The Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway have become a popular location for hiking, boating and exploring in the summer and for viewing (or attempting to view) the northern lights in the winter. Even though there are some challenges traveling above the Arctic Circle in the winter, the reward is a beautiful array of islands, mountains, fjords, villages and beaches that provide a multitude of photographic opportunities. I spent about 10 days in Lofoten, splitting the time between Hamnøy for the first part of the trip and Leknes/Svolvær for the second. This post focuses on the first part of the trip and includes views around Hamnøy, Sakrisøy, and Reine as well as some nearby areas.
Travel to Lofoten
My trip started on February 3, 2024 at the San Francisco airport. I picked up my friend and frequent travel companion Alejandro at his home, where he gave me a brief lesson flying his drone to help get some areal shots during our trip. From San Francisco we flew to Munich for lunch (schnitzel, bratwurst and beer of course) and then on to Oslo. We spent two nights in Oslo which gave us a full day to explore (you can see some photos here) and then left early the next morning to fly to the Harstad/Narvik Airport in Evenes.
Evenes is about a 5 hour drive from our first destination. There are a few smaller airports in Lofoten that were closer but they would have required an extra connection. There is also a ferry from Bodø, but that wouldn’t be my first choice in the winter. We picked up the rental car at the airport and started our journey. The main “highway” through the Lofoten islands is almost wide enough for one lane in each direction (some cooperation is sometimes needed passing cars going the opposite way) and is generally covered in snow/ice in the winter. The Norwegians do an excellent job of keeping the roads plowed, as we would learn during the trip. Rental cars include snow tires and I made sure we had a 4WD as well.
The drive was beautiful and (somewhat unfortunately since it was a travel day) had some of the best weather we’d see in Lofoten. We kept our eyes out for possible photographic subjects since we’d be coming back this way later in the trip. We only stopped for photos once during the drive, attracted by some nice reflections along the road.
Arriving in Hamnøy
Our home for the next five nights was the Eliassen Rorbuer in the village of Hamnøy. Rorbuer are the traditional fisherman’s cottages common in the region, many of which have been renovated into tourist accommodations. Our main reason for staying here was the location – we were a short walk to the most famous view in Lofoten. Our primary photographic goal was to capture the northern lights over this scene.
We had a two-bedroom cottage with an ocean view (it is the one on the tall stilts with its lights on in the photo above). It was awfully convenient to be able to relax in the living room and watch the conditions outside before deciding to head out and take some photos.
After checking in, we had dinner in the onsite restaurant (they serve seafood and Italian) and then went up onto the bridge (more on that later) hoping to catch some northern lights. According to the weather forecasts, this would be the clearest night we’d see for a few days, making it worth the effort even if the aurora forecast wasn’t great. We had a couple of hours before the clouds closed in and I captured some nice images with the stars (like the one above), but there wasn’t even a hint of green in the sky.
Surfing Unstad
The plan for the next day was surfing. As it turns out the Lofoten Islands have some beaches that are well regarded as surfing destinations, particularly Unstad beach. Alejandro had arranged with a local surf shop to rent a board and wetsuit and this was the day with the best surfing forecast we’d get. Our first stop on the way there was Vareid for sunrise.
Fresh snow had fallen overnight (and there was plenty more to come) providing a frosting on the rocks. While there was some nice light on the mountains across the fjord, we never really got any sunrise color and the tide was a little too high to take advantage of the rocks in the foreground. Our next stop was Unstad Arctic Surf for breakfast, gear and surfing.
Unstad Arctic Surf was my favorite place to eat in Lofoten. The food was local and delicious and the staff was friendly and accommodating. This morning started with their (self-advertised) “world’s best cinnamon rolls” and coffee. Later in the day we would try their salmon, whale stew, and reindeer stew. On another visit I tried the goulash which was also delicious. Especially in the winter off-season, breakfast was a challenge in Lofoten. Many restaurants are closed for the season and most coffee shops don’t open until 10:00am. Our cottage for this part of the trip had a kitchen so we were able to have some food there before leaving. Otherwise we would wait until a coffee shop opened and then get coffee and cake/pastry. A few coffee shops also had some smoked salmon sandwiches.
