Lofoten Crossing 2025

After my long-distance hike in northern Scandinavia last year, I looked at some other hikes in the region for this year. Some people I met recommended the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway. There is no official Long-distance hike through the islands, but it’s easy to connect some of the trails on the islands to a nice, more-or-less remote hike.

Day 1 (19,4 km/12 mi, 1290m/4200 ft elevation gain)

The day started early because i wanted to catch the first bus in the morning to Svolvær. From there I hitchhiked the last 30 km to the beginning of the trail to Mt. Matmora. The first mountain I wanted to climb. The trail started very steep, but there was a plateau at ca. 300m of elevation. After some time the plateau was changing into a ridge, which was leading to the peak of Matmora(788m/2590ft). I had a great view over the mountainous islands while I enjoyed a nice lunch up there. It’s just beautiful to see all the 700-800m mountains directly next to the flat ocean. After a short but steep downhill, I found a small stream where I could get some new water. I continued down to the street next to the coastline and hiked along there for another hour. After I left the street I followed a small trail up to a lake, where I set up camp. It was nice to cool down in the ice cold lake after hiking in the sun all day long.

Day 2 (21,3 km/13,2 mi, 1170m/3800 ft)

After a good coffee in the morning I hiked along some beautiful lakes and rivers. Then I had the choice of staying at sea level or climbing up to two lakes. I decided to take the detour and I found two crystal clear mountain lakes. At the second one I took a small dip in and continued back down to my original route. The next part was very swampy but it was windy enough to keep the mosquitoes and horseflies away. The last climb of the day was very steep and it had a longer section at which I had to put my Hiking sticks away and had to use my hands to climb up. I hiked along the lakes on the top until I found a camping spot next to a small creek. It was nice to camp in a small valley in the mountains, because then i didn’t have a lot of problems with the midnight sun.

Day 3 (27,8 km/17,3 mi, 1120m/3700 ft)

From the camp it was just a short hike over a saddle and then down to the Olderfjord. I hiked along that fjord until I arrived at the E10. That’s the highway that connects the Islands. Because I didn’t want to hike along the street for 15 km, I hitchhiked that part to the next Island. There was a smaller street that I followed a little bit until there was a small trail into the mountains again. At the third lake I passed while hiking up the mountain I decided to take a small swim. For which I paid the “blood-price” to the mosquitoes and horseflies. There were just 100m elevation left to the “Dalstuva” peak (540 m/1770 ft). The views from up there were breathtaking. After hiking just a little bit down and through some meadows I could hear a lot of sheep. Most of them had a little bell around their neck which reminded me of the cows in the Alps. I continued a little bit further to a spot which I thought would be a good campsite. But while I filtered my water the clouds came in and I decided to move my camp just 50 m up. From there I could enjoy my dinner with a nice view over the clouds.

Day 4 (34 km/21 mi, 1170m/3800 ft)

I woke up early this morning because there were no mountains that blocked the sun that was shining all night long. I was hiking up and down sheep meadows. Just above or inside the clouds with changing views. After 23 km I arrived in Leknes, one of the “bigger” towns on the Lofoten. While I was waiting for the bus that would take me to the next Island, I did a little food restock for the next days of hiking. The trail got a little bit rougher on the next Island. It was going up and down with some sections that involved climbing and some mild exposure. Which was easy, but annoying with a heavy backpack. After hiking a little bit further into the mountains, I found a nice campsite near a bigger lake. While taking a bath in that lake I slipped and cut my hand just a little bit. Fortunately, it wasn’t limiting me in any way and I could continue my hike. I still got a beautiful sunset over the lake.

Day 5 (36 km/22,4 mi, 1000m/3300 ft)

I packed up and continued to hike further into the valley with the lake. After reaching the saddle at the end I followed sheep trails down into the next valley until I arrived at a small fishing village called Nusfjord. The trail that started there connected Nusfjord to Nesland, another fishing village. It had nice views of the mountains on the Norwegian mainland. From Nesland I followed the street for 20km. When I arrived at the next and last Island from the Lofoten, I left the street and headed for the next mountain. I filtered some Water and took a small dip in the lake that’s just a few meters below the top. After looking at the map I decided that the contour lines on the smaller mountain looked more promising to find a campsite at the top. I hiked up there and set up camp with great views over the fjord to higher mountains.

Day 6 (31km/19,3 mi, 1500m/4900 ft)

The day started with a steep descent from the mountain to a beautiful beach between the steep walls. After hiking along the ocean to the next cove, the trail turned inland. I followed some lakes and streams until I was on the other side of the island at the ocean again. From there, I hiked along the fjord until it was time to hike out of the valley. The views from the saddle into different valleys, with many walls carved by glaciers, were fascinating. After hiking down in one of them and just a little bit up again, I arrived at a boat dock. I took the boat from there to travel a little bit further into the fjord to Vindstad. That’s just a small boat dock with a cafe. From there, the trail went through some rough terrain along the fjord until I had to climb out of the valley up to a clear mountain lake. I decided that I will continue to the next lake a little bit further up. Camping at that lake gave me a good starting point to hike up to Hermannsdalstinden, the highest mountain on the Lofoten.

Day 7 (14km/8,7 mi, 1200m/3900 ft)

I hadn’t done any research on the Hermannsdalstinden (1029m/3380ft), but after talking to different people who said that there are no exposed parts or hard climbing I decided that I will try to hike up there. The weather conditions were perfect with some clouds blocking the burning sun and a mild breeze. I left most of my stuff at the campsite and started the climb. It was a steep but not difficult hike up the mountain. I only had to do some scrambling at the last 50m below the peak. The views from up there were just stunning. I could see almost all of the Lofoten Islands, from one end to another. I think I even found the mountain Matmora from which I started my hike 7 days ago. The sun started to come out while I was hiking down and I took another swim at camp. I packed up and continued a little bit further down to move to the next lake.

The next days

From the camp it was only an hour down into a small town. The weather wasn’t very good and I explored some small fishing villages around the island. I met with two bikepackers I know and we did some hiking and exploring of the islands for the next days.