The Lofoten Island archipelago is wildly raw and breathtakingly beautiful. The islands have been rated one of the most desirable areas to visit in the world and the town of Reine rated the most beautiful village in the world.
Looking from Tind back across the town of Å towards (lake) Ågvatnet behind the hill
I'm not one to act on ratings. In fact, my desire to visit stemmed from a travel article & photo I saw years ago. This trip was a fulfillment of that desire, the realization of a bucket list item. ...and whether or not you choose to believe ratings, The Lofoten Archipelago is magical.
Our ultimate destination was far north of the arctic circle. Therefore, traveling to the Lofotens is more than a one-day travel affair, especially coming from outside of Europe.
Arctic map view from CIA World maps online; Lofoten Islands and Arctic Circle markings added
We landed in the fog at Amsterdam's Schipol, before transferring to the Oslo flight. This had us arriving at our Oslo hotel about 24 hours after leaving our house on the east coast of the U.S.
Landing at Amsterdam Schipol
Whenever getting to a destination involves multiple days, it's worth making the journey itself interesting, not focus just on the destination. My wife & I did this with our journey to the Lofotens. This is part of the reason we stopped over in Oslo; it's a chance to see a new city and acclimate to the new time zone.
More on Oslo in the next post...