Alejandro spent a couple of hours surfing while I took some photos and captured (partially successfully) some drone footage. The beach was enclosed within mountains and had large, snow covered rocks along the shore. The snowy morning had turned into a nice afternoon with great clouds and some color. Being this far north in February, the light was nice all day.
While we were in the area (about a 90 minute drive north of where we were staying) we decided to check out Uttakleiv beach for sunset. This was one of the beaches I wanted to photograph with the northern lights and a little scouting while it was light would definitely be helpful. After driving up the hill from Unstad and going through a tunnel, we came upon the view below. We had no choice but to stop and take a few photos of the fjord and sunset.
Uttakleiv beach is flanked by some impressive mountains and is known for its rock formations along the shoreline that make great foreground subjects. Although sunset had technically passed, there was still some really nice light in the sky and I quickly grabbed my camera and carried it on my tripod (which I usually don’t do) and headed toward the shore. I stopped for a quick photo of the scene and then made my way to the rocks. Immediately after warning Alejandro that the rocks were really slippery, my feet flew out from under me and I landed on my back. And my camera landed on the lens. The lens filter was shattered and the base of the camera body was cracked. My shooting for the evening was over. Fortunately my repair work in the car was successful and my camera continued to work throughout the rest of the trip.
Stormy Weather and Snowy Scenes
The weather began to turn the next morning. The skies clouded over and the winds began to pick up. We did a little exploring in the morning around Reine and Å to the south of us, but none of my photographs were compelling. With some time on our hands, a lunch stop at Anita’s Seafood in Sakrisøy was in order. One of my staples while in Lofoten was fish soup. I would have it for lunch or dinner and it was always good. The fish soups in the area have a buttery cream base and include cod, shrimp, vegetables, and sometimes some other shellfish. The food in Lofoten is fairly expensive, with a bowl of fish soup or a fish sandwich costing around $30.
Anita’s also serves a Whale Tataki, with slices of whale meat served Japanese style. The meat, harvested from Norway’s healthy Minke whale population, is bright red and has a taste and consistency similar to beef.
My favorite dish from my visits to Anita’s, though, was the fish sandwich. They offer several versions, but I really enjoyed having fried cod topped with smoked salmon. Highly recommended.
Next to Anita’s is a small, yellow cabin that is a popular photographic subject in Sakrisøy. I chose a tight composition to avoid a truck that was parked next to it, but was still able to include the peak in the background.
That evening the wind really began to howl. We went to dinner nearby in Reine and even that short drive was an adventure through horizontal snow and icy roads. During the night, our quaint cottage on stilts shook with each gust of wind, making me question some life choices. Fortunately the structure survived and the weather began to calm mid-morning the next day. We decided to go exploring around Ramberg to the north and scout compositions at Skagsanden beach for sunsets/aurora.
We spotted a sea eagle along the way, which was worth a quick stop to practice my bird photography skills. The highway was blocked by snow drifts near Skagsanden beach and we were stuck on the road for over half an hour. Once the drift was cleared, we drove to Flakstad just passed the beach. The lack of traffic made it possible to stop in the road for a few minutes to photograph the church in front of the mountains.
We stopped in Ramberg for lunch on the way back to Hamnøy. Yes, I had fish soup again. Ramberg has a well known cottage along the water so we stopped to photograph it after lunch. The colors in the ocean and the still stormy skies worked well in the background.
The clearing clouds looked good over Hamnøy so I stopped for a few photos. For this composition I used a wide lens to include the rocks in the foreground and a variable ND filter to slow down the exposure to show a wave motion that I liked.
The skies continued to clear and there was a slight aurora forecast for late in the evening. I kept an eye on the skies from my room, catching some sleep when I could. At about 11:30pm I could see stars above the mountain so it was time to don my warmest clothes and stand by my tripod for a while. The winter temperatures around Lofoten are moderate (considering its location) and are usually within a few degrees of freezing. This is easily bearable when active, but after standing around for an hour or two it starts to get awfully chilly. I was rewarded with my first aurora sighting of the trip – even if it was just a short-lived green tint in the sky.
