The Lofoten Islands in 3 days
An archipelago of peaks rising straight out of the sea, linked by 130 km of the E10 from Svolvær to the village of Å, with red fishing cabins on stilts and white sand beaches at 68° north. The sun does not set from late May to mid-July, and cod hangs on drying racks in the villages from February to June.
The plan, day by day
Day 1
- Morning
Reinebringenfree · 2 to 3 hA 448-metre summit above Reine and its fjord, climbed by a stone staircase of nearly 2,000 steps built by Nepalese Sherpas between 2016 and 2019.
- Afternoon
Reine and Hamnøyfree · about 1 h 30Red fishing cabins on stilts, a fjord walled by 800-metre cliffs and bridges hopping to Sakrisøy and Hamnøy, the view on most guidebook covers.
- Late afternoon
Å i Lofoten2 to 3 hThe last village on the E10, with a one-letter name, a fishing village museum and a stockfish museum on the dried cod trade with Italy.
Day 2
- Morning
Kvalvika beachfree · half a dayA sand beach enclosed by 500-metre walls on Moskenesøya's north coast, with no road, reached in about an hour on foot from near Fredvang.
- Late afternoon
Nusfjordabout 1 h 30One of Norway's best-preserved fishing villages, some forty 19th-century buildings around a tiny harbour, including a cod liver oil factory and a forge.
Day 3
- Morning
Haukland beachfree · 2 to 3 hAn arc of white sand between two mountains, with turquoise water that stays around 12°C in midsummer, used by kayakers and surfers.
- Afternoon
Lofotr Viking Museum, Borg2 to 3 hA full-size reconstruction of an 83-metre Viking chieftain's longhouse, found by a farmer's plough in 1981, with a pine frame, turf walls and central hearth.
- Late afternoon
Henningsværfree · about 1 h 30A fishing village of about 500 people spread over islets below Vågakallen, joined to land by bridges only since 1983, with a working harbour.
Where to sleep in the Lofoten Islands
- Fast Hotel Svolvær · €90 a night
- Nordis Hotel Lofoten · €100 a night
- Stamsund Hostel · €120 a night
- Thon Hotel Lofoten · €150 a night
- Svinøya Rorbuer · €160 a night
- Scandic Svolvær · €130 a night
- Nusfjord Village & Resort · €350 a night
- Eliassen Rorbuer · €250 a night
- Hattvika Lodge · €300 a night
Plan this trip
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