Starting the Helgelands Coastal Route

19/10/2025

The drive south from Bodø takes you on one of Norway’s scenic routes – Helgelandskysten. For a while I thought that this had something to do with the expanse of sky as you look out to sea, but it’s a bit more prosaic:  The (en – the definite article is added to the end of Norwegian words) Helgelands (Helgelands) Coast (kyst).

This was to be the last section of our North Norway trip. After this coastal route was done we planned to do the long drive south to Oslo and then get the ferry back to Denmark. As always the thought of the end of the trip was slightly sad, but we still had lots planned so it was no time to get despondent.

After seeing the weather forecast we knew that the next couple of days were going to be driving days, brief stops to take in the scenery rather than hikes or bikes.

Geology trail

Driving south from Saltstraumen we were immediately into mountain scenery. A range of mountains above 1000m were ahead of us with a distinctively pointed mountain poking above the foreground. When we stopped to take a photo we found a signpost for a short trail, pointing out the glacial features that could be seen in the terrain. I followed the trail, splashing through water where the ground was saturated. Paul stayed in the van claiming he could see enough from the drivers seat.

We continued south along the road, through forests and past rushing waterfalls, with coast and mountain views. There weren’t many side roads to tempt us and as we didn’t have time for random exploration we saved our inquisitive thoughts for the next trip.

The weather got gradually colder as we continued. Between drizzle we were sprinkled with snow and peppered with hailstones. We could see the snow starting to accumulate on the hills above us. We’d been expecting snow before this, but it had been a very mild autumn so far. This was the only snowfall we saw on the whole trip and it never settled on the road.

The Uredd monument

We decided we wanted to stop before it got dark in case the weather deteriorated so I looked for a stopover and found a possible car park in Reipa.

On the way we stopped at a rest stop, intrigued by what we thought was a sculpture of a swordfish. After reading the memorial I assume that it was meant to be dolphin, the symbol of submariners across the globe. This memorial commemorates the Uredd, a submarine that was lost in 1943 when it hit German mines on it’s way to a sabotage operation. Another reminder of the significance of Norway in the second world war.

Overnight in Reipa

The parking at Reipa was on a large gravel car park by a new looking marina, slightly distanced from the village and with views of the snowy mountains. We turned the heating on and settled down for the evening.

Our night was not great. We had turned into the wind but we were still pretty exposed. If the wind wasn’t rocking the van it was throwing rain and hail at us. Hard. We didn’t sleep much and started the day with gritty eyes and groggy minds. I didn’t even get a picture of the car park I was so discombobulated.

The morning was wet and cloudy but a lot warmer. It looked like the snow on the mountains had receded, although we couldn’t really see a lot with the blanket of cloud.

Svartisen views

We trundled further south, stopping at a shiny new Extra supermarket at Ørnes to pick up a few essentials. Next to the Extra was some new motorhome parking, so new that it wasn’t even on Park4Night. It feels as though the Helegland area is going to be the next part of Norway overrun with tourists. Or if we’re being more optimistic, it will allow the tourist hordes to spread out a little further and take the weight off some of the honeypots. There weren’t any motorhome services here yet so we used the next ones we found along the route. Most of the free services along this route had been closed at the end of September so we were lucky to find one service area where the black waste could be used. The water was off so we filled up a bottle from our water tank to rinse after we’d emptied our toilet.

We passed the back (or is the front?) of Svartisen glacier which we’d visited from the other side earlier in our trip. At a small harbour the tourist boat was moored up, out of use now the season was over. In the summer it takes tourists across the fjord to allow them to hike up to the glacier we could just about make out in the distance.

Svartisen glacier in the distance

The ferries start

We got to the first of this route’s many ferries at lunch time. We thought we’d have lunch in the queue at Forøy but this was a frequent ferry so we didn’t have long enough to wait before we were shepherded on. Instead, we stopped at a rough parking space by a lake shortly after we disembarked and soothed our remaining tired grumpiness with cakes we’d picked up earlier (I think they count as essentials?).

We were seeing lots of waterfalls along the route but they were all at a bit of a distance; across fjords or high in the hills. We finally saw one that was near the road just before a long tunnel so we stopped and parked up in the tunnel maintenance area. We probably weren’t meant to stop here, but as we’d seen very few vehicles all day we chanced it. We walked across the road and up beside the rushing torrent. The noise was incredible and we felt at risk of being swept away any moment. The water was finding all sorts of new routes down the mountain, flooding the path and trickling through the trees. We stood and watched in awe for a few minutes and then we backed away.

We had more of a wait for the next ferry when we arrived at Jetvik. This one was a longer route, taking an hour to get to Kilboghavn. The queue built up, and it was only when we saw the girls, parents and coaches get out of their cars that we realised they were all returning home after a football match. It was Saturday but somehow we’d lost track of the days.

On the ferry

Overnight at Kvina

We finally stopped for the night at Kvina where there is a formal park up next to the Joker supermarket.

We had to go into the Joker to pay. Then we had to go back into the Joker to ask whether the facilities building (a battered looking prefab unit) could be unlocked. Needless to say we were the only people staying, but the shop assistant kindly called the owner who gave us the code to a key safe, asking us to leave the building unlocked when we left.

The facilities were as battered inside as they looked from the outside, but they did the job. We had long showers and used the washing machine. A separate hut for the toilet waste was definitely closed though. Nailed shut. It was a good job we’d emptied earlier.

Parked at Kvina

We’d had two days of gloomy weather on the first part of this scenic route. But that had given the scenery a mystical quality. We were looking forward to exploring further in the next couple of days.