Must-see attractions in Nordland

  • Saltfjellet Svartisen National Park

    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,…

  • Torghatten Mountain, Norway

    Torghatten

    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…

  • The fishermen's houses close to river Vefsna, in Sjogata, Mosjoen, Norway.

    Sjøgata

    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…

  • Lofotr Viking Museum

    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…

  • Hamsunsenteret

    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…

  • Glasshytta

    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…

  • Petter Dass Museum

    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…

  • Norsk Fiskeværsmuseum

    Lofoten

    This museum takes in 14 of Å's 19th-century boathouses, storehouses, fishing cottages, farmhouses and commercial buildings. Highlights (pick up a pamphlet…

  • E-huset

    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…

  • Whirlpool and tidal currents in the Saltstraumen Maelstrom.

    Saltstraumen Maelstrom

    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,…

  • Landscape of Rago National Park, Norway.

    Rago National Park

    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…

  • Kjerringøy Trading Post

    Bodø

    At Kjerringøy, some 40km north of Bodø, the entrepreneurial Zahl family established an important trading station in the 19th century. The trading post…

  • Norsk Luftfartsmuseum

    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…

  • Vefsn Museum

    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…

  • Namsskogan Familiepark

    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…

  • Lofoten Tørrfiskmuseum

    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…

  • Grønligrotta

    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…

  • Nordlandmuseet

    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…

  • Setergrotta

    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…

  • Hildurs Urterarium

    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…

  • Lofoten Gårdsysteri

    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…

  • Jakobsensbrygga Warehouse

    Arctic Highway

    In Sjøgata, the Jakobsensbrygga Warehouse is an excellent small museum that portrays, via some particularly evocative photo blow-ups, the history of…

  • Bodin Kirke

    Bodø

    The charming little onion-domed stone church, around 3km from downtown, dates from around 1240. The Lutheran Reformation brought about substantial…

  • Flakstad Kirke

    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…

  • Galleri 2

    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…

  • Havmannen Statue

    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…

  • Museum of Dolls & Toys

    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…

  • Strandli Gård

    Arctic Highway

    This working dairy farm is a charming excursion off the E6. In addition to selling lovely cheeses and yoghurts produced on the farm, it also has…

  • Salten Museum

    Arctic Highway

    Check out the park-like collection of historic buildings of the Fauske branch of Salten Museum, whose grounds are a lovely spot for a picnic.

  • Polarsirkelsenteret

    Arctic Highway

    Latitude 66°33' N marks the southernmost extent of the midnight sun on the summer solstice and the ragged edge of the polar night on the winter solstice…

  • Ofoten Museum

    Narvik

    This museum tells of Narvik's farming, fishing, railway-building and ore trans-shipment heritage. There's a rolling film about the Ofotbanen Railway and…

  • Bodøsjøen Friluftsmuseum

    Bodø

    This open-air museum is 3km from town, near Bodøsjøen Camping. Here you'll find 4 hectares of historic homes, farm buildings, boat sheds, WWII German…

  • Norsk Telemuseum

    Lofoten

    This museum presents itself as a study in 'cod and communications'. Granted, it's not an immediately winning combination but in fact this small museum…

  • Water Spout

    Narvik

    No, Narvik can't claim geothermal activity. But locals reckon that its water is the purest in the land. Each day at 1pm and 9pm from May to September, a…

  • Mo Kirke

    Arctic Highway

    The oldest building in town, Mo's original church was constructed in 1724. With its steeply pitched roof and onion dome, it deserves to be open to…

  • Sund Fiskerimuseum

    Lofoten

    This fishery museum lies in the village of Sund, 3km off the E10 south of Ramberg and well-signposted off the main road. In one dim shack, there's an…

  • Blodveimuseet

    Arctic Highway

    The moving Blodveimuseet, in a former German barracks inside the Saltdal Folk Museum, is visited by a 30-minute guided tour. It reveals conditions for…

  • Rural Buildings (Vefsn Museum)

    Arctic Highway

    Northeast of the centre and part of the Vefsn Museum, the rural building collection features 12 farmhouses, shops and the like from the 18th and 19th…

  • Saltdal Folk Museum

    Arctic Highway

    Just off the E6 in Rognan 32km south of Fauske, Saltdal Folk Museum is a collection of typical rural and fishing-related buildings, many with turf roofs…

  • Laksforsen

    Arctic Highway

    About 30km south of Mosjøen and a 600m detour from the E6, the roaring 17m-high Laksforsen waterfall has leaping salmon in season. It makes a pleasant…