Lofoten Islands Roadtrip Itinerary – Midnight Sun Hiking Experience

Located far above the Arctic Circle, The Lofoten Islands are every outdoor enthusiast and photographer’s dream. A place where mountains meet the sea and picturesque fishing villages line the rugged coastline. If you are seeking unforgettable nature experiences, Lofoten will not let you down.

This blog post goes over our recommendation of the things to do, places to eat at and our favorite hikes. We spent a little under two weeks here in summer. During this time we stayed in traditional Norwegian cabins (Rorbuer), experienced the freedom of Vanlife, hiked under the midnight sun and immersed ourselves in the true outdoor culture of Norway. Throughout this post we aim to provide as much information as possible along with tips and takeaways from our experience.

If you are curious about the nitty-gritty of visa process, the best time to book flights, general expenses, food etc., be sure to check out General Tips and Recommendations at the end of this post.

Best Time To Visit Lofoten

While the decision of when to visit the Lofoten Islands depends on what you would like to experience, here’s a breakdown of what to expect.

June to August

Summer (Late June to end of August) is the best time to visit Lofoten if you are keen on hiking or spending most of your time outdoors exploring the incredible landscape here. This is the season of midnight sun. Temperatures are generally mild with warm days and pleasant evenings. However, the weather still remains unpredictable so it’s best to carry layers of clothing to stay protected from the wind and rainstorms.

September to October

This is the shoulder season that starts to see an increase in precipitation. Drier days offer chances of viewing Aurora activity. Chances of rainfall increases drastically in October.

November to June

Rest of the year is basically winter with Polar nights and hardly any daylight. Expect lots of snow. Also a good time to experience the Northern lights. This is a popular time for skiing, dog sledding and snowshoeing. Although not a popular time for extensive hiking, some of the popular hikes are still doable with the right gear. If photographing snow capped mountains in soft light is your thing, then January-February is ideal. In fact many photography tours are conducted around this time.

How To Reach Lofoten

Lofoten can be reached via a combination of Flight, Car/Bus and Ferries. Make sure to check the cost and feasibility of all possible combinations before booking flight or car rentals.

Fly to a nearby airport. The major airports in or closest to Lofoten are:

Svolvær. Airport. (SVJ) – Domestic airport with connecting flights from mainland Norway. It is one of the most common entry point for Lofoten islands and would highly recommend flying into this airport to save time. Svolvaer as a hub of Lofoten also has a few car/van rental options to start the iconic Lofoten roadtrip.

Leknes. Airport (LKN) – Another domestic airport in central Lofoten with connecting flights from mainland Norway.

Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes (EVE) – Approximately three hours of drive from the town of Svolvær in Lofoten Islands. Find more details on buses, taxis and transportation from Harstad/Narvik Airport to Svolaer here.

Bodo Airport (BOO) – Approximately three hours of scenic ferry ride to Moskenes in Lofoten Islands. Find ferry schedules and time tables here. The ferry rides can carry your car as well, but will require you to be in line atleast 3 hours before the ferry departure. If you plan to fly in or out of BOO, please make sure to align with the ferry timelines & have a backup plan in case you do not get tickets to the Ferry.

If you happen to be in other parts of mainland Norway, you can use this public transportation link to find schedules of buses and ferries to arrive in the archipelago of Lofoten.

Rental cars and Camper vans are expensive and hard to find, especially in peak seasons. We recommend booking rental car/van first and finalizing logistics of internal transportation before booking flight tickets. Note that having different pick up and drop off locations for car/campervan rentals is considerably expensive.

We landed in Harstad/Narvik Airport, picked up a rental car and set off towards the island of Senja. After about a week in Senja, we drove into Svolvær, dropped off our rental car and picked up a camper van from Lofoten Vanlife. At the end of our stay, we dropped off the campervan and flew out of Svolvær’s domestic airport to Oslo.

Where To Stay in Lofoten

Camping in Lofoten

Norway’s right to roam law allows everyone access to wilderness camping on public lands with minimal restrictions. This means you can pitch a tent in most public areas without having to secure permits in advance. This is a very popular option among outdoor lovers and budget travelers alike. It is a great way to save big bucks on the relatively expensive hotel and airbnb scene at Norway.

