Arctic Norway: Tromsø, Senja and the Lofoten Islands

1. Day 1: Arrive in Tromsø and the Fjellheisen late in the evening

   Tromsø Airport to your hotel in Tromsø, then the Fjellheisen cable car to Storsteinen

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Tromsø
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Tromsø Airport (TOS), about 5 km from the centre on the island of Tromsøya, where a driver meets you for the short transfer to the hotel. Plan to land by about 4 pm to make the evening briefing; the exact time comes with your final itinerary. Tromsø is the largest town in northern Norway, a university and fishing port spread across an island between mountains, and the afternoon is yours for the harbour, the old wooden houses along Storgata or the Polar Museum. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the week, then we sit down together to a welcome dinner of Arctic fish. Late in the evening we cross the Tromsø Bridge, past the white peaks of the Arctic Cathedral, to the Fjellheisen cable car, which lifts you to Storsteinen, 421 m above the city. From late May to late July the sun stays up all night here, circling low over the islands to the north; on August departures it dips below the horizon for a few hours, but the evening light lasts.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Tromsø Airport (TOS)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner
   • The Fjellheisen cable car to Storsteinen in the late evening

   Optional experiences

   • The Polar Museum
   • Polaria, the Arctic aquarium

   Easier option: Ride the cable car down whenever you are ready; the driver takes anyone who wants an early night back to the hotel.

   More active option: Walk up to Storsteinen on the Sherpa steps (about 1,200 stone steps, roughly an hour) and ride the cable car down.

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

   Activity: In late June the upper station can be cool and windy at midnight; bring a warm layer.

2. Day 2: The Lyngenfjord and the Lyngen Alps

   Tromsø to Breivikeidet, ferry to Svensby, then Lyngseidet and back via the Arctic Cathedral

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Tromsø
   Day 2 details

   After breakfast we drive east out of Tromsø through the Ramfjord valley to Breivikeidet, about 50 minutes, and cross the Ullsfjord on the small car ferry to Svensby. On the far side the Lyngen Alps rise straight out of the sea: a peninsula of sharp peaks and hanging glaciers whose highest summit, Jiehkkevárri, stands at about 1,830 m. We follow the shore road to Lyngseidet on the Lyngenfjord, stopping wherever the light and the reflections are good. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Lyngseidet, then your guide leads an easy walk along the fjord while the active walkers climb the hillside behind the village for the view down the Lyngenfjord. We return the way we came and stop at the Arctic Cathedral in Tromsdalen, built in 1965, whose tall glass mosaic fills the east wall. We are back in the centre by about 5 pm, and the evening is free: Polaria, a harbour-side dinner, or a midnight walk in the light.

   Included

   • Breivikeidet to Svensby ferry across the Ullsfjord, both ways
   • The Lyngen Alps and the Lyngenfjord shore road with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Lyngseidet
   • Easy fjord-side walk
   • The Arctic Cathedral in Tromsdalen

   Optional experiences

   • Polaria
   • A midnight sun concert at the Arctic Cathedral (on the evenings it runs)

   Easier option: Stay by the water in Lyngseidet with a coffee while others walk.

   More active option: A steeper guided hill walk above Lyngseidet, about 2 hours, route chosen by your guide on the day depending on snow and weather.

   Free time: Evening free in Tromsø

   Activity: About 1 to 2 hours on foot on shore paths and village lanes.

3. Day 3: Sommarøy and the Senja coast

   Tromsø to Sommarøy, ferry from Brensholmen to Botnhamn, then the Senja National Tourist Route

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Senja
   Day 3 details

   We leave Tromsø at about 9 am and cross Kvaløya to Sommarøy, an hour west: a fishing village on low islands with pale sand beaches and shallow green water. After a walk on the shore and a coffee, it is a few minutes back to Brensholmen for the summer ferry to Botnhamn on Senja, about 45 minutes. Senja is Norway's second-largest island, and its outer coast is a line of steep peaks dropping into fjords, followed by a National Tourist Route. Our driver takes it slowly, with a sit-down lunch on the way and stops at Husøy, a fishing village on an islet in the middle of the Øyfjord; the boardwalk at Tungeneset, looking across to the jagged ridge of Okshornan; the beach at Ersfjord; and the platform at Bergsbotn above the Bergsfjord. We reach our stay on the outer coast in the late afternoon. Dinner is included tonight, as restaurants here are few, and the sun is still high afterwards for anyone who wants to walk.

