Saltfjellet-Svartisen National Park
Arctic Highway
This 2102-sq-km national park is one of mainland Norway's most dramatic landforms. In the west it embraces the rugged peaks of the Svartisen icecap,…
Must-see attractions in Nordland
Nordland
A dramatic local landmark rears up from Torget island, some 15km south of Brønnøysund. The peak, pierced by a hole 160m long, 35m high and 20m wide, is…
Arctic Highway
A stroll around the Sjøgata area, with over 100 listed buildings, takes you past galleries, coffee shops, restaurants and private homes in attractively…
-
Lofoten
In 1981 at Borg, in the heart of Vestvågøy, a farmer's plough hit the ruins of the 83m-long dwelling of a powerful Viking chieftain, the largest building…
-
Arctic Highway
Around halfway between the E6 and the ferry crossing to/from the Lofoten Islands at Skutvik, along the Rv81, the Hamsunsenteret is a must for anyone with…
-
Lofoten
A 4km side trip signposted from the E10 at Vareid, north of Flakstad, brings you to Vikten and the showpiece gallery of the glass-blowing Tangrand family…
-
Lofoten
This museum takes in 14 of Å's 19th-century boathouses, storehouses, fishing cottages, farmhouses and commercial buildings. Highlights (pick up a pamphlet…
-
Nordland
Even if you've never heard of the medieval Norwegian poet Petter Dass (1647–1707), don't miss this stunning museum at Alstahaug south of Sandnessjøen…
-
Nordland
In the tiny fishing hamlet of Nes, this delightful, engagingly informative small museum celebrates the eider duck and the way the birds were nurtured as…
Nordland
The Saltstraumen Maelstrom is one of Norway's more unusual natural occurrences, which is guaranteed to occur four times every 24 hours. At the 3km-long,…
Arctic Highway
The small (171-sq-km), scarcely visited Rago National Park is a rugged chunk of forested granite mountain and moorland, riven with deep glacial cracks and…
-
Bodø
At Kjerringøy, some 40km north of Bodø, the entrepreneurial Zahl family established an important trading station in the 19th century. The trading post…
-
Arctic Highway
Latitude 66°33' N marks the southernmost extent of the midnight sun on the summer solstice and the ragged edge of the polar night on the winter solstice…
-
Bodø
Norway's 10,000-sq-metre aviation museum is huge fun to ramble around if you have a passing interest in flight and aviation history – allow at least half…
-
Arctic Highway
The Vefsn Museum is split over two sites. In Sjøgata, the Jakobsensbrygga Warehouse is an excellent small museum that portrays, via some particularly…
-
Nordland
A long way from anywhere – it's 40km south of Namsskogan, which is, in turn, 125km south of Mosjøen along the Arctic Highway – the Namsskogan Familiepark…
-
Narvik
This museum tells of Narvik's farming, fishing, railway-building and ore trans-shipment heritage. There's a rolling film about the Ofotbanen Railway and…
-
Bodø
This open-air museum is 3km from town, near Bodøsjøen Camping. Here you'll find 4 hectares of historic homes, farm buildings, boat sheds, WWII German…
-
Lofoten
This museum presents itself as a study in 'cod and communications'. Granted, it's not an immediately winning combination but in fact this small museum…
-
Lofoten
The Lofoten Stockfish Museum is housed in a former fish warehouse. You'll be bowled over by Steinar Larsen, its enthusiastic, polyglot owner, who meets…
-
Arctic Highway
The most accessible and most visited of the caves around Mo is 22km north of town. There's electric lighting (it's the only illuminated tourist cave in…
-
Narvik
No, Narvik can't claim geothermal activity. But locals reckon that its water is the purest in the land. Each day at 1pm and 9pm from May to September, a…
-
Arctic Highway
The oldest building in town, Mo's original church was constructed in 1724. With its steeply pitched roof and onion dome, it deserves to be open to…
-
Bodø
Recounting the short history of Bodø, this little gem of a museum has a cheerily entertaining and informative 25-minute film with English subtitles on the…
-
Arctic Highway
Setergrotta, 21km north of Mo i Rana and signposted off the E6, is altogether less dragooned and considerably more adventurous than nearby Grønligrotta…
-
Lofoten
This fishery museum lies in the village of Sund, 3km off the E10 south of Ramberg and well-signposted off the main road. In one dim shack, there's an…
-
Arctic Highway
The moving Blodveimuseet, in a former German barracks inside the Saltdal Folk Museum, is visited by a 30-minute guided tour. It reveals conditions for…
-
Rural Buildings (Vefsn Museum)
Arctic Highway
Northeast of the centre and part of the Vefsn Museum, the rural building collection features 12 farmhouses, shops and the like from the 18th and 19th…
-
Nordland
Around 400 types of herb, 100 varieties of rose and 1000 species of cactus flourish at Hilde's Herb Garden, about 6km north of Brønnøysund; the team also…
-
Lofoten
On the road to Saupstad, this lovely little farm has goats, pigs and chickens that the kids will enjoy. But we like it because it's a working organic farm…
-
Arctic Highway
In Sjøgata, the Jakobsensbrygga Warehouse is an excellent small museum that portrays, via some particularly evocative photo blow-ups, the history of…
-
Arctic Highway
Just off the E6 in Rognan 32km south of Fauske, Saltdal Folk Museum is a collection of typical rural and fishing-related buildings, many with turf roofs…
-
Bodø
The charming little onion-domed stone church, around 3km from downtown, dates from around 1240. The Lutheran Reformation brought about substantial…
-
Arctic Highway
About 30km south of Mosjøen and a 600m detour from the E6, the roaring 17m-high Laksforsen waterfall has leaping salmon in season. It makes a pleasant…
-
Lofoten
Set back from Flakstad beach and bypassed by the E10, the red onion-domed Flakstad Kirke was built in 1780 but has been extensively restored over the…
-
Nordland
This place feels like a missed opportunity. A fairly run-of-the-mill cafe and the odd information panel are all you'll find at first glance. Ask, however,…
-
Lofoten
The gallery of Lofoten painter Scott Thoe is barely 175m from the Hurtigruten quay in Stamsund, a short detour from the Rv185. It displays the works of a…
-
Bodø
This striking, austere structure, completed in 1956, has a soaring, freestanding tower and spire. Shaped like an inverted ship's hull, the walls of its…
-
Arctic Highway
Havmannen (Man of the Sea), a sculpture forever up to his knees in water, turns his back on the town and gazes resolutely out over the fjord. His clean…
-
Narvik
This small but revealing museum illustrates the military campaigns fought hereabouts in the early years of WWII. The presentation may not be flash but it…
