Lofoten
Our trip to the Lofoten. Something I have been dreaming about for a long time: My first time up north; my first experience with a campervan; and of course my first big holiday with my lovely girlfriend, Nina. On the 16th of June, 2025, it finally became a reality.
We took the plane from Zurich to Evenes with a short layover in Oslo. We passed most of the time playing Quixx, a fun and simple dice game. Turns out, Nina is a champion in this game, and I could barely manage to win a single round. Besides that, everything went well, and so we arrived at 10pm at the base of the Lofoten archipelago. We quickly grabbed our baggage and went to meet Stian at the airport parking. We would rent Stian’s campervan for the next 8 days.
Our lovely Campervan
Stian gave us a short tour of the campervan. We were astonished by all the devices and functionalities which are packed into such a relatively small space: A sink with running water, a gas stove, a fridge, an air fryer, a shower, a bed, a dining table, a solar panel, and even a TV, which we (un)fortunately did not make much use of.
Our campervan close to the end of the E10 road
Excited for the coming days, we shook hands with Stian, turned on the van, and started driving westward. That was our plan for the first few days: following the E10 road for as long as possible and see nice villages, do beautiful hikes, and try fun activities along the way.
Map of all the driving we did on the Lofoten
After 3 hours of driving, we finally arrived in Laukvik, strategically positioned to start our first hike the next morning. At 2 am, it was still as bright as day. Nina skilfully converted the dining corner into a comfortable bed. Tired from the long travel and drive, we immediately drifted away to the land of dreams with the sound of little rain drops faintly popping against the ceiling of our van.
Couldy Matmora
We woke up in the morning, and what our tired eyes only half-witnessed early in the morning turned out to be a beautiful harbor overseen by a small lighthouse. We explored the surrounding a bit, made a porridge for breakfast, and drove to the start of the Matmora hiking trail.
Matmora hike
On the trail we quickly encountered the first of many sheep. A nice path lead us to a rocky slope that then lead to the summit.
Some of many sheep that we saw on the hike
Unfortunately, the clouds were hanging quite low that day, so we were immediately deprived of the beautiful view over the ridge connecting Matmora to the coast. Due to the cold and the clouds, we decided to not follow this ridge and instead again go back down to the van and move on. We exchanged some words with the only two hikers who we encountered on the summit and on the way down took a small detour to a creepy cave entrance, which we dared to explore for a few minutes.
Back at the van, we started driving towards Svolvær, where we would buy groceries for the next few days and had a look around the beautiful town.
Harbor area of Svolvær
We did not stop for long, but continued our drive to Henningsvær. We set up camp for the night on the parking space just outside the island-town.
Stroll through Henningsvær
The next morning we put on our running shoes and set out to explore Henningsvær by foot.
On the long bridge which forms the entrance to Henningsvær
Henningsvær is a beautiful fishing village with many small alleys, cafés, and bridges. However, what it is probably best known for is its soccer field. So we played an embittered game of penalty-shoot out, which I gloriously won. Take that, Nina!
Colorful houses in Henningsvær
After intruding one or two private properties on the islands, we wrapped up our loop and soon continued driving westward. On our way there, we saw some particularly intriguing architecture.
Churches and Bridge between Svolvær and Borg
Viking museum in Borg
We soon arrived at the Viking museum in Borg. Otto, a good friend of mine, recommended us to go there. What an amazing recommendation! The museum offers a small exhibition of archeological finds, many demonstrations of how the Vikings used to life.
Viking house
Outside, there were even some activities like archery, axe-throwing, and sailing in a model of an actual Viking ship which any visitor of the museum could partake in. In archery, Nina could take her revenge for the lost penalty shoot-out in the morning; and how!
Viking sailing ship we could sail with
Towards the end of the day, we continued our drive to Hauklandstranda, where we would stay the night a stone-throw away from the start of the hike we envisaged for the next day.
Stunning views from Himmelstinden
The next morning we finally woke up to what we had hoped for the entire time: the sun illuminating a bright blue sky. With high spirits, we set out to hike up to the Himmelstinden, a stunning mountain with an even more stunning view from the top down on the Mannen and Veggen, two beautiful grassy mountains popping out of the ocean.
Himmelstinden hike
The Himmelstinden was still partially covered in snow and we had to scramble a bit to reach the summit. But overall the hike was very pleasant and there were only very few people doing it besides us.
Small scrambling section near the summit of the Himmelstinden
On the way down, we took a wrong turn and ended up off the beaten track. Since we were both committed to turn this small slip-up into a worthwhile short-cut, we continued downclimbing a rocky and mossy slope. In the process, we made our shoes a bit wetter than hoped for, but still enjoyed the process of exploring some uncharted terrain.
In order to minimize our parking fee and maximize the time we could spend enjoying the evening, we quickly headed out on the road again.
Reine, our little paradise
Reine ended up being the place I liked the most of the ones we explored on the Lofoten. It is a small fishing village which is spreads over an island and along the shores of the surrounding fjords.