   Included

   • Sommarøy beach walk
   • Brensholmen to Botnhamn summer ferry
   • The Senja National Tourist Route: Husøy, Tungeneset, Ersfjord and Bergsbotn
   • Sit-down lunch on Senja
   • Dinner at our stay on Senja

   Easier option: Stay at the viewpoints by the van; every stop today is a short level walk from the road.

   More active option: An evening guided climb of Segla from Fjordgård, 639 m, about 3 to 4 hours return on a steep, rocky path, in the midnight sun season.

   Free time: Evening free after dinner

   Activity: Short walks of 10 to 30 minutes at each stop on boardwalks and beach. The Brensholmen to Botnhamn ferry sets the pace of the day: your guide fits the Sommarøy and Senja stops around the sailing we take.

4. Day 4: Two ferries through Vesterålen to Lofoten

   Senja to Gryllefjord, ferry to Andenes, the Andøya coast, Sortland, ferry Melbu to Fiskebøl, then Svolvær

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Svolvær
   Day 4 details

   This is the one day over our four-hour driving cap, about 4.25 hours and 260 km, because the shortest way from Senja to Lofoten is a chain of summer ferries through Vesterålen; the inland road via Bjerkvik and Evenes is about 400 km or more and some 6 hours. After an early breakfast we drive about an hour to Gryllefjord to queue for the ferry across the Andfjord to Andenes, about 1 hour 40 minutes. This crossing cannot be booked ahead and in July the line of cars can be long, so your guide gets us there early, and the rest of the day's timing depends on which sailing we make. From Andenes we drive south on the Andøya National Tourist Route, past the white beach at Bleik, with a sit-down lunch on Andøya, or near the quay if we wait for a later sailing. Two crossings and lunch break the driving into short stretches. A coffee stop in Sortland, then Melbu for the short ferry to Fiskebøl, the first of the Lofoten islands, and 45 minutes on to Svolvær.

   Included

   • Gryllefjord to Andenes summer ferry across the Andfjord
   • The Andøya National Tourist Route and Bleik beach
   • Sit-down lunch on Andøya
   • Sortland
   • Melbu to Fiskebøl ferry

   Free time: Evening free in Svolvær

   Activity: The longest travel day: about 4.25 hours of driving and 2 hours on ferries, plus any wait in the Gryllefjord queue. If the crossing is cancelled, we take the inland road instead.

   

5. Day 5: Henningsvær early and the Trollfjord

   Svolvær to Henningsvær and back, then a boat from Svolvær into the Trollfjord

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Svolvær
   Day 5 details

   We drive the 25 km to Henningsvær at about 8:30 am, before the day-trippers, along a road that crosses several bridges onto a cluster of small islands. The village is still a working fishing harbour, with drying racks for stockfish, old warehouses turned into galleries and a football pitch laid out on the outermost rocks. Your guide walks you through the lanes and along the harbour, and there is time for the glass and art workshops before a sit-down lunch of local fish in the village. In the early afternoon we are back in Svolvær for a boat trip into the Trollfjord, about 3 hours: the fjord is about 2 km long and only about 100 m wide at its mouth, with walls rising steeply on both sides, and white-tailed sea eagles are often seen on the way. Back on the quay by late afternoon, the rest of the day is free in Svolvær.

   Included

   • Henningsvær with your guide in the early morning
   • Sit-down lunch in Henningsvær
   • Boat trip from Svolvær into the Trollfjord

   Optional experiences

   • Sea kayaking from Svolvær or Henningsvær
   • The Lofoten War Memorial Museum in Svolvær

   Easier option: Skip the morning walk and spend it in the galleries and cafes of Henningsvær.

   More active option: Instead of the village walk, a guided climb of Festvågtinden above Henningsvær, about 541 m and 3 hours return on a steep path, rejoining the group for lunch.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Svolvær

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot in Henningsvær on lanes and harbour rock; the boat has an indoor saloon.

