What's up guys! We're here on the Lofoten Islands and in this video we're going to show you the
perfect road trip itinerary for 10 to 14 days. We just finished this trip ourselves and we had a
really great time. And we'll also include our top travel tips, including what to expect from each
region and other things you need to know before you go on your trip. So hope you enjoy this video!
We are Zac and Ine, full-time digital nomads from the United States and Belgium.
We met while studying abroad in 2018 and have been traveling the world together ever since.
We're here to inspire your next adventure, whether it's hiking in the Canadian Rockies,
a road trip through the US, or backpacking across Africa. On our channel, you'll find
unfiltered videos of hiking guides and the best things to do in destinations around the world.
The Lofoten Islands are located within the Arctic Circle in Northern Norway. With jaw-dropping
landscapes, long stretches of white-sand beaches, narrow fjords, and small fishing villages,
this is truly one of the most beautiful destinations in the entire world. We were
lucky to spend 14 days traveling from Tromsø to the Lofoten Islands. This time allowed us to see
the highlights of the region as well as some of the lesser-visited spots outside of the Lofoten.
In this video, we'll share our road trip itinerary for 10 to 14 days. Including the things you can't
miss and how long you should stay. You can also download a Google Map with all the stops in the
description below. We hired Norwegian Backroads to create this itinerary for our magical trip.
And we'll touch on this later in the video. Now, we'll share our 14 day road trip itinerary
around Northern Norway and the Lofoten Islands. You can pick and choose if you want to stay longer
or shorter in each spot, depending on the amount of time you have available for your own trip.
Our road trip itinerary starts in the city of Tromsø. This is the biggest city in Northern
Norway and the cheapest place to fly into and rent your vehicle from. It's best to spend one to two
days in Tromsø to cover the main highlights of the city. These include the harbor, the Arctic Church,
the Fjellstua viewpoint, the polar museum, and polaria. You can watch our full Tromsø video
to learn more about the city and the best things to do there.
The island of Kvaløya is only a short drive away from Tromsø.
With breathtaking views of immense mountains and fjords, this is a great introduction of
what is to come. Take your time to drive around and visit the most beautiful spots.
The breathtaking island of Senja is next. Take a short ferry ride from Brensholmen to Botnhamn in
the morning or later during the day. You can find a link to the ferry schedule in the description.
Senja is Norway's second biggest island, famous for its jagged peaks. Fun things to do on Senja
include sightseeing at Husøy Island, the Tungeneset viewpoint, and the Sukkertoppen
hike. The most iconic peak is undoubtedly Segla, towering above the town of Fjordgård. And the best
view of this needle-like mountain is from the summit of the Hesten hike. We decided to start
this hike at 9:00 pm and camp at the summit, since the weather was calling for blue skies at sunrise.
As we set up camp, we crossed our fingers that the sun would hopefully come out in the morning.
After Senja, it's finally time to head to the Lofoten,
a chain of seven main islands. We recommend catching a two-hour ferry
ride from Gryllefjord to Andenes, which operates from mid-May to the beginning
of September only. Unfortunately for us we ran into some weather problems.
So we're here in the ferry line, but the ferry is cancelled all day because of this really harsh
wind conditions. And yeah that's why we probably will have to drive there. It takes an hour more,
like, it takes six hours to Svolvær instead of five. This is just a reminder that you have to
be very flexible because the weather conditions can change all the time.
If the weather is cooperating and you actually do get to take the ferry, then you can stop at
some beautiful viewpoints along the way on the National Tourist Road throughout Andøya. And even
if you don't take the ferry, you'll still arrive on Austvågøy island just a little bit later than
planned. This island is the northernmost island in the Lofoten and has a lot to offer. Once you get
there, we recommend stopping at Austnesfjorden for your first viewpoint. Then, hit the vibrant town
of Svolvær where you can enjoy beautiful walks on the calm waterfront or embark on a cruise
to Trollfjord. On the cruise, you'll be treated with stunning views and you might even see eagles
along the way like we did. We left a link in the description to book your own cruise if you'd like.
Next, we recommend doing your first hike on the Lofoten Islands. Starting just behind the town of
Svolvær, you can do the beautiful Tjeldbergtind hike. This is a great starter hike to get you
acquainted with the Lofoten trails. It's only 4.3 kilometers long and is a moderate difficulty,
but has some stellar views of Svolvær and the surrounding mountains from the top.
For your final stop on Austvågøy island, we recommend visiting the town of Henningsvær.
This town has been one of the busiest fishing villages on the coast for more than a century.
You can admire views of the village from the breakwater or head to the world's most unique
soccer field situated on an island by itself. Once you've enjoyed the town, you should definitely do
the Festvågtind hike. This hike is challenging due to its steepness, but it's definitely worth it to
get an aerial view over Henningsvær. You can find more detailed information about this hike and all
of the other hikes that we mentioned in our video about 8 must-do hikes in the Lofoten Islands.
The road trip continues to the island of this Vestvågøy,
home to an interesting mix of things to do. The Viking Museum is a great first stop and
a perfect place to visit on a bad weather day, which can happen a lot in the Lofoten.
The museum offers a ton of great history about the interesting Viking culture.
Get it, yeah!
Next, you can check out the beautiful beaches of this island starting with Unstad,
which is famous for surfing.
