Iris is an eye-opener for TIME

Iris, the Michelin-starred restaurant at Norwegian fish farmer Eide Fjordbruk’s floating Salmon Eye visitor centre, has been selected as one of TIME magazine’s 2024 World’s Greatest Places.

The prestigious list features 50 places to stay and 50 to visit, including Iris, on Norway’s iconic Hardangerfjord. They are not ranked in any order.

“This is a strong recognition of Salmon Eye and Iris, and gives us opportunities to strengthen our work with our vision of contributing to the world changing how we use the ocean’s resources,” said Salmon Eye chief executive Sebastian Torjusen.

According to Eide, the Salmon Eye is not just a pretty place, but also a driver of development and innovation that solves the challenges the world faces.

Force for change

“Salmon Eye must be a driving force for restructuring and sustainable utilisation of the ocean's resources. Getting attention on the big world stage gives us a platform to take new important steps that bring us closer to sustainable solutions to the big challenges,” said Torjusen.

“I can now say that next year we will organise a world conference at Salmon Eye, where we will gather global leaders to find solutions that produce concrete results.

“ Everyone knows that the world’s growing population must eat more seafood, but to succeed we must solve the challenges of lice, fish welfare, foreign ingredients and the impact on nature. Next year’s conference will be very special, and we look forward to announcing more about this later this autumn.”

Explaining how it chose this year’s “greatest places”, TIME wrote: “Travel industry trends often reflect the id of humanity: what the collective we desires most when unburdened from daily stressors and responsibilities. In 2024, that includes other-worldly art and design, like at China's Aranya; active travel, like Natural Selection's Guided Cycling Safari in Botswana; learning more deeply about the communities and areas we're travelling to, like at Antarctica's White Desert, Maui Cultural Lands in Hawaii, and Kamba in Republic of the Congo; and learning more deeply about ourselves, like at New Mexico's Modern Elder Academy.

“To compile the 2024 list, TIME solicited nominations of places - including hotels, cruises, restaurants, attractions, museums, parks, and more - from its international network of correspondents and contributors, as well as through an application process, with an eye toward those offering new and exciting experiences. While last year's list featured 50 cities, this year we decided to explore even more - and more specific - establishments that stand out in their field, and the world. The result: 100 extraordinary destinations to visit and stay this year.”