Wilderness Camping in Lofoten

Here are some popular wilderness camping spots on the island that don’t require any hiking. Note that these spots would have minimal to no camping facilities.

• Rørvikstranda beach
• Haukland Beach
• Uttakleiv Beach
• Eggum
• Myrland

Note: Under the right to roam law, you may pitch a tent, sleep under the stars anywhere in the countryside, forests, mountains, shores, as long as you stay 150 meters away from inhabited houses and private properties. Guidelines also require travelers to strictly follow the principle of leave no trace and pack out any trash. Leave the landscape as you want to find it.

Campsites in Lofoten (RV/Van/Camping)

If you have a motorhome, caravan, RV or are simply looking to pitch a tent in established campsites with electrical hookups and Shower/toilet facilities, then this is an excellent budget-friendly option. Most campsites also have shared kitchen and washer/dryer facilities.

Most campsites operate on a first-come-first-serve basis and get booked pretty quickly, specially in the summer months. Plan to get there well before 5pm to find a spot for the night. You can find and reserve most campsites on this website.

Here is the list of iconic camping sites (Tent/Car) in Lofoten that we recommend.

Region	Camping Site	Notes
Hamnoy	Kvalika Beach Camping	Car camping in the parking lot, does not offer great views.
Andenes	Camping on the road	Does not offer any amenities. Camping right off the road.
Nusfjord	Panorama Nusfjord	Camping in public parking.
Nusfjord	Lofoten Beach Camping	One of the best camping experiences on the island! They are equipped with good facilities, great vibes and scenic camping spots by the beach. Also a good place to experience the midnight sun. Since there is no pre-booking for campers, we recommend arriving at the camp before 18.00 to ensure yourself a spot at this camp.
Nusfjord	Fredvang Camp	Great location for camper vans and tents with basic amenities & wifi.
Myrland	Beach Camping	Right on the beach. 10 mins drive from Stornappstinden hike in the Nusfjord area.
Eggum	Eggum Rest Area	Right on the beach. 30 mins from Leknes area hikes. Beautiful camping spot. Camping spot for hikes in the Leknes area
Eggum	Brustranda Camping	Beautiful views from this camping area. This is one of the rare spots for camping in Lofoten that you can book in advance.
Leknes	Uttakleiv Beach Camping	Camping right on the beach with minimal crowd and basic facilities.
Leknes	Lofoten Camp Storfjord	A campsite with required amenities along with cabins for lodging. First-come-first-serve drop-in booking.
Leknes	Haukland Beach Camping	Camping sites, cabin & RV spots right on the Haukland beach with a cafe.
Reine	Moskenes Camping	A campsite in Lofoten where you get a view of the entire Lofoten Wall – the range of mountains that make up Lofoten. Offers showers, toilets. If you don’t find campsite in Moskenes camping, next closest campsites are in the NusFjord area i.e Fredvang camp or Lofoten beach camping. Good location with proximity to most hikes in the Reine and Hamnoy region.
Svolvaer	Skaarungen Camping	Can be booked online in advance. Comparatively expensive but good facilities and good camping views.
Svolvaer	Kabelvag Camping	Not much for views. Good facilities with basic campsite. First-come-first-serve drop-in booking
Svolvaer	Lyngvær Lofoten Bobilcamping AS	Has showers, communal kitchen with first-come-first-serve drop-in booking
Svolvaer	Sandvika Camping	Campsite with required facilities
Svolvaer	Sandsletta Camping	Has a restaurant in the facility.

Hotels & Airbnb’s in Lofoten

Lofoten offers a wide range of accommodation options including hotels, resorts, cabins, campsites & Airbnbs depending on your budget. We recommend choosing accommodation based on proximity to:

• Trailheads/Hikes planned
• Arrival or departure ferry port
• Arrival or departure airport

Here are our recommendations on the best places to stay in Lofoten, Norway.

