our first couple of days in lofoten were spent hiking and exploring the region by car. with all of the small islands it's very spread out and most likely you will need a car a least 1 or 2 of your days, everything else is done by bus, bike or motorbike. we rented from a local auto mechanic that is friends of the hostel [hertz was almost double the price]. kp dusted off his manual driving skills and we headed southwest to do the himmeltindan hike and check out the unstad artic surf hotel.  the hike was situated right alongside beautiful haukland beach that was filled with locals and campers. we went straight up the side of the mountain for about 2+ hours and ended up at the most ridiculously gorgeous peak with the best 360 view. we were also lucky to have very sunny weather – which helps the view point. 

after our lunch we hiked back down and drove to unstad beach, along the way we encountered so many sheep and beautiful cemeteries. we stopped so many times to check out small local shops and grocers, bought cheese from a cute local goat cheese/meat shop, and even though the surf was very small it was still fun to jump in the water, wander the property and check out all of the cool camper vans that were parked beachside for the summer. 

most of our hikes were chosen from this awesome website, which does a great job of explaining where everything is, as a lot of these hikes are unmarked. that evening was spent at stamsund, cooking dinner and relaxing with the other guests. i miss this place already. It's an outdoor adventurer's paradise and is well worth the trek.

see our  full lofoten travel guide here

my hiking gear: top | long sleeve | pants | shoes | hat