The Lofoten Islands are located in the north of Norway. Comprising of five main islands, we started at the southernmost village of Å on Moskenesøya and worked our way to Svolvær on Austvågøya, the largest city and capital of the archipelago. Little fishing villages are scattered along the route; the most photogenic being Reine, Sakrisøy, Hamnøy, Nusfjord and Henningsvær.
We happened to be in Lofoten during the midnight sun, a natural phenomenon when the sun does not set for the entire day. This only occurs near the Arctic and Antarctic Circles during the summer months. It was surreal to be driving at two in the morning with the sky still lit up.
A unique Lofoten experience is staying in a rorbu — one of the traditional fishing cabins built half on land and half on water. Our cabin in Reine was #20 (Steinbua) at the Reine Rorbuer. Inside were two bedrooms and a large kitchen area with our own fireplace.
Food on Lofoten unsurprisingly consists mainly of all things fish: fish soup, stockfish, clipfish, cod, cod tongues, etc. Every winter, they hang the cod on wooden racks to dry. By the time we arrived in mid-June, the fisherman had already begun taking the stockfish down.
Anita's Sjømat sells great fish sandwiches with salmon and/or shrimp. It is also a road-side general store that stocks a variety of seafood and local food products. In Henningsvær, we had a refined dinner at Fiskekrogen which was a bit of a mix of classic and new Norwegian cuisine.
