Swedish Lapland & Lofoten Islands

It has only been a few days since we came back from our roadtrip in the Swedish Lapland, north of Norway and Lofoten and honestly I don’t know where to start. I have never experienced so much beauty in so little time…ever. During this entire trip I was beside myself and I had to ask Kalle to pinch my arm like every 10 minutes. Let’s back the tape to when we boarded the flight from Stockholm to Kiruna. Because that’s when the trip really began. The flight was only 1 hour and 20 minutes (we travelled with Norwegian) so we were in Kiruna in like no time at all.

In Kiruna we picked up our rental from Hertz and we got upgraded from a Volvo V40 to a Volvo XC60 which made us really happy. We were about to spend A LOT of time in the car (and sleep in it!!) so it was kind of important that we had a great one. Anyhoo, we picked up the car and went to the grocery shop to fill the car with food for a week. A lot of canned food, bread, nuts, raisins, WATER, olives, pesto and all the things. The weirdest combinations ever, but it always taste great when you eat it outdoors so it doesn’t matter. After filling The Spaceship (you always have to give the car a name) with food, we left Kiruna. We passed Abisko and right before Björkliden we stopped to see the loveliest waterfall called ”Silverfallet”. It was a dream!!

And then we passed the border to Norway and all of a sudden we were surrounded by fiords and huge mountains. We drove all the way to a small village called Evenes, where we decided to camp for the night. We had dinner outdoors, and then we ran into the sweetest Norwegian couple, Mary-Ann and Kjell, who shared all their secret spots in Lofoten and told us what to see and where to go <3 It was so, so beautiful. And then we snuggled up inside The Spaceship and slept until 8 the next morning.

We left Evenes and continued our journey. We passed Svolvaer, where we stopped for coffee at the gas station (so good!), Kabelvåg, Henningsvaer, a small fishing village which we explored for a couple of hours (photos below), Vesterstrand and finally Eggum, where we decided to camp for the night. Mary-Ann and Kjell told us that Eggum was the best place to see the midnight sun and welp, were they right. First we hiked and then we watched the sunset (and sunrise because the sun never went down for real). I stayed up until 2 am before I went to sleep in The Spaceship.

About 30-40 minutes later I woke up because a handful of sheep decided to use our car as some sort of scratching tool…it was like being on a ship in a storm! After chasing sheep I had lost my will to sleep so I went out for a walk (in broad daylight even though it was in the middle of the night). It was such a beautiful thing to experience and I didn’t want it to end. So I walked and photographed and then I sat down on a rock and just lived in that moment. It was so beautiful.

The next morning we left Eggum and drove to Haukland Beach and then we hiked. The trail is called Mannen (if you wanna go) and we climbed all the way to the top where we had the most amazing view. I could have stayed there for ever. It was like a cross between the white beaches of the Maldives and the Fiordland national park of New Zealand. And then we headed to Vikten!

Vikten was the prettiest. The small village offered so much. First we went to a cafe, where we had the best coffee and enjoyed the most amazing interior! I fell in love with the place! Then we visited a glazier’s workshop and watched the glassblowers work. It was really amazing to see.

The next day we decided to explore Reine and Å. Reine was full of tourists and it was almost impossible to park the car anywhere. So, we had coffee, snapped a few photos and then we headed to Å.

Å was beautiful. The village is full of old houses and they have turned some of them into museums. You buy one ticket and then you get to explore like 10 different houses. Normally we avoid museums, but this was so much fun. Everything is kept just the way it originally was, which makes it a very authentic experience. I loooved the old post office <3 and also the boatyard, the bakery (which is still open and they make the best cinnamon buns in the world + they use a STONE OVEN). You have to visit! After a couple of hours of exploring we were really hungry so we decided to eat at the restaurant in the village – Bryggan. I had soup, some sort of local speciality and it was AMAZING – the first warm and decent meal since we left Stockholm!

The next day was boat day. We took the ferry from Moskenes to Bodö and then we drove all the way back to Sweden again. We stopped in Arjeplog, where we spent the night at Hotel Lyktan. And we had pizza (the best GF pizza I’ve ever had). And beer. At Verona (if you ever wanna go). Anyhoo, we got to stay in one of the renovated rooms and it was lovely. After 4-5 nights in the car you can probably imagine how wonderful it was to sleep in a real bed again. Sweet Moses! We slept for 11 hours.

And then we left Arjeplog. The next day we drove like 500 km. We passed Arvidsjaur, Jokkmokk, Stora Sjöfallet National Park, Gällivare and arrived in Kiruna late that evening. The absolute highlight of this day was when we saw reindeers. The first time, a mama reindeer and her two kids (?) were walking on the road. I was beyond myself! Then we saw like 20 reindeers by the side of the road and the next time about 10 were resting ON the road. It was amazing! I had wished for this to happen the entire trip and then, on the last full day, it did! It was the most perfect ending to the most perfect trip. Because the next day we went to the airport, returned The Spaceship and boarded a flight back home. It was bittersweet.