   

6. Day 6: Vikings, Haukland beach and on to Reine

   Svolvær to the Lofotr Viking Museum at Borg, Haukland and Uttakleiv, then west via Ramberg and Hamnøy to Reine

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Reine
   Day 6 details

   We drive west along the E10 to Borg, about an hour, where a chieftain's longhouse from the Viking Age was found on the hill in the 1980s. The Lofotr Viking Museum has rebuilt it full size, about 83 m long, and in summer its hall is lit by fires, with a boathouse and a Viking ship replica down on the lake. Lunch is a sit-down meal at the museum. In the afternoon we cross to Haukland beach, white sand below the peak of Mannen, and walk the old coast road towards Uttakleiv, now closed to cars, an easy flat path above the water. Then we head down the islands, through the tunnels and over the bridges of Flakstadøya and Moskenesøya, past the beach at Ramberg and the red cabins of Hamnøy, to Reine, arriving by early evening. We stay two nights in rorbu-style cabins by the water, and the evening light on the peaks is yours.

   Included

   • The Lofotr Viking Museum at Borg, with the reconstructed chieftain's longhouse
   • Sit-down lunch at Lofotr
   • Haukland beach and the old coast road towards Uttakleiv
   • Photo stops at Ramberg and Hamnøy

   Easier option: Walk only the first part of the coast road, or stay on Haukland beach.

   More active option: Climb Mannen from Haukland instead of the coast road, about 400 m and 2 to 3 hours return, for the view down on both beaches.

   Free time: Evening free in Reine

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot: museum floors and a flat gravel coast path.

7. Day 7: Bunes beach, Å and a last evening in Reine

   Reine to Vindstad by boat and on foot to Bunes beach, then Å at the end of the road

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Reine
   Day 7 details

   After breakfast we take the small local boat from Reine up the Reinefjord to Vindstad, about half an hour, with the peaks closing in on both sides. From the old settlement we walk about 2.5 km over a low pass to Bunes beach, a wide sweep of pale sand facing the open sea under the cliffs of Helvetestind. Back in Reine for a sit-down lunch, then a short drive to Å, the village at the very end of the E10. The Norwegian Fishing Village Museum keeps its boathouses, cod-liver-oil factory and bakery as they were, and your guide shows you how the winter cod fishery shaped every village you have passed. The boat timetable may swap the morning and afternoon, but the late afternoon stays free for Sakrisøy, a kayak in the bay or the walk up Reinebringen. In the evening we sit down together to a farewell dinner, then the light over the Reinefjord is yours as long as you can stay up.

   Included

   • Boat from Reine to Vindstad and back
   • Walk to Bunes beach with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Reine
   • The Norwegian Fishing Village Museum in Å
   • Farewell dinner

   Optional experiences

   • Sea kayaking in the Reine bay

   Easier option: Stay at Vindstad by the jetty instead of walking to Bunes, or take the free afternoon at the cabins.

   More active option: Climb Reinebringen, 448 m on about 1,978 Sherpa-built stone steps, early in the morning or late in the evening when the steps are quiet, with your guide.

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Reine

   Activity: About 5 km on foot to Bunes and back, on a rough path with a low pass; sandals are not enough. The Reine boat timetable may swap the order of the day.

   

8. Day 8: Across the Vestfjorden to Bodø

   Reine to Moskenes, ferry to Bodø, then Bodø Airport

   • Drive about 15 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 8 details

   A short drive takes us from Reine to the ferry quay at Moskenes, and we cross the Vestfjorden to Bodø on the car ferry as foot passengers, about 3 to 3.5 hours. It is the last long look at Lofoten: the wall of peaks along the islands slowly sinks behind you as the mainland mountains rise ahead. The Vestfjorden can be choppy, so take something for seasickness if you need it; there is a cafe on board. The sailing time is confirmed with your final itinerary and may mean an early start; in Bodø there is usually time for lunch by the harbour (your choice) before a transfer takes you the few minutes to Bodø Airport (BOO). Your guide sees you to the airport and checks your flight before saying goodbye. If the ferry is cancelled by weather, your guide arranges the alternative on the day, by road or by air.

   Included

   • Moskenes to Bodø ferry across the Vestfjorden
   • Transfer from Bodø harbour to Bodø Airport (BOO)

   Free time: Free time in Bodø before your flight

   Activity: Book your flight from Bodø only once your final itinerary confirms the ferry time; an afternoon or evening flight is the safe choice.

   

Wildlife and weather: In June and July the midnight sun lets us walk and photograph late into the night; by August the sun sets for a few hours but the evenings stay long. Summer days are usually 10 to 18 C on the coast, with wind and rain possible in any week and snow on the high peaks into June. White-tailed sea eagles are common around the Trollfjord, and whales are possible but not expected on the Andfjord crossing.

• Tromsø2 nights
• Senja1 night
• Svolvær2 nights
• Reine2 nights