Region	Hotel	Nearby restaurants
Leknes	Lofoten Basecamp	Hansines Bakeri Lusfjord – Offers great pastries
Ballstad	Hattvika Lodge	Gadus Hamnoy – 4 course meal that requires advance reservations
Reine	Reinefjorden Sjøhus	Underhuset Reine – Love the pizza
Svolvaer	Svinøya Rorbuer Thon Hotel Svolvær Anker Brygge	Hennig Olsen Paleo Artic Svolvaer
Andenes	Hotell Marena Thon Partner Hotel Andrikken	Paleo Artic Svolvaer

Getting Around Lofoten

Public Transport – The website of Reis Nordland is the best place to find the most current ferry, speedboat and bus schedules in Lofoten. However, keep in mind that buses to different parts of the island are not very frequent which requires a lot of planning in advance to make most of your time. Additionally, you may not be able to get to certain parts of the island. using public transport which may limit your experience in some ways.

Pro Tip: Buying tickets using the Reis App saves you money compared to the website. If you plan to use public transport frequently, consider buying Travel Pass Nordland to save a few extra bucks.

Rental Car – A convenient way of getting around the island at your own time and pace. Keep in mind that prices for car rentals become notoriously expensive during peak seasons, specially in the summer months. We highly recommend booking car rentals at the earliest to avoid paying a premium. Also be aware that parking in some places is expensive and difficult to find.

Vanlife in Lofoten – Renting camper vans is a popular and preferred method of exploring among the outdoorsy and adventure-seeking travelers. Considering how friendly the laws for camping are in Norway, this option could help you save on food and accommodations while allowing you to experience the true wilderness culture of Lofoten. We have an entire section dedicated to Vanlife in Lofoten, the best campsites on the island and our takeaways.

Top Things to do in Lofoten

There is easy accessibility to abundant natural beauty on the Lofoten Islands. Some of the best views on the island don’t even need extensive hiking. However, if you are willing to hike, the trails in here lead to some of the most dramatic 360° views of the island. Paired with midnight sun, the views are sure to leave a lasting impression.

Austvagoya Island

The largest island in the Lofoten Archipelago. This was our point of entry and exit from Lofoten. Read on to see our recommendation of things to do and our favorite hikes on this island.

Pro Tip: Most of the places mentioned below are in the inner coast which means they are not ideal for viewing the midnight sun. However, you could still witness extended periods of beautiful hues as the sun goes behind the mountains.

Svolvaer

Although the biggest town in all of Lofoten Islands, Svolvær still remains an idyllic picturesque fishing village with a wonderful small town vibe. Take a walk along the harbor in downtown Svolvær and feast on the local cuisine in one of the many restaurants. Walk or drive across the road bridge to Svinøya to get a closer look at the picturesque red cabins lining the turquoise waters of the sea. Depending on time, you could consider the following popular tourist activities :

• A 10-minute ferry ride to to the island of Skrova
• Kayak to the island of Skrova
• A 3-5 hour cruise to Trollfjord
• Sea-Eagle Safari boat ride to Trollfjord

Pro Tip: If you have travelled quite a bit to get to Svolvær, like we had, this is a good place to take a break, enjoy a slow day or two, stock up on supplies, specially if you are camping or doing vanlife, before adventuring out to the rest of the islands.

Rørvikstranda

A beautiful white sand beach surrounded by mountains on three sides, opening up to turquoise waters of the Norwegian sea. Also a popular spot for wild camping with the provision of a public restroom.

Henningsvær

A lively fishing village popularly known for housing one of the most picturesque football fields in the world. Overlooking the mountains and surrounded by the Norwegian sea, the Henningsvær stadium is worth a visit. The village of Hennigsvær has a cozy, small town vibe with beautiful art galleries, craft shops, cafes and restaurants.

Vestvågøy Island

Driving further south from Austvagoy, you will reach Vestvagoy Island where the chances of viewing the midnight sun are very high in the summers.

