A truly unique destination, the Lofoten Islands is an archipelago, made up of 7 main islands, in the northern county of Nordland, Norway. The largest city in the archipelago, Svolvær, is about a 6-7 hour drive from Tromsø.
Lofoten has activities year round for nature lovers and adventure seekers. You can kayak, surf and scuba dive the icy arctic waters. Rather stay out of the water? Charter a day fishing trip, visit the many beautiful beaches, or hike the many trails that provide breathtaking views at the top.
If you are wondering how to get to the Lofoten Islands, what to pack, when to go, where to stay and how to travel to the different islands- read my blog post: Plan your visit with these insider travel tips for visiting Lofoten Norway.
Below is a 7-day itinerary jam packed full of options for you to pick and choose what your heart desires!
The Lofoten Islands has evidence of human settlements dating back to 11,000 years ago- and significant human evidence as early as 250 BCE! Since the beginning of those times humans have come to Lofoten to fish it’s plentiful waters for stockfish.
Stockfish (cod) is the life blood of the Lofoten Islands. Large cod swim down from the Barents Sea during winter to spawn in the waters around the Lofoten islands between January-March.
Throughout history fishermen from all over Norway would travel to the Lofoten Islands during this time to make money fishing the waters. The fish are then dried and exported to Europe and Africa.
Because of this, there are many historic fishing villages around the Lofoten Islands, with Rorbu (cabins) to house the fisherman. The rorbu have a bright red color and many have been refurbished to house tourists who want to stay in an authentic fisherman’s cabin.
Below is a list of places to see and where to eat in the Lofoten Islands. The google map below pin points these locations.
Fishing Village in Å
Situated at the end of the archipelago, or first depending on your perspective, is the fishing village of Å.
What to do:
Here you will find the Fisherman’s Village Museum (Norsk Fiskeværsmuseum). There is an entrance fee to view the small open air museum. You can see inside a family rorbu, the post office, the boat house and cod liver oil factory, and try a taste!
They have tours that run every other hour that is included in the entrance fee. While you wait for your tour, be sure to grab a kanelboller (cinnamon bun) from the bakery in the bottom of the land owner’s house. The bread is baked in the original stone oven from 1878.
The beautiful red color of the rorbu that dot the landscape of the Lofoten Islands was made from cod liver oil and rust. Red was the cheapest color in the archipelago to paint your house with. Yellow was the second cheapest and white was the most expensive color!
About a 5 minute walk from the Fisherman’s Village Museum is the Lofoten Stockfish Museum. Here you can learn how the fisherman prepared the stockfish once they caught them. The fisherman would prepare the stockfish to be hung on drying racks between January-March. The weather is perfect in Lofoten to not rot the fish but to dry them out.
Once they are bone-dry they are ready to be shipped to Europe, Italy being the main market. The heads of the stockfish are shipped to Africa, primarily Nigeria, where they are boiled together with ground fruit and red peppers.
It is common in the Lofoten Islands for the youth to also work preparing the fish for drying during the season. As young as 6 years old, the youth will cut the tongues of the stockfish out to sell. They can make 6.000 Euros a season cutting the cod tongues out!
Where to eat:
Brygga (Å-veien 45, 8392 Å). They offer delicious seaweed salad and fiskesuppe (fish soup) to fill you up!
Reine
Reine is another breathtaking fishing village in the Lofoten Islands. About a 15 minute drive from Å, this town sits on the picturesque landscape of the Lofoten Islands.
What to do:
Explore the beautiful fishing village and walk around the town.
Do a kayak tour: https://www.fjordtours.com/things-to-do-in-norway/kayaking/kayaking-reine-lofoten/
Hike up Reinebringen! About 448 moh (meters above sea level), it comprises about 1,566 stone steps. This is a very steep trail up to the top of Reinebringen that offers those picturesque photos every adventure lover wants.
The last 150 meters from the top is a natural trail and can become quite slippery and muddy if the weather is bad. So be sure to bring water and good shoes to make it to the top! It is so worth it!
Please be careful at the top when trying to capture that perfect Instagram picture- tourists die every year falling from the top.
Where to eat:
The famous Anitas Sjømat will not disappoint! They have an amazing menu of seafood and fiskeburger. They also sell dried and cured meats and bread. I definitely recommend stopping here for lunch or dinner, or to just shop around the store side of the restaurant.
They have a great deck to enjoy your meal outdoors and even have a small playground for kids! It was a win-win for us!
Nusfjord
Nusfjord is a charming fishing village and probably my favorite one we visited. It is tucked away into the small Nusfjord and has a mix of yellow and red rorbu and restored buildings. It had a different vibe for me than the other fishing villages and I loved wandering around it!
What to do:
Take a walking tour of Nusfjord fishing village. Tours leave every day at noon!
The Nusfjord arctic resort also provides all whole host of activities such as: stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, boat rentals and fishing trips: https://nusfjordarcticresort.com/activities/.
Where to eat:
You definitely have to eat at Restaurant Karoline (Nusfjordveien 110, 8380 Ramberg) at least once during your visit. This elegant restaurant does require dinner reservations- it is very popular! The food is amazing and you can try delicious cod tongue and truffle seaweed.
