Wayfare Travels
Lofoten, Norway

Europe · Mountains

Lofoten, Norway

Peaks straight out of the sea, above the Arctic Circle.

4.8(78 reviews)7 daysFebruary to March, June to AugustFrom $2,980 per person
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01Overview

Peaks straight out of the sea, above the Arctic Circle.

Fishing villages, white beaches that look tropical until you touch the water, and mountains that go from sea level to a thousand metres in under two kilometres. Winter for the lights, summer for the sun that never sets.

HikingNorthern lightsCoast

Key information

Best time
February for lights, June for sun
Trip length
6 to 9 days
Group size
Up to 8 travellers
Walking
8 to 16 km on active days
Getting around
One road, several ferries
Currency
Norwegian krone

02Things to experience

What a week in Lofoten actually looks like

  • Reinebringen at first light

    Fifteen hundred stone steps up, and then the view that is on the cover of every book about this coast.

  • Aurora on the north shore

    February trips only. We drive to whichever beach has the clearest sky and wait with a flask of something hot.

  • Out with the cod boats

    A morning on a working skrei boat in Henningsvær during the winter season, which is not a comfortable morning.

  • Kvalvika beach overnight

    An hour over the pass with everything on your back, a night in a tent on white sand, and no way to call anybody.

A scene from Lofoten
Lofoten detail 1
Lofoten detail 2

03The route

A suggested itinerary

This is the shape most people travel. Every part of it can be lengthened, swapped or dropped, and private departures run on any date you like.

Adjust this route
  1. Day 1

    Fly to Svolvær

    In over the islands, which is worth a window seat, then east to the first rorbu.

  2. Day 2 to 3

    Henningsvær and Austvågøy

    The fishing village, the harbour, and two walks depending entirely on the forecast.

  3. Day 4 to 5

    Reine and Moskenesøy

    The postcard end of the island chain. Reinebringen if it is clear, Kvalvika if it is not.

  4. Day 6

    Å and the far south

    The last village on the road, the stockfish museum, and a long afternoon of nothing at all.

  5. Day 7

    Back north

    The drive back up the chain with stops for every beach, then the evening flight.

04Where you stay

Three places we book here

Family guesthouses, refuges and restored houses. We have slept in every one of them, and the prices below are what you would pay direct.

Reine RorbuFisherman cabin

Reine Rorbu

A red cabin on stilts over the water, converted from a cod station. Two bedrooms, a wood stove and a very short walk to the sea.

from $205 per night

Hattvika LodgeHarbour lodge

Hattvika Lodge

Restored cabins in Ballstad with a sauna on the dock and a kitchen that smokes its own fish.

from $260 per night

Henningsvær GuesthouseVillage rooms

Henningsvær Guesthouse

Six rooms above a gallery on the harbour. Simple, warm, and you can hear the boats leave at four.

from $145 per night

An editorial photograph from Lofoten

05From the field

“In February you chase the light. In June you cannot get away from it.”

Lofoten is a geological accident that happens to be inhabited. The mountains rise out of the Norwegian Sea with no foothills, and the villages are squeezed into whatever flat ground is left over. We run this trip twice a year for two very different reasons. In February the sun barely clears the ridge, the sea is green-black, and there is a real chance of the aurora on any clear night. In June there is no night at all, and you can be on a summit at one in the morning in full daylight. Both are worth doing. Neither is warm.

Written by the Wayfare planner who runs this route.

Plan your trip

Let us build your Lofoten trip around you

Send us your dates and the kind of days you want. We will come back with a route, a realistic price and an honest view on whether the timing works.

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