The drive from Andenes to our hotel in the Lofoten Islands was 4.5 hours, and it was only made longer by all of the points where you can stop for the views. There are waterfalls literally every mile or so, but most of them are quite small. We saw this one and tried to get closer to it by driving up a dirt road and then walking towards the power lines to try to get a shot without them. Let’s just say it’s a good thing our shoes are mostly waterproof, as the area was pretty flooded out. This is the closest I could get!
There were numerous pull-outs for photo opportunities, but only a few were really blog worthy.
This little town with a church made a beautiful setting in the fjord.
A close up of the church.
After checking into our hotel, the Hattvika Lodge in Ballstad, we took a walk around the small town. The side of this building had a nice mural of a ship in drydock.
The other side of the building also had a mural. We found the Norwegians in the Lofoten Islands tend to be quite artistic!
We also found out that you can’t buy alcohol at certain times in Norway!
Turns out they can’t sell it after 8:00 PM either, which I discovered while trying to buy a beer at 8:20 PM. I asked the clerk if she could gift it to me and I’d pay her the next day, and her reply was “no, but you could steal it”. I’m not sure if she was joking or not?
The next day it was going to be raining, so we asked our waitress at the hotel restaurant about possible options. She mentioned the nearby Lofotr Viking Museum was worthwhile, so that’s where we ended up.
The museum is located at a site where there was a huge Viking Longhouse 1000 years ago. The archeological remains of the longhouse were discovered by a farmer in 1981, when pottery was uncovered while he was tilling his fields. They ended up finding thousands of artifacts, including this axe blade, which I found to be the most impressive.
They have since reconstructed the longhouse, the largest in the world, to make it look as much like the original as possible. They knew the overall size from timbers in the ground that made up the foundation. The foundation of another smaller longhouse is in the foreground.
They give guided tours inside the longhouse throughout the day, in various languages.
This is a mock up of the setting of Viking burial for a chieftain that is placed upon a vessel before it was burned. I’ll spare you the details of all of the animal sacrifices that were made to accompany the chieftain.
I particularly liked the custom “exit” signs they had made for the longhouse!
The museum has a replica of a Viking ship that they sail around an adjacent bay.
This is one of the Vikings that handles the lines. He very much looks the part!!
Please note that we were only under sail…no motors used….this was quite surprising…I didn’t expect them to be that realistic! Apparently if there is no wind they have everybody row, but we had plenty of wind!
This is our Viking crew. I love the dedication to the outfits and appearance! The only downside is those pesky life jackets!!
Here is a quick video during our cruise.
They even have animals around the museum, with horses, cows, and these Viking Sheep!
If you are in the area this museum is definitely worth a visit! Up next, we have a day of excellent weather and travel south to the southern end of the Lofoten Islands, at least as far south as the road goes.
