Explore Trondheim to the Lofoten islands
By far the largest town on the Vesterålen islands, HARSTAD is just 130km from Narvik and easily reached by car, bus and the Hurtigruten coastal boat. Home to much of northern Norway’s engineering industry, its sprawling docks are a tangle of supply ships, repair yards and cold-storage plants spread out along the gentle slopes of the Vågsfjord. This may not sound too enticing, and it’s true that Harstad wins few beauty contests, but the town does have the odd attraction, and if you’re tired of sleepy Norwegian villages, it at least puts on something of a bustling interlude. The downtown core has little appeal, though the comings and goings of the ferry boats are a diversion, and almost everything you need is conveniently clustered around the harbour, with the bus station, and the jetties for the Hurtigbåt and Hurtigruten boats within a few metres of each other. The only other spark of interest takes place in late June, when the eight-day North Norway Arts Festival (Festspillene i Nord-Norge; wfestspillnn.no) provides concerts, drama and dance performances; note, however, that the town’s hotels are full to bursting throughout the proceedings.
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A scenic drive: from Harstad to Andenes
A scenic drive: from Harstad to Andenes
The drive between Vesterålen’s two main settlements is one of Northern Norway’s most atmospheric, its wild and isolated coasts evoking both desolation and surpreme awe. Although Andenes lies northwest of Harstad, it’s reached by heading south out of town along the E10, then it’s 50km southwest along the fjord to the turning for the Lødingen ferry and a further 50km to the bridge that spans the sound over to Sortland. On the near side of this Sortland bridge, Highway 82 begins its 100-kilometre trek north, snaking along the craggy edge of Hinnøya island before crossing a second bridge over to humdrum Risøyhamn, the only Hurtigruten stop on Andøya, the most northerly of the Vesterålen islands. Beyond Risøyhamn, the scenery is much less dramatic, as the mountains give way to hills in the west and a vast, peaty moor in the east. Highway 82 strips across this moorland and, despite offering panoramic views of the mountains back on the mainland, it’s an uneventful journey on to Andenes. If you have time to spare, consider taking the more scenic route along the west coast of Andøya, branching off from Highway 82 just past Risøyhamn to pass through a series of tiny villages like Nordmela, Stave and Bleik (see Puffin safaris).