There's a lot of arctic surfing going on here. Uou can actually see some surfers
right now in the water. We are not surfing ourselves because it's really cold water.
But it's definitely an option, but you can also just come and watch.
The Haukland beach area is a great next stop on Vestvågøy island.
Here, you can camp on the beach and also do a beautiful coastal walk to the neighboring
Uttakleiv beach. This is a great option for families since there's no elevation
gain. If you want a little more adventure in this area, you can do the Mannen hike,
which takes you up a steep trail to look down on Haukland beach from above.
Finally, you should check out the Offersøykammen hike.
This moderate difficulty hike takes you up a relatively gradual slope
compared to other hikes in the Lofoten and is a perfect spot to enjoy sunset views.
Next on the Lofoten itinerary is Flakstadøy island,
home to small authentic villages and beautiful sandy beaches. Ramberg beach is
a great stop to get a peaceful beach walk and listen to the waves gently crashing.
While Ramberg is home to a beautiful beach, Nusfjord is considered the best-preserved
fishing village in all of Norway. You can learn about its traditional fishing practices here,
which has played an important role for centuries. We wanted to say a
huge thanks to Audrey at Norwegian Backroads for including this island on our itinerary.
We loved learning about Lofoten's fishing history here and we'll let Audrey explain a little bit
more about her business in case you want a personal itinerary for your own Norway trip.
Hi guys, I'm Audrey from Norwegian Backroads and I design itineraries in Norway
in the remote parts. It doesn't matter what age or what lifestyle you have,
if you're willing to discover the hidden gems of Norway, that's the good stuff.
What I like about being in a remote area is that you get so so much of a authentic experience.
And for me, it's like Norway is very known for, like, beautiful landscapes and and so on, and
there's tons of it. But there's way more than what you just see on social media.
It's probably the coolest bridge I've ever driven across.
The last Lofoten island we visited is the most popular one...Moskenesøy! This island is home to
unspoiled beaches and some of the best hikes on the entire trip. The first hike we recommend is
Røren, which is an easy three and a half kilometer trail that only takes about one and a half hours
total to complete. You'll get stunning views of the crescent-shaped Ytresand beach from above.
Next, you can keep your hiking boots on for the Ryten and Kvalvika beach trail.
This hike has some of the most diverse scenery in the Lofoten. You'll come across waterfalls,
beaches, and even open plains at one point. There's a really cool rock to sit on at the top.
After Kvalvika, you can head to the small town of Reine,
which is tucked underneath some of the most jagged peaks that you'll come across in the
Lofoten. This town is dotted with little red fishing cabins and has a very chill vibe to it.
Finally, we've saved the best Lofoten Island activity for last, hiking Reinebringen.
This is one hike that you can't miss during your trip and you'll see why
when you get to the top of the trail.
Finally, it's time to head back towards Tromsø to finish the road trip. From Reine, it's a
long drive back on the E10 highway. But before you jet off, try to fit in one more hidden gem.
The Lyngen Alps is just two hours north of Tromsø and a true nature paradise.
Home to more than 140 glaciers, there are tons of great hiking trails,
guided glacier hikes, and climbing. We did the Blåisvatnet hike and highly recommend it if you're
in the area. It's about eight kilometers total and has minimal elevation gain, so anyone can do it.
It's a great way to end your trip around Northern Norway.
So made it to the final viewpoint of our hike here. And in the north of Norway,
they actually have beautiful glacial lakes with these really bright blue
colors. So it's a little different from what we saw in Lofoten and Senja.
To finish your trip, you'll need to drive the two hours back to Toronto from the Lyngen Alps
and drop off your rental car. And now, as we promised at the start of this video,
we'll highlight a few travel tips that we learned after doing the trip ourselves.
First, the weather in Northern Norway is very unpredictable.
You can have all seasons in one day, even if the day starts out with clear blue skies. Regardless
of what the weather forecast is saying, you should always bring rain gear and warm layers that you
can remove when the sun comes out. Check the most up-to-date weather forecast on the website yr.no.
Norway has an amazing law that gives you the right to enjoy and stay in nature for free. This means
that you can camp anywhere in Northern Norway, whether that's with a tent or in your RV. As long
as it's 150 meters from a house or cabin and not on cultivated land. You also must move spots every
two days if you're not in remote areas. This means that you can save a lot of money on accommodation
during your trip. And while we decided to camp most of our days, we don't necessarily
recommend it. The heavy winds and random rain showers can make it extremely challenging.
We actually recommend renting a camper van or booking a warm, dry place to stay instead.
We left links in the description to the places that we stayed at.
It's not very easy to get around Northern Norway or the Lofoten Islands with public transportation.
We highly recommend getting a rental car or camper van so you can easily get to the trailheads and
the beaches. If you have a rented vehicle, you'll see a small box right next to your rear view
mirror, this automatically registers all the toll stations you pass and the ferries that you take.
If you drive your own car, your license plate will be registered
and you'll receive the bill by mail a few weeks after your trip.
Keep in mind that the roads are quite narrow, which makes it harder for larger vehicles.
We hope you found our video of Northern Norway and the Lofoten Islands helpful,
and you can find more in-depth information about the hikes in our Lofoten hiking video.
Make sure to check out the description below for all of the important links that you'll
need during your trip, such as a map with all of the stops. We'll catch you on the next adventure!