Tromso To The Lofoten Islands With A Special Guest

Norway has a very long and thin shape with one of the longest and most rugged coastlines in the world. With over 50,000 Islands and almost uncountable fjords it is also a very indented coastline. The Islands of Senja, Vesterålen and the Lofoten epitomize what a trip to Norway is all about. This is Norway in a nutshell with mountains, fjords, lush farmland, sandy beaches, and a rugged coastline all contained in this relatively small area. The best way to see this amazing coastline is on a road trip.

We got to experience an incredible summer road trip from Tromso to the Island of Senja, Vesterålen and then into the Lofoten Islands with a very special guest: Our son Jamie who joined us from London for an eight day holiday break and a chance to experience motorhome travelling above the Arctic Circle.

The start of his holiday trip was a bit stressful for him since Jamie’s flight from London to Oslo was delayed and, although he made his connecting flight from Oslo to Tromso, his luggage didn’t. Therefore after picking him up from the airport, we decided to stay overnight at an off grid motorhome area  very near the airport in order to pick up his luggage next day. Luckily his luggage did arrive quite early next morning and we were able to get on the road soon after, only a few hours delayed form our original plan.

Our motorhome Island hopping route was along one of Norway’s most beautiful National Tourist Routes. This stretch is made up of Islands of various sizes and connected by ferry crossings, several bridges and tunnels (including undersea tunnels). Our route was as follows: Tromso > Kvaloya Island (ferry from Brensholmen to Botnhamn) > Senja (ferry from Gryllefjord to Andenes) > Vesterålen Islands (Andenes at Andøya) > Andøy Bridge into Hinnøya Island > Lofoten Islands > (ferry from Moskenes ) Bodø > Saltstraumen.

Map of our route from Tromso to the very end of the Lofoten. In pink we highlighted the 3 Touristic Routes (there are 18 in Norway).

The ferry services between these islands operate during the summer time only, usually taking anything from 30 minutes to several hours and run a few times per day. It is recommended to be at the ferry terminal at least an hour early to get in line, since it can get very busy indeed. The ferry rides are beautiful and all part of the whole experience. There are other options to get into the islands without using the ferries, including driving the long way around.

But for us the ferry route was the best option… this road trip is super scenic  so it is very much a case of taking the road slowly with plenty of stops for photos and just taking in those “vistas”. Visiting the small fishing villages and hiking were some of the highlights for us.

Senja

Norway’s second largest Island, attracts a lot less tourists then the more popular Lofoten Islands, but in our opinion it was just as beautiful, if not more so because of its more low key popularity. We drove the most scenic part, the North coast on the National Tourist Route the Rv86 and Rv862.

It took us a full day to go through it, with stops for photos and lunch. We particularly loved the two very scenic view points of Bergsbotn and the Tungeneset showcasing great views of knife-edged peaks rising up from the sea.

The Tungeneset view point has a wooden walkway leading out to the rocks with a beautiful view of the craggy peaks of the Oksen mountain as a backdrop. We walked over the big rocks and boulders that go all the way to the waters edge.

Wooden walkway at Tungeneset view point.

Tungeneset view point

Bergsbotn view point myself, Brian and Jamie. We are just silhouettes against the  bright evening sun light.

We overnighted at the ferry port of Grylleford, already on the queue for our ferry next morning to the Vesterålen Islands – Andenes (Andøya Island). Being a Saturday night there was some rather noisy drinking and partying until the early hours of the morning. We did not partake but could hear the music and laughter coming from a nearby bar (possibly the only bar in this area).

Vesterålen Islands

The Vesterålen Islands lies just north of Lofoten and we drove through admiring the many scenic forested mountains and small fishing hamlets. The islands are linked to each other and the mainland, by several bridges. We enjoyed the drive, but it is not as dramatic as Senja and the Lofoten Islands. We did enjoy a brief look around the little hamlet of Bleik. There are great boat tours and whale-watching expeditions departing from here, but we decided to carry on towards the Lofoten.