Eggum

The panoramic viewpoint at Eggum is an ideal roadside stop for viewing the midnight sun and a convenient camping site for camper vans and those looking to pitch their tents. Directions: Eggum Viewpoint

Leknes

The next big town after Svolvær, Leknes is known for its picturesque harbor lined with colorful fishing boats and surrounded by craggy mountains. It has grocery stores, restaurants, cafes , museum and also a domestic airport. If you are interested in traveling back in time to experience the Viking age, visit the popular Lofotr Viking Museum.

Unstad Beach

With a beautiful white sand beach at the feet of majestic mountains, Unstad is one of the premier Arctic Surfing destinations in the world. Winters (January-April) decorate the mountains with a fresh blanket of snow and bring in the big surfing waves.

Haukland and Uttakleiv Beach

Serene arctic beaches with turquoise waters and some of the best views, also popular for camping in the summer months. You could either drive up to both these beaches or take a 5-mile roundtrip hike from Haukland to Uttakleiv beach. Keep an eye out for some of the most adorable sheep inhabiting this region.

Flakstadøy Island

We found this part of Lofoten to be the most scenic with its idyllic red Norwegian cabins nestled among the mountains and easy access to some of the most beautiful white sand beaches.

Nusfjord

One of the oldest and best preserved fishing villages in Norway. With its poster worthy red and yellow rorbu cabins perched on the calm backwaters of the Lofoten Sea, this place looks straight out of a painting!

Ramberg Beach

By the looks of it the Ramberg Beach has all the characteristics of a tropical paradise with its flawless white sand beach opening into the aquamarine waters of the Norwegian Sea. But due to its location in the Arctic Circle, it is anything but tropical with its frigid waters. This is an excellent place to watch the midnight sun.

Moskenesøy Island

Some of the best hikes in all of Lofoten Islands can be found here. This island also has some of the best vantage points to experience the midnight sun in its full glory.

Reine

One of the prettiest villages on the Lofoten Islands with some iconic hikes and surrounded by breathtaking scenery. We highly recommend staying in one of the rorbuers (traditional fisherman cabins) here.

Bunes Beach

Take ferry ride from Reine to Vindstad on Reinefjorden followed by a 2-mile easy hike to the hidden gem of Bunes Beach. The ferry takes you all around Reine fjord with beautiful scenery throughout.

Pro Tip : Pay attention to the ferry schedule. Find the ferry timetable here. If this link does not work, go to reisnordland.no -> Northern Nordland -> Reinefjorden-Route

Hamnoy – Sakrisoy

Sakrisoy & Hamnoy are yet another photogenic fishing villages that have made the cover page of many travel magazines and social media pages. The villages are equally popular for viewing the Northern lights and the midnight sun. Spend a night or two at some of oldest Rorbuer cabins on the seashore.

Pro Tip: The Hamnoy bridge is a popular photo spot to capture some of the iconic pictures of the villages of Hamnoy.

Å

Å is the southern most fishing village on the Lofoten Islands accessible by road. Explore this quaint little village by foot to find unnamed, scenic viewpoints. During our time here, we heard loud squawking calls of seagulls from anywhere in the village and saw thousands of them perched on window sills and rooftops.

We also found numerous stockfish drying racks in the village which is a common sight throughout the island.

Vanlife in Lofoten

With an abundance of natural beauty, Lofoten appeals to every outdoor enthusiast looking to experience Vanlife here. Whether you choose to use the island’s well established network of campsites offering all the basic amenities or camp in the wilderness, the options are numerous. In this section we aim to provide all the information you may need to experience Lofoten in a campervan.

Campervan Rentals

There are only a handful of places on the Lofoten Islands that rent caravans and motorhomes. We drove from Senja in a rental car to the island of Svolvær in Lofoten, dropped off our rental car here and picked up a campervan from Lofoten Vanlife. They usually rent out the classic Volkswagen T3s that come in various colors and have a quirky, retro vibe to them. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and highly recommend them.

Another van rental option is Lofoten E-Camper. The vans are slightly pricier but fully electric.

Note: Given how immensely popular the culture of vanlife is in Lofoten and the limited options, campervans get rented out months in advance. We highly recommend booking them at the earliest to avoid getting on a waitlist for last minute cancellations.

