Northern Norway

Northern Norway has been settled for thousands of years, due to its relatively warm climate, ice-free harbours and excellent fishing. For centuries, the fishing was the very basis of existence in this area, and even today you can find several characteristic, old fishing villages with their coloured, wooden houses, that used to house fishermen and traders.

In the old days, large parts of Northern Norway was inaccessible, but today there is an extensive network of both roads and small airports with regular flights between many of the small towns and villages. Hurtigruten, the coastal steamer, calls at ports all along the coast at least once per day, both northbound and southbound.

But the region is not only one of wild and untouched nature and quaint old villages. Tromsø, for instance, is Northern Norway's largest city and lies far north of the Arctic Circle. A vibrant university town, it has a lively student scene with concerts and shows, and sports an international film festival as well as a multi-cultural community of more than 100 different nationalities. Read more about Tromsø.

Even though Northern Norway hosts the prestigious World Championship in cod fishing, the pace is quite laid back most of the time. Here, you can relax with a round of golf at the world’s northernmost golf course, watch the whales cavort in the sea, or hike the mountains or fish the sea at your own pace.

If you travel to the coast of Nordland, you have the options of diving in the world’s strongest tidal current, Saltstraumen, or exploring the Lofoten and Vega islands with their unique nature. When winter sets in, so does the skiing season. Leisurely cross-country skiing is just as common as adrenaline-raising alpine and off-piste.

Among the cultural offers are the museum dedicated to the poet-priest Petter Dass. The main attraction may be the museum building itself though, designed by renowned Snøhetta, and blending in with the surrounding nature. The trading centre at Kjerringøy is one of the most important building memorials from 18th century Norway, and the area served as an inspiration for many of Nobel laureate Knut Hamsun’s stories.