Lofoten Islands

Coming from Tromso we took the road south and inland to Laksvatn (not like in our travel map where it shows whatever biggest road is available) and stopped early on a tiny road at a nice campsite near Brostadbotn. We were the only ones there and the owner was somewhat surprised to have guests. It is clearly not tourist season anymore!

The next morning, Wednesday, we took a couple bridges, tunnels and a ferry to get across to the first few islands of the Lofoten archipelago. It was raining a bit and we got to see some more water falls.

After some windy roads, mountain passes and wind swept coastal stretches we found a little parking lot (swamp) to stay for the night right by the water of Gullesfjord. We were pretty sure nobody else would join us there for the night.

Following the only road we soon started seeing mountains in the water and landscapes reminiscent of those in Switzerland.

There is a Viking museum half way down the Lofoten which we visited next. The story goes that a local farmer had bought a new plow for his tractor that went a few centimeters deeper into the soil than his old one. As soon as he used the new plow, he unearthed the remains of a Viking long house, which was inhabited around 500 AD. Archaeologists dug up the whole area and a replica of the longhouse was built. This is the longest Viking house in all of Norway. The museum tells a dramatic story of love and war and there are lots of activities to take part in (only in the summer months), but it was mainly a tourist trap. We would have preferred to learn a bit more about the Vikings and their culture.

It started raining again and we drove on for a bit to spend the night at Camping Brustranda (?) near Valberg which was situated on an island at the end of a fjord. There we decided to take a rest day and bide our time for better weather. Then we drove across the island to visit some beaches that had been described as having outstanding natural beauty in the guide book.

There was a surf school in the water and Max was very tempted to join them, but the waves just didn't seem big enough to actually let him surf, so we headed on to the next beach. These beaches are all separated by mountains and the villages on them have only relatively recently been connected to the road network via tunnels blasted through the rock in the late '70s to early '90s. Before then people had to climb the mountain or use a boat. Seven year old children were expected to follow their older siblings to school in the snow across the mountain pass in the Arctic darkness!

If you zoom into the last picture in the very centre an ermine (Hermelin) is hiding and looking at our dogs suspiciously.

It was so beautiful here that we decided to stay another night. Of course, we had to leave eventually. Via small narrow and very windy roads. So much fun!

We drove all the way to the end of the road at Å (pronounced Ohh), and the landscape remained incredibly beautiful. We visited a Fisheries museum explaining the history of fishing for cod and the cod liver oil and the industry revolving around the oil. Quite interesting, and they had a authentic bakery using 1800s techniques which had delicious cinnamon buns!

We went back up the road a little bit to Moskenes where we would take the ferry to Bodo in the morning. From here we could see back along all of the Lofoten islands. And we were so lucky with the weather again. The ferry would save us about 700km on the road.

On the ferry and arrival in Bodo.

The Lofoten islands sure are a Norwegian jewel. The down side of this is that many, many tourists come here (including ourselves) and sometimes that shows. We do not even want to imagine what the islands are like in high season. We are just glad that we had luck with the weather and got to marvel at the stunning beauty of this very special landscape.

Next destination: Bergen in the south of Norway, where we will be boarding a Hurtigruten ship with a special guest