Best Campsites in Lofoten

Best Campsites in Lofoten has a list of best campsites on the Lofoten Islands separated region-wise to help with better planning. These campsites come with open parking lots for campervans and some of them are equipped with electrical outlets. They also have open areas for campers to pitch their tents. Most campsites have well maintained common kitchens, showers and dump disposal facilities.

General Tips and Recommendations

We have shared some useful links along with takeaways from our experience in this section. Hopefully, this will make the process of planning your trip to the Lofoten Islands smoother.

Best time to start planning a trip to Lofoten Islands, Norway

If you plan to visit during the summer months, we recommend to start planning around January. We started narrowing down on the places in Norway we wanted to visit. What started with a roadtrip spanning the length of Norway from South to North, ultimately ended up being narrowed down to two islands in Northern Norway – Senja and The Lofoten Islands! Goes to say that there is so much to them that simply driving through places would not allow us to really experience what they have to offer.

Reserving a rental car was the first thing we did in January and had all other reservations including flight tickets completed by February.

Norway visa requirements

Norway is one of the Schengen countries. It could take up to 3 months to get a Schengen Visa depending on the passport you hold. We have shared some links below that guided us through the visa application process and requirements.

Information on how to apply for Norway Visa
Schengen Visa FAQs
Norway Visa Requirements and Application Guidelines
Schengen Visa Document Checklist

We applied for Schengen visa around mid February for our travel in June. The visa category we applied for was ‘Short Stay Visa (Schengen Visa)’. We were required to attend an in-person visa interview at the San Francisco consulate.

We were required to present a complete itinerary of activities for each day that we were present in the country along with paid booking confirmations of flight, accommodations and rental car.

Note :

• If you plan to camp, the itinerary should cover on which days and where.
• It’s a good idea to come up with a rough itinerary and make refundable bookings for the visa process. After you receive an approval, you could cancel them if needed and make actual bookings. This will save you a lot of hassle if the visa was not approved for any reason.

As a hack, We googled a 20-day itinerary for Norway, made refundable flight, accommodations and rental car bookings and presented it for our visa appointment.

Ideal time to book flights to Norway

We recommend booking flights at least 3-4 months in advance. We observed that pricing didn’t change much prior to that. Flights to Oslo are cheaper, but get expensive to Northern Norway destinations. Here are a few samples:

SFO to EVE Flight Price History

SFO to OSL Flight Price History

SFO to TOS Flight Price History

Weather in Northern Norway

Its location above the Arctic Circle makes the weather hard to predict. Even during summer months it could change several times a day. You could experience warm, sunny summer weather one day and rain, cold and fog the very next. We highly recommend packing layers along with gloves, hats, rain and wind breaker jackets, t-shirts & shorts.

Note: We felt the need for warm clothing the most during midnight hikes where it got extremely windy on some days.

Food in Norway

Food in Norway is expensive. If you are traveling for extended duration and looking to save precious bucks while also treating yourself to Norwegian delights, we recommend carrying instant food to cover some of your meals.

Along with instant meals, we had carried rice and other grains that don’t require much cook time while allowing us to have freshly cooked food. Goes without saying that on the days we did not camp, we had chosen to stay in places with a kitchen and basic cookware. Believe us, the extra bucks you pay for a place with kitchen costs much lesser than eating out every meal of every day at Northern Norway! The best part about camping here is that most campsites are already equipped with a common kitchen, and some may also have basic cookware.

We shopped for fruits, veggies, and condiments at the local Grocery stores and were surprised at the variety they carried even in the smallest of towns.

Note: Before starting off on your adventures, we recommend stocking up on groceries and basic supplies from any of the supermarkets depending on your location. Here are some major ones :

• Rema 1000 – Valgata 10, 8300 Svolvær, Norway
• Kiwi – Sivert Nilsens gt. 31, 8300 Svolvær, Norway
• Coop Prix – 8398 Reine
• Bunnpris – 8380 Ramberg
• Bunnpris – 8370 Leknes

A complete list of supermarkets : Supermarkets in the Lofoten Islands. Note that most supermarkets are closed on Sundays. Make sure to check store timings.