Ramberg
This beautiful beach town has something for the beach bum in all of us.
What to do:
Learn to arctic surf at Lofoten Beach Camp (Kjerkveien 45, Ramberg) https://www.lofotenbeachcamp.no/surfing
Where to eat:
Kafe Friisgarden (E10, Ramberg, Nordland, Norway) – we really enjoyed the fried cod’s tongue!
Leknes
Situated in the middle of the Lofoten Islands, Leknes is the largest town in the lower islands.
What to do:
Learn all about aquaculture and tour a salmon farm: https://www.lofotenseafoodcenter.com/
Glasshyte (Gnr 34 Bnr 22, 8382 Napp): https://glasshyttavikten.no/ – enjoy some coffee at the Glasshyte and watch the artisans work! Then take a beautiful walk on the beach and enjoy the scenery.
About 15 minutes from Leknes is the Lofotr Viking Museum: https://www.lofotr.no/nb/. Visit the reconstructed longhouse and boat house and learn all about the vikings!
Pro tip: get there early when it opens. By noon the museum was packed and due to COVID could only allow a certain number of visitors in at a time. So a long queue started to form to get into the museum.
If you hang out until about noon they serve a fiskesuppe and bread at the longhouse. So you can enjoy a viking meal in a reconstructed viking longhouse!
Where to eat:
Restaurant at Lofoten Seafood Center: https://www.lofotenseafoodcenter.com/restaurant/
Huset Kafe (Idrettsgata 1, 8370 Leknes) is a great place to grab coffee and some yummy breakfast or lunch.
Ballstad
Ballstad’s claim to fame is the largest fishing village in Lofoten.
What to do:
Just up the road from Ballstad is the Buksnes Church (Buksnesveien 450, 8372 Gravdal). Built in the Dragestil style, it is a colorful church to stop and see for a short activity.
Ballstad also offers many fishing tours: https://www.nextadventurelofoten.no/our-services
Or now is your chance to dive in arctic waters with Lofoten Diving: https://www.lofoten-diving.com/.
Where to eat:
HEIM (Oppsåttveien 10, 8373 Ballstad) is a cozy restaurant built on the water surrounded by robu. It has great cuisine, and as always in Norway, it is recommended to make a reservation for dinner.
Lofoten Food Studio (Jacob Jentofts vei 29, 8373 Ballstad)- must book in advance as this is a chef’s table. A must-do culinary experience of the Lofoten Islands! https://www.lofotenfoodstudio.no/home
Henningsvær
Henningsvær is a fishing village located on several small islands off of the coast of the large island of Austvågøya.
What to do:
Visit the iconic soccer pitch at the end of the village. There are signs that say you cannot fly drones; however, that didn’t seem to stop a few tourists who were doing this. There is a lighthouse at the end of the soccer pitch that is still a private residence. So unfortunately you cannot go up there.
View Contemporary Art at the Kaviar Factory: http://www.kaviarfactory.com/about/
Where to eat:
Fiskekrogen Henningsvaer: https://www.fiskekrogen.no/
Solvær
Solvær is the largest town in the Lofoten Islands.
What to do:
Sea Eagle Safari to Trollfjord: https://lofoten.info/en/Sea-safari/?Article=891
Lofoten Aquarium: https://www.museumnord.no/en/our-venues/lofoten-aquarium/
Lofoten War Museum: https://www.lofotenkrigmus.no/
Where to eat:
Lofoten Beaches
When a tropical beach comes to mind, you may immediately think of the Caribbean or some remote island in the Pacific. But the Lofoten Islands have some AMAZINGLY beautiful beaches to visit.
Storsandnes Beach
This beach was right behind our Airbnb and was so beautiful! I definitely recommend spending a nice sunny day here if you have a chance.
Uttakleiv Beach
This is a great beach to camp at and experience the midnight sun!
Unstad beach
This is a beach you can drive to! If you are feeling adventurous and want to take a long walk along the beach you can follow this trail (https://ut.no/turforslag/115934/langs-sjen-fra-eggum-til-undstad).
Kvalvika Beach
There are several trails that lead to the beach. Via Torsfjord (https://ut.no/turforslag/1112155861/torsfjord-kvalvika), you will hike about 2km to get to the beach. The hike is relatively easy; however, it can be extremely difficult if the weather is bad and the trail is wet. When we went it was misting and made the trail very hard to traverse; and our views were extremely limited of the beach.
You are climbing over a ridge and hiking down to the beach. When you are on the down side of the hike, the trail can be extremely slippery and muddy if it is raining.
Parking is extremely limited here. There are some pull-offs around the trailhead. I would recommend getting her as early as you can.
If you want the picturesque overlook of the beach, head to the Ryten trailhead (https://ut.no/turforslag/112252722/ryten-over-kvalvika-i-lofoten-spektakulr). This hike is about 5.7 km and will take you a couple hours.
If the weather is nice, definitely set out for this beach- it is worth the hike to get to!
What the beach looks like on a sunny day!
