Flight of Fancy podcast: The best cold climate destinations

Paradise doesn't require a jumper. In holiday heaven, you don't need a scarf.

There's a good chance that when you picture your ideal travel destination, when you call on all those clichés and summon a vision of your own little slice of vacation nirvana, it looks pretty warm. Right? It's got palm trees and white sandy beaches. It's got large blokes playing ukuleles. It's got infinity pools and cocktails with umbrellas.

And yet, that's not where good holidays begin and end. For some of us – say, those with pale complexions, those who no longer glory in the feeling of sand caught between their buttocks – the perfect travel destination doesn't have to be hot. In fact some of the best, some of the most beautiful and inspiring, are pretty damn cold.

On this episode of Flight of Fancy, I chat to travel writers Ute Junker and David McGonigal about the world's best cold-climate destinations, the places where the weather might be cool, but the welcome is warm. What you should to do there, where to go, what to see, and how to enjoy life without a sarong and a floppy hat, it's all in there.