Inside Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2017 Norwegian New Year’s Getaway
TL;DR:
- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spent their first New Year’s together in Norway.
- They stayed at a cabin in the Arctic Circle where, according to Finding Freedom, “they could really get away from it all.”
- The cabin is available on Airbnb.
Norway for New Year’s. Long before their royal wedding and even longer before Netflix’s Harry & Meghan, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle discretely rang in 2017 together. From the secluded cabin to who chose the location, learn more about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Norwegian getaway.
Prince Harry reportedly planned a New Year’s trip to Norway for him and Meghan Markle
Although Meghan’s well-traveled (remember her defunct blog, The Tig, with all those travel guides?), it was Harry who organized the trip. Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand shared some details in Finding Freedom, their 2020 biography on the couple.
“Harry planned a New Year’s trip where they could really get away from it all,” they wrote (via Elle). “He rung up his pal Inge Solheim, a Norwegian adventure guide Harry had befriended during a Walking with the Wounded charity trek back in 2011.”
Scobie and Durand also noted Harry enlisted Solheim for help in planning an under-the-radar excursion years earlier. “Inge had gone all out for Harry when he was with [ex-girlfriend] Cressida [Bonas], arranging a top secret 2014 ski trip to Kazakhstan,” they wrote.
Harry and Meghan spent a week at a secluded cabin in the Arctic Circle: ‘There was absolutely no chance of being bothered’
As for where exactly Harry and Meghan stayed, they opted for a secluded lodge in the northern region of Norway.
Solheim “arranged for Harry and Meghan to spend a week in a cabin in Tromsö at the very tip of Norway in the Arctic Circle,” according to Durand and Scobie. Staying there meant “absolutely no chance of being bothered by photographers.”
As People noted at the time, the town on Norway’s shore didn’t have any restaurants or shops, meaning privacy for Harry and Meghan. So what did they do on their Norway New Year’s trip?
The authors wrote the now parents of two “enjoyed seven days of dog sledding, whale watching, dining on local delicacies, and snuggling to watch as the aurora borealis lit up the skies.”
The getaway reportedly came after Harry and Meghan spent Christmas with their respective families.
Harry and Meghan’s Norway cabin is on Airbnb for $373 a night
More wallet-friendly than the royal family’s favorite hotel in London, England, Harry and Meghan stayed in the Tromvik Lodge. Billed as “unique and stunning” on Airbnb, the five-bedroom, two-bathroom lodge offers an “amazing panoramic view of the ocean.”
Nearby are mountains, forests, and meadows frequented by grazing sheep. There’s also a sauna and a fully equipped kitchen. Guests also receive a meal prepared with local ingredients during their stay.
Harry and Meghan’s New Year’s trip to Norway wasn’t the only time they traveled during their courtship. Months earlier, they’d gone to Botswana together. The pair also racked up frequent flyer miles going between England and Canada before Meghan eventually moved into Nottingham Cottage with Harry.
