Norway - The Beaches of Lofoten

August 25, 2014

Leaving Reine, we drove up the coast, in and out of numerous fjords and left marvelling at the scenery around every bend.  In addition to some of the hikes and camping, I had wanted to visit a few of the picturesque beaches.  While you don't think of beaches when you think of places above the Arctic Circle, the Lofoten Islands actually have a string of perfect beaches with white sand and clear green water.  If not for the numbing cold water, you could be fooled into thinking it was a far more tropical location.

(A spiky ridge along the main road, just a little North of Reine.)

(Apart from tourism, the villages are mostly dedicated to fishing, so fish drying racks sit on the edge of all the villages, and boats line the harbors.)

(The bridge from the Ramberg area heading over towards Klalvika beach and Yttersand.)

(A far off view of Ramberg, with a white sand beach in the foreground and rocky ridges in the background.)

(After our night on the top of the mountains, we spent a few minutes walking the soft beach at Ramberg.)

(The clear green water of Ramberg with a huge mountain just behind.)

(One more shot of Ramberg, from the rocks on the South side of the beach.)

(This small beach, backed by high grass, is just outside of Flakstad.  I had seen this beach on a satellite image and knew it would be nice, otherwise we would have had no idea it even existed, hidden behind an old, abandoned farm house.)

(Another great beach near Flakstad.)

(And one more beach at the edge of Flakstad.)

(An afternoon view of Ramberg beach, as we headed back to the next island over for our next long hike.)

(Turf roofs on a few of the houses near Yttersand.  I had originally thought we might be able to camp around the beach, but it would've been a little difficult, so we continued on to Klalvika for the afternoon/evening.)