The beautiful red houses of Reine
We went to the camping ground at the harbor of Reine. From it, we would spend the next two days exploring its surroundings, starting with a night-hike to the Reinebringen, a tall moutain shooting out of the ocean right next to Reine. Our goal was to see the midnight sun. But for a long time we hesitated about postponing this plan because of the clouds which were still hanging around the sky. Hoping for the sky to get clearer towards the middle of the night, we headed out into the night.
Vibrant sun rays peeking between the mountains
Reinebringen hike
A stone stair with exactly 1’978 steps leads to its summit. Sherpas were hired to realize this immense project and make this mountain more accessible for tourists. The construction was completed in 2021. Still, it is one of Norway’s deadliest mountains, with at least 3 deaths reported in the last few years. Why do I know these facts? Because we guessed each statistic and bet who would manage to get most of them right. I miserably lost and was charged with washing the dishes for the whole next day.
The moment we set our eyes on the opposite side of the ridge, we could not believe our eyes. A spectacular light show set in an extraordinary landscape unfolded itself before our eyes: yellow, orange, and red sun rays pierced below a fine layer of clouds and spectacularly illuminated the fjords and surrounding mountains.
Midnight sun on the Reinebringen
Also the view down to Reine was stunning. The cozy village scattered along the shores of the calm water made for a unique photo.
View on Reine and its surrounding fjords
We enjoyed the moment and were only pulled out of our dreams by some people starting to utter some incomprehensible phrases involving orcas. Indeed, at the moment we turned ourselves around, we saw a pod of orcas swimming in the ocean far below us. Speechless, we watched two kayakers chase these gigantic animals which periodically surfaced to breathe in the fresh evening air.
Orcas swimming off the coast of Reine
After what felt like just a few minutes but was in reality almost an hour, we went down again to get some well-deserved needed sleep. Just before our camper van we encountered the two girls we saw moments before kayaking behind the orcas. They were still amazed by what they experienced. We wished each other a good night, and entered our campervan for a nice long rest.
However, our rest was abruptly interrupted early in the morning by an agent of the local commune shouting orders outside. In the evening, we took our campervan to refill our water tank. While doing so, someone “stole” our parking spot. We did not mind too much, because we immediately found another free spot on the second parking just next to it. Unfortunately, it turns out that this parking is not part of the camping site, which supposedly would have been indicated on a tiny A4 sheet at the entrance of the camping. As a consequence, we were fined along with the other dozen of campervans who equally did not realize their mistake. Still slightly saddened by this weird incidence, we strapped on our running shoes and went for a short run around town to buy groceries.
Nina wished to go kayaking when we started planning our trip. Due to the proximity to the open sea and the unpredictable weather, it was only possible to go kayaking with a guide. So we signed up for a guided kayak expedition. Judging from the kayak tours we observed the previous day, we started guessing how many Germans would also be in our group: Four? Six? Eight? We were both completely off: it turned out that we were the only ones who signed up for the expedition and had our guide, Filip, all to ourselves. Incredible! Filip was a Swede who spends his summers guiding kayaking tours and his winters guiding snowmobile tours. He taught us the basic kayaking techniques, gave us three types of edible seaweeds to taste, and explained the history behind the colorful houses: red was the cheapest paint, which was produced from a mining byproduct; white paint was the most expensive, so only accessible to the most wealthy households; while yellow houses were indicative of the fisherman industry, as this paint was manufactured from fishing waste products.
Kayaking in the Reinefjorden
After our relaxing kayaking session we went to the Gammelbua, a recommendable restaurant in Reine, and ate a tasty dinner. Tired from the short last night, we went back to the campervan, and wanted to head straight to bed. However, our powerbank decided otherwise: we just had 2% of charge remaining, which might not be enough for the fridge to survive the night. Since the solar panels were not charging, despite the clear skies and sunny weather, we went for a small drive to Å and back to recharge the powerbank. But not without claiming our parking spot with a few camping chairs to avoid a similar disaster as we had in the morning.
Hiking far above Munken’s lakes
Upon Filip’s recommendation, we hiked to the Munken nordtopp the next morning. A lovey and slightly longer hike with amazing views on countless lakes and fjords.
Munken hike
On this hike we encountered… Filip! Or whatever else the name of this talkative German adventurer might have been. Because we just started referring to him by this name, since he looked strikingly similar to our kayak guide from the day before. Filip, is a backpacking, ultra-trail-running, meandering chap from northern Germany. With his 17kg backpack, he planned to continue hiking for 10 more days along the northern coast of the Lofoten. He was carrying all his food and was planning to sleep in his tent. Despite this, he kept up with our pace, taking over a large group of french hikers, and only started lagging behind on the summit where it took him more than 10 minutes to filter 1 liter of water. Let’s hope he managed to improve on his technique by the end of his 10 days.
On the way down, we quickly passed by the Munkebu huts, where my feet took an involuntary swim in one of the lakes after the ice on it turned out being slightly thinner than estimated. We bagged one additional summit, the Merraflestinden, and then headed back to our campervan, not before having bought a couple of bags of chips from the Joker store on the way.