The prime spot to photograph this location is from the bridge leading south from Hamnøy toward Sakrisøy. The snow/ice covered sidewalk next to the railing almost always has at least one tripod on it and we probably saw as many as 100 at peak times. Some people choose to shoot over the railing and some set up low and shoot through it to capture more of the foreground rocks. The biggest challenge is the street lights. They create some nasty flares when trying to compose a wide scene. It was a constant learning process to figure out where I should stand, how wide I could compose, and whether I needed to block the light with my hand to prevent flares. There are also some lights in the water to help guide boats. These lights create a green tint on the snow in the foreground that I worked to remove when processing.
Hamnøy and Sakrisøy
The next morning was crystal clear, making it a good time to explore Hamnøy and Sakrisøy by foot. This area of Lofoten has several small islands connected by bridges. My first stop was to climb down below the bridge and get some different angles of the cottages in Hamnøy.
Of course I had to stop on the bridge for a postcard shot…
Once across the bridge we explored some compositions with rocks in the foreground and then kept walking toward Sakrisøy – which is know for its yellow rorbuer (fishing cottages).
Lofoten has may popular hiking trails that provide great views looking down on the island chain. Unfortunately, most of these trails aren’t accessible in the winter and are especially inaccessible when the area has as much snow as we’d received over the past few days. However, while photographing this view of Sakrisøy I noticed people on top of a nearby hill and found the trail. A little exercise can be a good thing!
I also photographed the view looking back toward Hamnøy. In the photo below, the bridge on the right is the location where people gather to see the classic view of Hamnøy and you can see the red cottages peeking through below it.
Aurora Rainbow
The forecast for that evening was for clear skies and possible aurora between 10:00pm and midnight. Having picked out our favorite spot on the bridge, we wanted to make sure that someone else didn’t get there first. Since we saw a huge crowd on the bridge that morning and since this was the best chance at photographing an aurora for at least the previous week, we expected a crowd that evening as well. Our plan was to relax in our cottage until we started to see people gathering, and then head out.
Sunset in Lofoten at this time of year is a little before 4:00pm. We saw a few people on the bridge at 6:00pm and decided to head up – after all this is why we’d traveled to Norway. Looking back, I’d say that we over-reacted to the people on the bridge. The crowd stayed pretty small until after 9:00pm. Alejandro and I took turns watching each other’s things as we each went back to our room to warm up and rest a little. At 10:00pm we were in the peak prediction window for aurora – and we still saw nothing. By 11:00pm everyone was definitely getting cold. Several of us decided to pack it in at midnight if we hadn’t seen anything by then. At about 11:45, with clouds on the horizon and no lights in the sky, I was ready to call it a night. Five minutes later some light appeared behind the mountains. It kept moving higher in the sky until it reached all the way over the mountains. I even caught a shooting star in one of my photos. The light peaked at about 12:15am – more than 6 hours after we started standing on the bridge. It was totally worth the wait.
Morning in Reine
The next day was our checkout from the Eliassen Rorbuer. We decided to photograph sunrise in Reine, about 10 minutes south of where we were staying. Reine is the largest town in the area with several restaurants, a coffee shop, and even a grocery store. We had been there a few times to scout locations and eat, so we knew where we wanted to go. The panoramic photo at the top of this page was from this morning’s shoot, when the sky was pink well before sunrise. The scene was getting brighter when I took the photo below. I liked this spot because the reflection of the mountain is nearly centered in the opening between the shore and the ice on the water.
Here is another frame captured as the light of sunrise just began to reach the mountains.
After sunrise we stopped at the coffee shop in Reine for a cappuccino and pastry before heading back to our cottage to pack and check out. The plan for the day was to take our time with the drive to Leknes, stopping for photos along the way. The drive itself is only an hour so everything was relaxed. We’d be hunting aurora again in the evening, and you can read about that in my next post (coming soon).