Photography Destination #8 - Lofoten

In my series about my favourite travel photography destinations, we have reached number 8 in the countdown, and this week it's the turn of the Lofoten Islands, inside Norway's Arctic Circle.

An absolutely amazing archipelago famous for the Northern Lights, the midnight sun and stunning small fishing villages clinging onto the coastline below towering mountains. A truely breathtaking place.

My visit was in autumn, just before the winter snow and freezing weather arrived, and it was a stunning time of year to visit. If I ever return, then it would be in the winter, as I'd love to see this amazing landscape covered in ice and snow.

We started our journey into Lofoten by flying into Bodø airport from Oslo, and then connecting onto Svolvaer airport by tiny prop plane. As you come into Svolvaer the whole chain of islands open up before you from the plane, and it really is an incredible view. We picked up a rental car and Svolvaer and set off west down the archipelago of islands connected by long tunnels or spectacular sweeping bridges.

Driving was so easy with the weather good, and relatively low numbers of visitors at this time of year (October). I am sure that in the depths of winter, driving would be a lot more difficult with a 4x4 essential.

We made our base in Henningsvaer. A beautiful fishing village mid way in the Lofoten islands, making it the prefect base to explore.

Fish drying frames in Lofoten Islands

We were actually shocked during our first couple of days about how quiet Henningsvaer was. We rented a beautiful Airbnb cottage on the harbour, but it felt like we were the only people there, with what seemed like everything closed for the winter. We rather foolishly expected to be able to find a restaurant or shop for provisions, but it immediately became clear that this was going to be a major challenge as nothing was open as we walked around. Eventually we found one tiny shop / cafe serving basic meals so thankfully we did not have to go hungry, but be prepared for this if you come out of the summer months.

We drove to the end of the archipelago, through absolutely breathtaking villages of Hamnøy, Reine to the very end of the line in our car and the village with the shortest name in the world, the tiny place called Å.

I think for photography, it's one of the most amazing places in the world, and I will surely return one day. Hopefully as I said, in the winter months, and next I would bring a photography drone. Images from the air I would imagine would be very special, so I think that this is one of the rare places in the world, that I would very much like to return too. The only thing for me that is a negative is the lack of people around as this is my favourite photography subject. So if I was too return I would work harder beforehand to find interesting local people to photograph. As a destination for landscape photography, it is very hard to beat, and I will return one day, god willing.