Munkebu huts
We drove towards Fredvang, the starting point of our next planned hike. However, another low battery incident forced us to take a small detour to visit Nusfjord, a small fishing village at the mouth of an impressive fjord. We did not regret this small change of plans: the evening sun rays transformed this village into a true paradise, and made for some beautiful views.
Nusfjord later in the evening
As we approached the campsite, we stopped once or twice to marvel at the many bridges forming indispensable links between different sides of fjords.
Stunning bridges connecting islands
Avoiding the masses at Kvalvika and Ryten
We knew that Kvalvika beach and the Ryten were going to be crammed with people. The sheer beauty of this region did not only attract us, but people from all over the world. The hike along wooden bridges over the wetlands and along steep rock slabs. We enconutered many people who seemed either underequipped or underprepared for this hike. Little surprising that we witnessed a helicopter rescue of a person that apparently tumbled on one of the steeper sections close to the start of the trail.
Kvalvika stranda, Ryten, and Middagstinden hike
Perfectly on time for the cloud cover to dissipate, we reached Kvalvika beach: a beautiful sand beach surrounded by impressive mountains.
Kvalvika beach
Some people were even brave enough to go for a dip in the freezing cold polar sea. Happy to not have brought a swimsuit, we headed back up while contemplating about start-up ideas for this beach, ranging from food stands for the desperately hungry and thirsty hikers arriving there or boat rides which relieve the exhausted hikers from the long hike back. Happy enough to not consider ourselves the target audience for these ideas, we arrived at the Ryten – or at least close to it. Because it turns out that no one actually cares about the Ryten itself, but more so about the cliff head which coincidentally forms a perspective to make it look as if one was suspended off it, hundreds of meters above the sea.
Interesting perspective close to the Ryten
We quickly staged some photos and immediately left the masses behind us to continue our journey to the third goal of the day: the Middagstinden. It does not enjoy the attention of it’s twin, the Ryten, but offers just as beautiful of a view to the many beaches of the northern coast of the Lofoten.
View from the Middagstinden
The descent along the north ridge of this mountain was impressive. One could constantly see the sea extend all the way to what would eventually become the north pole. The ridge itself was sometimes interrupted by some small rocky cliffs which we downclimbed without much difficulty.
One of the climbing sections on the north-ridge of the Middagstinden
Back at the campsite, we shared a delicious Pizza Diabolo and headed back to Å to spend the night there. In the morning, we were almost the first ones to queue for some delicious cinnamon rolls and brioches at the bakery. We then uttered a final goodbye to the westernmost villages of the Lofoten and drove back east to Svolvær. There, we strolled through the town and spent a relaxing afternoon swimming in the sea to enjoying the warming sun and prepare for our next adventure.
Late night on Djevelporten and Fløya
To avoid the heat of the day, we again set out later in the evening to our final hike under the midnight sun. The goal was a mountain called Fløya, whose trail passes by a well-known rock which is pinched between two cliffs.
Fløya and Djevelporten hike
Clearly, we had to snap some photos of this impressive sight.
Djevelporten
While at Dejvelporten we encountered some night owls, among which was a group of students that just came from a half marathon they ran in Tromso, the trail to Fløya looked completely empty. Shamefully so, because this mountain not only offered an exciting climbing section just below the summit, but also presented an incredible view on the town of Svolvær and the colorful midnight sun.
View from Fløya to Svolvær
Captivated by the sheer beauty of this place, we spent a few more minutes on the summit eating a bag of crisps. For the downclimb, we followed the ridge and then dropped down to the right of it to get back to the ascent path. We met a Bavarian hiker with whom we exchanged a few words and laughs, and were soon back behind the shadows of the surrounding mountains.
The midnight sun slowly disappearing as we hiked down
The sad goodbye
It was with great sadness, that we took the E10 road to get back to the airport. The Lofoten island have surprised me with their beautiful fjords from which impressive mountains shoot up towards the sky. I tell everyone that the Lofoten are truly a paradise for hiking in summer: whatever time of the day and whatever place you are in, there is guaranteed to be a summit to which you can reach by hiking with relatively small effort. My initial worry about the amount of tourists there would be was not justified, as just a few minutes away from any of the more popular places, there lie some solitary trails just waiting to be discovered. The campervan we rented was an immense convenience. With it, we could just drive the previous evening to a trailhead, get out of bed the next morning, and almost immediately start hiking. It gave us the flexibility to spontaneously go wherever we desired. Last of all, it was a great pleasure to live together with Nina. She was always motivated for every idea we came up with. Whenever we had a problem, she would always had a creative idea of how we could resolve it. Almost unbelievable that the only time we argued during our trip was when it came down to who would be allowed do the dishes. Together, we had many deep conversations and countless hilarious situations. All of these factors made it undoubtably the best week of my life.
Beautiful landscape on the drive back