Lofoten Islands

The main islands of the Lofoten Archipelago are separated from the mainland by Vestfjorden, but are all connected to each other via road bridges and tunnels. There are many picturesque villages to visit. Some of the places we enjoyed the most are as follows:

• Climbing Fløya in Svolvær

This short hike took us about 3 hours to complete, up and down. It is an intense and very steep hike (think staircase steep) , gaining an altitude of 580m/1900feet. The views from the top are superb and there is a chance of having a daring photo at the Devil’s Door or Djevelporten as it is known in Norwegian (only Jamie and Brian had the courage for that one, as I chickened out). We could also admire from afar climbers taking on the famous Svolværgeita, also called The Goat, which is a rock pinnacle very popular with rock climbers (not a climb I fancied or would have been equipped for doing). First climbed in 1910, the summit offers the unique opportunity to jump the 1.5m gap between the two “horns” at the summit.

The trail head for hiking Fløya, starts at the small parking area on Blåtindveien, just a few steps from the trailhead. The GPS coordinates for the trailhead is as follows: N 68°14’40” E14°34’40”.

I found the start of the trail very hard, with some rock scrambling on hands and knees, there is a section of large smooth granite rock where you pull yourself up using a metal chain.

Jamie pulling himself up the metal chains. I found this bit the hardest.

We are just half way up here and the views are already amazing.

My son standing on the “Devil’s Door”, I could hardly look at him.

I can do cliff edges, but not “silly” cliff edges.

The path is clearly marked, it flattens out a little, but mostly it is an upwards challenging terrain.

Further on from Djevelporten the path follows the ridge towards the top of Fløya. At some points the path is scarily close to the cliff edge, so one must be very careful here.

Jamie enjoying spectacular views.

Relieved to finally arrive at the top, and relish the stunning views

At a nearby peak climbers are conquering the famous Svolværgeita, also called The Goat.

We decided not to venture all the way to the summit of Fløya, since it looked very steep and perilously close to the cliff edge, although Jamie was keen to do it, both Brian and I decided against it. So we took a path going towards the western ridge from the Fløya summit, which was also challenging. I stayed back a little, but Jamie and Brian ventured to the very edge of the cliff. I am not particularly scared of heights, but there are certain exposed cliff edges that I just can’t do.

The true summit of Fløya is in front of us, but we decided to start heading down from here.

It is a long way down and very hard on our old knees.

The way down was hard on knees, but we got back without any incidents and it was a lot faster than climbing up. It was a great hike and one I would recommend for people who enjoy hiking. Just make sure to wear appropriate hiking shoes, sun hat, sun protection, take lots of water and snacks. Don’t attempt it in bad weather. I would classify this hike as moderate to hard.

There are many other amazing hikes around in the Lofoten, such as Unstad to Eggum, Glomtind, Festvagtind, Kvalvika & Ryten, but unfortunatelly we did not have time or stamina left to do them. Some are very strenuous and can take many hours to hike. We were very happy with completing the hike up to Fløya.

• Lofotr Viking Museum

I have found some of the museums we have visited in the Far North of Norway disappointing. With poor labelling of the artefacts, very few (if any at all ) explanations of the exhibits written in other languages and hardly any written in the English language. I do appreciate that we are in Norway and the language here is Norwegian. But if museums have a vision of educating people and are expecting a wider audience from all over the world, perhaps other common languages should be on offer and in particularly English which is the closest we have to a universal language.

Although perhaps some of the very small museums do lack the funding to improve on that front.

I was certainly not disappointed with the Lofotr Viking Museum in Borg, which was very well sign posted and multilingual. There was even a tour in English and other languages.

The museum features the largest Viking-era house ever found. The impressive 83-meter (272-ft) structure is reconstructed in full size, just off the original house site.

It is a “living museum” where we were able to partake in various activities including bow and arrow, sword throwing etc. There is a Viking ship that takes people on rowing activities in the water. There was a Viking feast cooking over the fire inside the big house and all the staff were dressed in character. It was a really fun, interactive experience that we would recomend for anyone visiting this area.

