Lofotr Viking Museum

09/10/2025

As we left Svolvær the weather was slightly improving but forecast to get even worse that night. We didn’t have a plan of where to stay that evening but we did have a rare wet weather activity planned.

Driving out of Svolvær

We followed the road west out of Svolvær. Our first destination was Henningsvær, a small chain of islands that are all connected by bridges. It was a picturesque drive but sadly yielded little in the way of parking to get out and explore. The islands are small and crammed with buildings. Most motorhome parking was a one size fits all overnight fee which was a bit much when we only wanted to stop for an hour and look around. We took a few photos and headed back towards the main road where we stopped for some breakfast.

As we drove on we spotted a large curved mirror by the edge of the road. We stopped to take a quick look. This is one of the exhibits on the Lofoten scenic route but unfortunately parking is very limited.

Lofotr Viking Museum

Our main stop for the day was Lofotr Viking Museum. The museum is just off the main road (the E10) near the town of Borg. Norway has a number of Viking museums but this one is special because it is the site of the largest building found in Norway from the Viking age.

The building, with it’s timber frame, was just an imprint in the soil when it was discovered. In 1981 a local historian noticed a farmer ploughing his fields turning up unusually dark earth. The farmer’s new plough was digging a few centimetres deeper than the old one, disturbing a layer of soil that had previously been untouched. A quick intervention meant that archaeologists were able to uncover the foundations of a Viking settlement including the 83m long chieftan’s House. A film tells the story of the discovery and displays in the museum show the pottery, glass and precious metal finds that were unearthed as part of the dig..

The museum is not just a display of finds and dry history. After the digging part of the archaeology had been completed, the long house was reconstructed a few meters from it’s original foundations. The depths of the foundations, the size of the cross sections, and archaeological evidence from other sites were all used to make an educated guess as to the height and construction of the building. Now it is possible to visit this reconstruction and even have a meal in the great hall.

The reconstructed Viking long house

We arrived just in time to join a group in the living quarters of the house so rushed to catch them up. A woman dressed in period costume gave us a presentation about life in the Viking era. Then we were left to explore the building which is made up of three sections. The living quarters had beds and tables, looms and other equipment for day to day life. In the smoky darkness of the great hall a group were being served a traditional dinner from a cauldron over a central fire. We felt a little intrusive wandering through their meal but it definitely conjured the sounds and smells of a chieftan’s feast. In the barn, an area that would have originally been used for livestock, there were further displays of viking crafts.

After exploring the house we wandered down to the lake where two reconstructions of viking ship were in boathouses. In summer these boats are sailed or rowed on the lake and many other activities take place in the surrounding area, but while we were there it was just a handful of us who made the walk down to see the impressive craftsmanship that had gone into the ship building.

Surfing Lofoten

After enjoying ourselves at the museum we headed further west and I found us an overnight parking spot on the north coast. This was something a little different. Not a deep water fishing harbour but a surf destination. Norway is not necessarily somewhere you associate with catching a wave, but it has a lot of coast and we found out that some of that coast is decent surfing territory.

We drove through the village of Unstad which had an unmistakeable surfer vibe and was remarkably busy. The parking was right by the eastern end of the bay and we parked up with a number of cars and vans. We didn’t have our body boards with us, but that was ok as we weren’t tempted anywhere near the roiling water. We were happy to watch as people toted their boards down to the sea, wearing head to toe neoprene, and bobbed in the water waiting to catch the next wave. There is something quite entertaining about watching the swells reach the surfers, the unspoken prioritisation of the next in line to try to ride the wave.

A hike?

The following morning it was my Birthday. Happy Birthday to me. My present (apart from the wine we’d bought a few days earlier) was to choose the day’s activities. The weather was pretty wild, strong winds blowing heavy rain showers alternating with blue skies, but I wanted to walk part of the coast path that leads around to Eggum and Paul was not allowed to complain.

The first part of the path was easy enough, a gentle walk along a gravel track, but as we rounded the corner the path became narrower, a rock and mud slip and slide with the added bonus of some sheep shit mixed in to add a slimy note to our footing. There were chains at points along the path to help with steeper sections and we wondered why they were there, it didn’t seem that bad. When we turned around to come back we realised that these were a lifeline as the wind tried to tug us off the cliff. We wrapped the chain around our arms as we shuffled along trying not to get unbalanced by the strong gusts of wind.

We got as far as a small lighthouse, then started the next section of the walk that dropped down to sea level. As we were crossing the boulders we turned to each other. We knew we would have to re-cross them on the way back and we just weren’t feeling the joy. We made the decision to turn back. It was only a 5km walk but the weather and terrain conditions meant it took us over two hours.

Back at the van we hung our wet clothes up in the bathroom and paid our dues in the honesty box before moving on to our next destination.