Cycling Lofoten Islands. Enjoy one of the best paradises north the artic polar circle

Cycling Lofoten Islands. Many are the hidden beauties that attract all sorts of traveller to Norway. The romantic idea of going north into the wilderness and discover remote places are well described in the movement of the XIX century, where fresh ideas came to the fore. In particular, the idea of freedom, which started back then being extended to every range of human endeavour.

With the idea of embracing the “organic” and “plastic” qualities and ditch the “mechanical” aspect of the classic world, ideas that attracted us to embark ourselves in this enterprise of cycling around the globe with our heavy and overloaded bicycles, we hopped on a ferry from Bodo that would arrive in Moskenes over three hours later. 

Lofoten has for centuries received visitors from home and abroad. We are hoping that you can live the Lofoten experience as we did, and carry the memories with you forever. The Lofoten Landscape is majestic, and it is an El Dorado for the visitor who enjoys hiking, scuba diving, rock climbing, surfing, and of course, cycling.

Along the wall of jagged peaks rising from the expanse of the ocean.

Regardless of the time of the year, Lofoten provides a journey amid breathtaking natural surroundings The landscape is both beautiful and stark. However, there are some sheltered, protected stretches that can provide relief from the raw, exposed areas that can show their harshness when the wind is blowing hard.

The combination of the untamed ocean and stormy seas, jagged alpine mountains plunging into the ocean, tiny sheltered fishing villages with white beaches and crystal clear water will never cease to amaze us. That is also the reason why the main road, the E-10, can be also busy in high season, which plenty of cars caravans roaming across the islands. It is always good to know that you can always seek out little and secluded corners, making a detour from the E-10 and finding yourself alone again to enjoy the heavenly carved mountains leaning into the water.

Many people have just discovered that the winter can be as good as the summer, saving the temperatures and the road conditions, of course. Although is not common that the temperature in the islands will plummet below 0 degrees celsius.

The Arctic winter is perfect to see the Northern Lights, an overwhelming spectacle of light and colour, and you will enjoy them just with the few people around you. No matter what time of the year you travel to the Lofoten, you are guaranteed to experience the distinctive qualities of the islands.

When to visit when cycling the Lofoten Islands?

Lofoten Islands can be visited in any part of the year, as there are ferry connections all year round. As the locals say, you could come to the Lofoten in different seasons and you will experience 4 different Lofoten. Each season has its magic.

For cycling, we would recommend any time from May to September.

Be aware that the temperatures in Wintertime can drop very quickly, and the road conditions might be challenging.

We were in the islands in mid-August, when the businesses are still operating in “season mode”, which allows you to still enjoy grabbing a bite in a fishery, or doing any touristic activity if you fancy to, such as scuba diving, kayaking, surfing, or whale watching.

What to wear when cycling Lofoten Islands?

Merino whole is the ideal material for cycling in Norway and cold climates. Even in August, make sure to pack, at least, a short sleeve and long sleeve merino whole layers.

Quick-dry synthetic gear is fine, but you will never get the warmth of a merino wool layer.

We also make sure we have a short sleeve merino wool and a couple of long sleeve ones.

It is important to get change into a dry long sleeves layer, as it is quite fresh in the evening. You will thank the extra warmth after a full day fighting the raw elements of the Lofoten.

Bear in mind that in Norway you can experience the four seasons in one day, as I have witnessed before during summertime, so make sure you pack a good waterproof jacket and trousers when cycling Lofoten Islands. We have been using jackets and trousers from Showers pass, and they seem very good, and have plenty of goods reviews from people. They can be a little pricey, but it´s totally worth it.

Good full covered gloves are also on your must list. We take at least a couple, so when one pair gets wet we can use another one dry on the next day.

We don’t like to get cold feet. That’s why, together with good cycling shoes, we like to use waterproof socks. We use the ones from the Shower pass. They keep your feet warm and dry even after the whole day raining! They also breathe, so your feet don’t boil in the process.

Where to stay?

The question has as many answers and kinds of travellers or bike tourers are around. Where to stay when cycling Lofoten Islands? You can easily stay in amazing hotels or cabins in the different fishermen like villages that you will find out on the way and plan the trip to go from accommodation to accommodation.

This option is not cheap in the Lofoten islands, but it gets you somewhere comfy and dry where to stay at the end of the day.

Our chosen option for this section and the whole of Norway was to pitch the tent wherever we want. This means virtually almost anywhere.

Property rights are different in Norway. Since Norway has a population of only 4.8 million people with a very large extension of land, which makes it a low-density country in terms of population.

