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
Vesterålen
Around 1km south of the town entrance along the road to Bleik, this innovative space centre has a widescreen 16-minute movie and other exhibits about the…
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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Svolvær
Stunning photos of the Lofoten Islands in all their brooding glory, most of them for sale, are the work of photographer Anders Finsland. It's worth…
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Lofoten
This museum takes in 14 of Å's 19th-century boathouses, storehouses, fishing cottages, farmhouses and commercial buildings. Highlights (pick up a pamphlet…
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Svolvær
Housed appropriately in what was once a fish-freezing plant, this is the ultimate place to chill out (perhaps with something to warm the spirit). The 500…
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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…
Vesterålen
The town's landmark red lighthouse, automated for many years, opened in 1859 and still shines on. To climb its 40m and 148 steps, arrange a guided tour…
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Bodø
At Kjerringøy, some 40km north of Bodø, the entrepreneurial Zahl family established an important trading station in the 19th century. The trading post…
Vesterålen
Nyksund's small museum contains a number of local artefacts and before-and-after photos that chart the village's transformation. Then again, the whole…
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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…
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Vesterålen
Trondenes Church was built by King Øystein around 1150. For ages it was the northernmost church in Christendom, and still lays claim to being Norway's…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Vesterålen
The whale centre provides a perspective for whale-watchers, with displays on whale research, hunting and the life cycle of these gentle giants. Most…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Arctic Highway
In Sjøgata, the Jakobsensbrygga Warehouse is an excellent small museum that portrays, via some particularly evocative photo blow-ups, the history of…
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Bodø
The charming little onion-domed stone church, around 3km from downtown, dates from around 1240. The Lutheran Reformation brought about substantial…
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Svolvær
One of Svolvær's more interesting little private galleries, this place showcases works by local artist Dagfinn Bakke, in which the distinctive light and…
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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…
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Reine
Artworks by renowned Norwegian artist Eva Harr seem perfectly at home in this Reine gallery, within walking distance of some of Norway's most spectacular…
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Vesterålen
The quaint, Arctic- and polar-themed Museum Nord has displays on local hunting and fishing traditions. There's extensive coverage of the 38 winter hunting…
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Vesterålen
The Hurtigruten Museum portrays the history of the coastal-ferry line in text and image. Hitched to the quayside is the retired ship MS Finnmarken,…
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Svolvær
On the main square and beside the tourist office, the North Norwegian Artist's Centre hosts changing exhibitions of paintings, sculpture, ceramics and…
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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…
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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…
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Lofoten
In Sakrisøy, Dagmar Gylseth has collected more than 2500 dolls, antique teddy bears and historic toys over 20 years for her Museum of Dolls & Toys. There…
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Vesterålen
Trondenes Historical Centre, just south of the church, has well-mounted and equally well-documented displays and artefacts illustrating the social history…
