The 10 Must-See Attractions in the Lofoten Islands

We’re talking about one of the most beautiful places in the world.
An archipelago of stunning beauty above the Arctic Circle, where it’s very easy to lose your head! But here we want to talk about what not to miss in this incredible place.

So let’s begin:
 

1. Don’t lose your drone in Henningsvaer!

In this little village, all you need to do is cross the bridge that separates it from the archipelago and head out to the tip of the fjord to:
- Breathe in the scent of dried fish;
- Play a football match on the northernmost football field in the world;
- Look for a latest-generation drone that one of our travelers lost :D
- Enjoy a breathtaking show and an incredible view!
 

2. Cod, stockfish, salt cod: drying fish everywhere!

One thing you absolutely have to try is the fish. You’ll find it everywhere, hanging on these wooden racks. After being beheaded and cleaned, it is dried either whole or split open along the backbone (with one precise cut), then left hanging from February to May. The perfect temperatures of this place do the rest!
 

3. Photograph the village of Hamnoy like a pro

If you want that perfect postcard shot too, then you’ll need to climb up onto the Hamnoy bridge and take a photo of the village.
 

4. Sleep in a Rorbu

Literally “the rowers’ house”, this is the typical wooden fisherman’s cabin on the edge of the fjord: the true Nordic feeling of home! Warmth, wood, fire, good food... and a tactical blanket! The classic red color comes from the fact that fishermen couldn’t afford particularly expensive colored paints, so they used bilberries to achieve this distinctive shade. Pretty cool, right?
 

5. The fjords and villages hidden in the inlets

Visiting the Lofoten means traveling through an archipelago where glaciers once lay peacefully. What remains today are enchanting inlets, low mountains rising close to the water, and sudden UNESCO heritage villages.
Å, Nusfjord, and Reine are just a few of the astonishingly beautiful places you’ll come across up there, above the Arctic Circle (along with a few reindeer).
 

6. Reindeer, mouflon, sea eagles, and other animals roaming around

It’s not exactly a safari, of course, but here you come across animals more often than people. If you want to see a reindeer and find out what a mouflon is (because you’ve definitely googled it!), this is the right place.
 

7. Go grocery shopping with a sled

In Scandinavian countries, and especially in the Lofoten, people organize secret sled grocery races. The goal is to push your sled as fast as possible with all your groceries neatly packed in bags, without dropping anything before reaching the car! Those Norwegians sure know how to have fun. If you drop something, you pay for everyone’s groceries.
 

8. Eat the long-awaited Norwegian salmon

Where else if not here can you have salmon for breakfast? Spiced salmon, tartare, grilled, carpaccio, with onions, preservative-free, still alive and slapping you in the face with its tail...
Norwegian salmon are strong, solitary, and firm. The flesh is usually smoked over beech wood: a delicious treat you have to try.
 

9. Hurtigruten

It’s one of the coolest things you can do on this trip: sail through stretches of the fjords.
It’s an old Norwegian transport route, a fast way to reach the archipelagos and the mainland. On board, you eat salmon at all hours, relax in the spa, admire the breathtaking scenery from bow and stern, and then eat again.
 

10. Activities in the fjords

In the Lofoten, you can quite simply do everything: day and night kayaking in the fjords, cross-country skiing and ski touring, incredible trekking, whale watching, climbing, running, sled races, ice skating, salmon fishing, visiting museums...

The Lofoten are unbelievably beautiful! But they’re even better with us. Check out our GROUP TRIP TO NORWAY here.