The so-called right to roam gives people the possibility to pitch their tent almost anywhere, following a very simple rule.

You can’t pitch your tent less than 150m from the closest house or cabin. In easier terms, you shouldn’t be seen from the closest house, and you will be fine.

Leave everything as you have found it. Don’t litter. In Norway, due to climate conditions, even the paper will take a long time to disappear.

Be considerate with everybody around you. Explore and enjoy!

There is a list of campsites around the Lofoten it might be interesting for you.

What route to take when cycling Lofoten Islands?

What route to take when cycling Lofoten Islands? Lofoten Islands have plenty of scenic routes. All these roads are not mere ways that connect A with B.

The Norwegians like to say that every road has a story. That’s why they have a project to care about them, build scenic points and resting areas,  furnish them with toilets, benches and tables. All that taking care of the architecture. We have found many of these resting points and camped on them, as we were guaranteed a lat space where to pitch our tent, a toilet and fresh water. You can overnight in most of them.

AKKARVIKODDEN (Moskenes)

This rest area has granite furniture, magnificent views of the sea to the south-east and a toilet building that mimics the steep mountains of the raw Lofoten Landscape

RAMBERGSTRANDA (Flakstad)

Next to the beautiful beach surrounded by majestic mountains is a photographic viewpoint. A narrow path made from railway sleepers leads down to the beautiful beach

EGGUM (Vestvagoy)

Facing the ocean is a rest area in the shape of an amphitheatre, with a car park and toilet facilities

TORVDALSHALSEN (Vestvagoy)

This is a rest area that offers fantastic views over Vestvagoya. It is surrounded by long screens and benches that protect against the wind and raw weather

AUSTNESFJORDEN (Vagan)

Is situated south of Sildpollen, and a wooden walkway has been built that floats on the landscape. It offers fantastic views across to the stunning mountains and Sildpollneset chapel

What route to take depends on each traveller and the kind of trip wants to have, what season, how busy is the road…

You can always take a detour through smaller roads. It is hard to get lost when you have coastlines to follow! We told mainly the E10 from Moskenes into the north. Also, we took some detours to see some nice villages on the way.

You should watch out for long and dark tunnels. Some of them even go under the sea! 

There is an app we have found quite resourceful, which shows you all the tunnel in Norway coloraturas coded from red (no bikes allowed) to green (bikes allowed), going through yellow (bikes allowed but not recommended). 

You can check it out below:

https://www.cycletourer.co.uk/maps/tunnelmap.shtml

There is a particular tunnel between the islands of Flakstadoya and Vestvagoy that is classified as yellow. It has a little path on the left-hand side, but it is somehow tricky to cross.

The Nappstraumtunnelen is an undersea tunnel 1776 metres long and has a big step down and then a bit steep up on the other side. Some cyclist avoids it by taking a ferry from Nusfjord to Ballstad or taking the bus. We ended up cycling in the tunnel, but was such an experience!

Another option is to follow the Eurovelo route number 1 through the coast to Andenes and then cross to the island of Senja. Beware that the ferry only works until the end of August. If you miss it, you can always go to Harstad and take that ferry.

You can download an app called Reis Nordland, where you can find all the information regarding transport and schedules. It is very useful!

What to eat in the Lofoten Islands

As we were cycling the unearthly landscapes and the atop snowed mountains of the islands, we were seeing wooden pyramid-shaped racks structures scattered across the landscape, built on rock formations along the shore and beaches

They are called Hjell, and these are used to hang in the cod during the drying process, which relies on the cold arctic winds.

This usually happens in the wintertime, during the fishing season. The Lofotfiske. Lofoten is famous for its export of Tørfiske, stockfish. Stockfish is Norway’s oldest export, dating back to the Viking era.

And the process itself remains pretty much unchanged!

Several oil companies want to have their share exploiting these marvellous islands. But, local people are still proud to prefer a lifestyle that has been going on for centuries. they prefer cod over, oil, as they say.

Also, Wines and spirits are only sold in state shops, but they are really expensive.

They are highly taxed. Relatively low alcohol beers are found in all licensed bars around, 65, and 70 NOK and 25 to 30 NOK, for a beer in the supermarket.

What to do next?

Why don´t you check our Travel Tips, where you can find a lot of content on how to troubleshoot some of the difficulties you might find on the road?

Additionally, you can also check our travel lists and material we carry on our trip.

If you are thinking on travelling into Norway, I totally recommend to cycling the Lofoten Islands and include them in your itinerary