Despite being in the Arctic Circle, Lofoten, an archipelago in Norway's Nordland region separated from the mainland by the Vestfjord, experiences one of the world's largest elevated temperature variances relative to its latitude. Thanks to the Gulf Stream, its climate of mild winters and warm summers isn't as severe as other such northerly regions. Lofoten's four main islands of Austvågoy, Vestvågoy, Moskenesoy and Flakstadoy together with a number of s...

After breakfast we said our goodbyes to the Sortland Hotel and set off for Svolvaer. We were advised to take a detour along the narrow fjord of Raftsundet to see the opening to Trollfjorden and down to Arsteine. We instructed the sat-nav to do just that but it would seem that there is more than one Arsteinen in Norway and the silly bint took us miles out of our way. Not that we could complain because we passed through the most breathtaking scenery, at times surro...

The weather was a bit grim as we set off to explore Langoya. We headed south for a change towards the town of Melbu. The scenery was stunning despite the rain and heavy clouds obscuring the mountain tops. Water on one side, dark, towering mountains on the other, and the roads hardly wide enough for two cars to pass. I was amazed at how much snow was still around at quite low levels. We crossed one of the many impressive bridges to circle the island of Hadseloya b...

This morning we had a leisurely breakfast and tried to decide what to do. We took the advice of the hotel receptionist and crossed back over Sortland bridge and took the National Tourist Route to the island of Andoya, which is 300km inside the Arctic Circle, and the small town of Andenes. The National Tourist Route in Andoya runs between the open, bare outer coastline, the grass covered plains, pointed mountain peaks and the flat cloudberry marshes further south....