INTERNAL USE ONLY Copenhagen & Stockholm with Maximillian Petty (Copy)

Velkom til København! Welcome to Copenhagen, the most exciting food city in the world. We’ll take a short walk around the colorful Nyhavn neighborhood before hopping on a private boat for a more extensive tour of central Copenhagen’s intricate grid of canals, bridges and castles. We’ll stop at Palægade for a traditional lunch of smørrebrød—open-faced sandwiches piled high with herring and onion, smoked salmon, hard-boiled egg and venison tartare.

In the afternoon, we’ll have time to explore on our own before heading to Barr for a welcome dinner at the latest offspring of the extended Noma restaurant family. The menu here is devoted to the traditional dishes and drinks of the North and Baltic Seas, but with contemporary twists. By the end of the night, we’ll have a new understanding of hygge, that uniquely Danish vision of comfort, coziness and charm that permeates every aspect of life here. And the best is yet to come.

Today our host is Solfinn Danielsen, the natural wine evangelist whose pop-up concept, Rødder & Vin (Roots & Wine), has turned Copenhagen into Europe’s natural wine capital. A trained sommelier, Solfinn spends his days criss-crossing the city on his custom-built Omnium cargo bike, delivering wine to the city’s top restaurants. He’ll introduce us to his favorite restaurateurs, farmers and chefs around the city. Lunch will be on our own, and we recommend checking out one—or maybe more—of the eateries and wine bars along Jaegersborggade in Nørrebrø, the hip northern district and epicenter of Copenhagen’s food scene.

Our evening is in Kødbyen, the old meat-packing district whose waterfront warehouses have been transformed into art galleries, bars and restaurants. We’ll start off with drinks and tacos at Hija de Sanchez, owned by Rosio Sanchéz, the Mexican-American former Noma pastry chef. Our next stop is Kødbyens Fiskebar—Copenhagen’s best seafood restaurant. After our dinner there, we’ll have a private tour of the kitchen and talk with its amazing chefs.

No trip to the country that invented supercykelstier—essentially, car-free super-highways for bikes—would be complete without the chance to hop on a bicycle of our own. Biking in Copenhagen is a world unto itself, and this morning we’ll discover for ourselves why over half the short trips Copenhagers take each day, rain or shine, are made by bike. In the late afternoon, we’ll reconvene for a private cooking class led by Maximillian and a local chef, who together will teach us the skills necessary for preparing New Nordic cuisine. At the end of class, we’ll sit down together to enjoy the delicious fruits of our labor.

This morning we’ll drive an hour outside the city to meet a celebrity farmer (yes, this really is a thing), Søren Wiuff. More than any other producer, Søren has left his mark on the evolution of gastronomy in Denmark over the past decade, working closely with, and providing produce to, many of the best restaurants in the city—meaning, in the world. Søren will give us a tour of his farm, and luckily for us, his world-famous asparagus will be in season.

We’ll poke, taste and even drink them before bidding farewell to Søren and heading on to the 13th-century Dragsholm Castle, our home for the night. After a casual lunch at the castle, we’ll do what all the best chefs in Copenhagen do, and go foraging for our supper. One of the castle chefs will serve as a guide here, helping us as we hunt for wild herbs and berries to incorporate into our dinner. After returning to the castle, we’ll enjoy sitting back with a book in the library, challenging our fellow travelers to a game of billiards or taking in the splendid gardens. In the evening, we’ll reconvene for dinner in the restaurant featuring our foraged finds.

After making the short drive back to Copenhagen, we’ll hop on the train for Stockholm. Our stunning ride across the Øresundsbron, Europe’s longest bridge, takes us across the shimmering waters of the Oresund strait, which separates Denmark and Sweden. From there, we’ll pass through the verdant fields of Skåne, the southernmost province in Sweden and the country’s breadbasket, its landscape dotted with brick-red farmhouses, wildflower-sprinkled meadows, wooded copses, and silvery lakes. It’s where every Swede dreams of having a summerhouse.

Upon arriving in Stockholm, we’ll settle in to our hotel in the heart of hip Södermalm, a bustling district of vintage shops, brew pubs and cafes. Tonight we’ll dine at Prinsen, one of the city’s oldest restaurants, devoted to preserving traditional dishes like crayfish stew with chanterelles and pickled pumpkin and minced veal, lingonberries and petit pois.

This morning we’re taking a short ferry over to Djurgården, one of Stockholm’s many islands. Home to museums, an amusement park, and vast stretches of meadow and forest, it’s an oasis of calm in the heart of the city. We’ll start with a private tour of Rosendal’s Garden, a biodynamic teaching garden that’s open to the public and whose bounty of vegetables, herbs, flowers and fruits are used to great effect at its wood-fired bakery and cafe. Next, we visit Spritmuseum, where we’ll have lunch and learn all about the Swedes’ relationship with alcohol (spoiler alert: it’s complicated) before heading to a tasting room to sample a range of traditional akvavit, snaps and punsch.

After the tasting, we’ll be on our own for the evening. Head back to the city, or continue exploring Djurgården’s many charms: maybe some contemporary Nordic bistro food,  the 17th-century Vasa warship at Vasamuseet, the charming old-school Gröna Lund amusement park—or the ABBA Museum!

We kick off the day with a walking tour of Gamla Stan, whose medieval buildings—painted in fairytale shades of gold, indigo and russet—rise crookedly from impossibly narrow cobblestone alleyways. We’ll head towards the iconic City Hall, situated on a promontory overlooking the water, and from there to the Royal Castle, home of the Swedish royal family, and a spectacular sight on its own secluded island.

In the early afternoon, we’ll explore on our own, hitting up the funky thrift shops of Södermalm, enjoying an afternoon fika of coffee and cardamom buns, hopping the ferry back to Djurgården for more museum time, or taking a boat tour around some of the 24,000 islands and islets that comprise the Swedish archipelago. We’ll reconvene for a farewell dinner prepared just for us by the chefs at Fotografiska, the world’s largest photography museum, whose hyper-local restaurant earned 2017’s Best Museum Restaurant in the World. With its sweeping views over the azure waters and dappled islands, this is the perfect place to relax and celebrate our week’s adventures. Skål!

Our journey has come to an end. As we say hej då to Maximillian and each other, we know we’ll be back, and soon. In the meantime, we’ll do as the Scandinavians do and treat ourselves to one final airport fika—or maybe even a beer—before boarding our flights home. Skål och vi ses!