A Journey to the Lofoten Islands: The Island of Austvågøya
Henningsvaer Football Stadium, Lofoten, Norway (ISO 200, 4.5 mm, f/2.8, 1/80 s)
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**This post is the 1st of a 5-post series discussing what to see in this part of the Lofoten Islands (You can check out the other parts below, separated by each specific island: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5. Everything is also summarized in another post here.**
The Lofoten Islands are arguably one of the most beautiful archipelagos in the world. It is located in Northern Norway (Nordland County), within the Arctic circle tucked between the 68th and 69th northern parallels. I picked up a camper van with Arctic Campers in Tromsø, Norway (Blog Post: A Guide to Exploring Tromsø, Norway’s Northernmost City in the Arctic Circle) and had started the road trip towards Lofoten (about 4-5 hour drive).
The definition of which islands constitute Lofoten are always up for debate but for the purposes of this blog post series, I will cover 5 of the islands and reference some others. From North to South, they are composed of:
Gimsøy
Austvågøya (Blog Post: A Journey to the Lofoten Islands: The Island of Austvågøya)
Vestvågøya (Blog Post: A Journey to the Lofoten Islands: The Island of Vestvågøya)
Flakstadøya (Blog Post: A Journey to the Lofoten Islands: The Island of Flakstadøya)
Moskenesøya (Blog Post: A Journey to the Lofoten Islands: The Island of Moskenesøya)
Værøy (Blog Post: A Journey to the Lofoten Islands: The Island of Værøy)
In this blog post, I will cover the island of Austvågøya. A Google Map of these places I will talk about can be seen at the end of this article. Check out my drone video of Henningsvaer below! (Also on Austvågøya)
As with any road trip in a beautiful area, you’ll be tempted to stop all the time at every turn and if you have the time, DO IT. But also only do it if you feel absolutely compelled to. I took some pictures on our journey down to Lofoten but I can’t exactly figure out where they are from on the roadside. You can see the photos below. If you can identify any of them, please let me know in the comments!
Matmora is the first hike we embarked on in our Lofoten road trip. We headed towards the small town of Laukvik and made our way to the Matmora trailhead. After doing this, I would definitely say this is one of the best hikes in Lofoten. The hike takes you along meandering pathways, flanked by plush green trees, with occasional appearances by the loitering sheep. The vegetation starts to disappear as you ascend higher and about 1 hour into the hike, you can see the summit. All in all it took us around 2.5 hours round trip, taking into account a 30 minute break at the summit.
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We hiked the mountain from the North, which I am told is longer and not as steep but this mountain can also be climbed from the South side. Regardless of where you come from, you will love the view. My favorite part of the view has to be the beach below and a single road of traffic cutting through a massive sandbar. Although we did our hike in the early afternoon, I can only imagine just how beautiful it would be in the Midnight sun.
Svolvaer (Svolvær) is one of two ‘major’ cities in Lofoten (the other being Leknes). It sits along the Vestfjord with a population of 4,720 (from 2018) and is the administrative center of the Vågan Municipality. Its first mention dates back to 1567 as ‘Suoluer’ and its name in Old Norse Language is most likely derived from the words ‘saver’ and ‘vær’, meaning ‘cool’ and ‘fishing’, respectively.
This city is a great place to stop at to refuel, recharge, and rest. It has all the amenities you can ever need so take some time here before starting back on your road trip. For us, we first hiked up to Djevelporten and then spent some much needed time relaxing within the town.
Fløya, Svolvaer, Norway (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/4, 1/1000 s)
Fløya is the mountain that towers over Svolvær. Within this mountain are several different hikes depending on how far up the mountain you decide to go. Firstly, you can park your vehicle before this hike here. There are four landmarks or climbs one can do while here:
Djevelporten, Svolvaer, Norway (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/4, 1/125 s)
Djeveltrappa means ‘The Devil’s Stairs’, and are also known as Sherpa stairs (Sherpasti). The beginning of the hike starts with well constructed and continuous stairs leading to a large increase in elevation in such a short time. This was pretty exhausting to start with but luckily there are plenty of benches along the way to rest at. It takes a solid 20-30 minutes with a steady pace to ascend all of them and to get to the next part of the hike.
As you ascend the Sherpa Stairs and get to a marshy clearing, you can either go straight to Djevelporten/Fløya or Svolværgita to the right. Djevelporten (‘The Devil’s Gate’) is a medium grade hike, taking you through rocky outcrops culminating in a large boulder stuck in a gorge. This pathway is pretty steep and should not be taken lightly. But once you get to the end, there may or may not be a queue for photos.
You can continue onto Fløya by continuing the hike from Djevelporten along the mountain side. This path is better than the ascent however since you are walking near mountain tops, you are VERY exposed to weather and the terrain so use caution. This is worth it though to get the view of the Vestfjord and Svolvær below.
View of Svolvær, Lofoten, Norway (ISO 200, 4.5 mm, f/2.8, 1/50 s)
Svolværgita is a dream for proper climbers (meaning you need equipment and rope). This is a 150 meter tall rocky spire, emanating from the mountain face towards the city of Svolvær. The first time it was submitted was back in 1910 by Ferdinand Schjelderup, Alf Bonnevie Bryn and Carl Wilhelm Rubens.
Vågan Church, Lofoten, Norway (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/4, 1/320 s)
There are a ton of churches in Lofoten, but one of the most stunning has to be Vågan Church in the town of Kabelvåg. The architect Carl J. Bergstrøm constructed it in 1898 and is the largest wooden building in Northern Norway. The yellow church can fit about 1,200 people and is nicknamed the 'Lofoten Cathedral’.
There are also a ton of beaches in Lofoten and one we happened to stop at was called Rørvikstranda (Rørvik Beach). This beach was just off the main E10 road on the way to Henningsvær. What I really enjoyed about it was the turquoise color of the water. It was so intense and the wildflower vegetation of the area just added to the enchanting vibe. We came in the morning when the tide was low, allowing us to explore it in full.
Djupfjorden is a stop further along the route to Henningsvær and a place that was perfect for our lunchtime picnic. Put simply, Djupfjorden is a tidal lake separated from the sea by a land bridge. You will know you’ve reached it when you see a lot of cars on the side of the road for seemingly no reason. If you do find a parking, you can climb up the rocky terrain (I managed in my sandals) and get a perfect view of the mountains across the landscape over the sea.
Another great feature of Djupfjorden was just the intense teal and turquoise color of the water. Not only that, the different depths of the water added such a vibrant array of greens and blues to the surroundings. It is obviously best seen with a drone (as you can tell from my pics) but there is no drone needed just to appreciate its beauty.
Another wonderful hike in this area is at Festvågtind. It is also a popular hike providing you great views of Henningsvær below and the islands around it. The hiking trail meanders its way around the backside of the mountain and is steep at first but gradually ascends later on at a more leisurely level. Luckily for me, I have a drone so I can still get these views with actually hiking if I wanted to (not so humble brag).
