will be transformed into Sweden's sleepiest hotel. On site, guests will be greeted by staff in pyjamas at reception who will guide them through two sleep-friendly days. In addition, there will be night-time food, exclusive sleep concerts and sleep coaching.

Hertz offers more free cars and wheelchair accessible rental cars

The car hire company Hertz has issued two press releases this week. One tells us that there will be more free cars (Hertz Freerider) than usual to rent for Christmas and New Year - that is, cars that have been rented for one-way journeys and will be returned. Secondly, Hertz is the first and only car hire company to offer wheelchair accessible rental cars. The cars are Ford Custom Kombi and are initially available for booking at Hertz in the Stockholm area.

How couples think about Christmas

We conclude with a survey by Countryside Hotels on how people in relationships think about Christmas. According to the survey, 34% feel that their relationship improves during Christmas. The most common areas of disagreement are how to divide chores, how much money to spend on Christmas and where to celebrate Christmas. However, 60% would prefer to go away, if possible.

Reflection of the week

A few weeks ago we published another list of where Swedes are travelling this Christmas. That list also included London and Amsterdam, but also Paris, Stockholm and Barcelona. We ourselves are travelling to Split in Croatia!

Did you miss the last travel news? Read the Name change, changing driving behaviour and the year of the sauna

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