• Nusfjord

Certainly one of the loveliest villages we visited on this trip. Comprising of a tiny tucked-away harbour nestled between the peaks. The red painted wooden houses are a treasure. To have a look around the old town you do have to pay a fee. It cost for the 3 of us £28…but yes it was worth it.

Small harbour of Nusfjord

Jamie and I posing with Nusfjord in the background.

Can I have 3 cakes please? HOW MUCH???

Once we finished exploring we stopped at a very charming local bakers for cakes and a loaf of bread. It all looked gorgeous and apetizing, but looking carefully at the prices, we could hardly believe that our 3 small cakes and loaf of bread cost us £20 (USD 25)…ouch.

To get to Nusfjord we took a small detour from the E10, between Svolvær and the village of Å.

• Reine

This is the very postcard fishing village of the Lofoten Islands, the one on the cover of my Lonely Planet guide book. Located on the E10, the scenic tourist route that runs through the Island of Moskenesøya on the Lofoten archipelago, it should not be missed. Even if just to snap that post card picture from the bridge as you enter the town.

Reine in the Lofoten

Reine on the shores of the Reinefjorden and dotted with the red and white fisherman’s huts, it is picture perfect.

It is gorgeous and no wonder it has the reputation of being one of the most beautiful fishing villages in the world. The setting is breathtakingly beautiful, with dark granite mountains rising up from the Reinefjorden and fisherman’s red and white wooden huts dotted around the edges of the fjord,  it is utterly charming. The red huts are called rorbu (or plural rorbuer), they are one of the most recognizable symbols of the Norwegian Islands, along with the drying racks of codfish.

Reine,  is a popular place to stop on a road trip of the Lofoten and many will make it their base for exploring the Archipelago. Some people come here to hike Reinebringen. The hike is only about 450 meters high but don’t be fooled by the short distance,  this hike is steep and very slippery. Not a hike I was keen to do, so we rode out of town and into our next pretty fishing village.

• Å

Honestly there is a little village in the Lofoten that it is simply called “Å” (the last letter of the Norwegian alphabet). Located on the island of Moskenesøya, it is like a living museum. Cute and bijou, it did not take long for us to have a good look around it. The shoreline is dotted with “rorbuer”, like many of the other villages we have visited. It used to be a significant fishing port, but now the families live mostly from tourism. As you walk around the harbour you can still spot the codfish drying racks.

Welcome to Å

The little village was our last stop on this road trip, from here we drove to Moskenes where we stayed at a friendly campsite right by the ferry terminal. It was then very easy for us to catch our ferry into Bodø  next day. We booked this ferry crossing in advance to guarantee our place since it is a busy crossing taking us about 4 hours, the longest and most expensive one on this road trip (£259 for the 3 of us plus our home-on-wheels).

Jamie would be flying back to London from Bodø, but before that we had one more place to visit together:

Saltstraumen Maelstrom

A natural phenomenon that takes places 4 times every day. The Saltstraumen Strait is only 3km long and 150m wide,  and the tides try to shift 400 million cu metres of water from one fjord into another causing a series of whirlpools that form and blend together forming other larger whirlpools in a fast and furious water mayhem surge that is just mesmerizing.

Looking out from the bridge

Looking out from the water edge.

It happens every 6 hours, but it is important to catch it at the right time when the tide is flowing at its fastest. We found a campsite just by the Saltstraumbrua  bridge that stradles the Saltstraumen Strait and we were able to visit it when the tide was coming in from the West in the evening as well as when it was coming in from the East the next morning. It was an exhilarating spectacle.

Sadly our threesome road trip has come to an end. Together we have spent 8 days exploring some of the most beautiful islands in the Far North of Norway. The weather here is unpredictable, but we lucked out and had sunshine and warm temperatures the whole time ensuring that we could have the best time and that Jamie could go home with an unexpected bonus. A fabulous Arctic Circle tan…who would have thought?

With a heavy heart we said goodbye to our son at the airport in Bodø. From here Brian and I will continue our motorhome road trip heading South, with our next destination being the coastal route of Kystriksveien, considered one Europe’s most spectacular drives. We shall check it out and let you know.