I Spent One Month in Lofoten (Norway)

I stayed for a month in the Lofoten islands in Norway, and it was one of my best months travelling, ever. 

I’ve done many month-long stays in different locations, in Europe and other places, but if you’re like me, chasing good weather, loving nature, while also taking the time to recharge while travelling, then you’ll want to hear me out on this one. 

This month-long stay in Lofoten was part of my 4-month northern European road trip (one of the best trips to date I ever planned and did).

Many people only dream about visiting Norway or other dream-like destinations, but they never actually research it or plan for the trip because the idea of an over-the-top budget puts them off. 

I  already have on my blog an older article explaining how much I love Norway (but honestly, I might write another because I can’t help myself, and Norway deserves it). 

I am living proof that if you are a digital nomad or simply want to take a longer holiday (like many Europeans do during summer), the Lofoten are doable and more budget-friendly than you think (of course, I see so many other benefits, but let’s face it, you’re primarily thinking about the budget). 

This is going to be a long guide, because I’m spilling all the tea about what and how to travel to Lofoten. And if you haven’t read already, you know that this was my third trip to Norway and I have previously written a long letter to Norway. 

So in a way, in the summer of 2025, while I was planning for new and exciting adventures in parts of Europe I hadn’t explored before (because the bucket list of European countries is all ticked), I somehow ended the summer with this month in Norway (again). And that’s how much I love Norway. 

If you’re planning your own trip there, I’ve put together a complete Lofoten travel guide with all the logistics, tips, and things I learned after staying there for a full month.

Why did I choose to spend one month in the Lofoten Islands?

People, including my parents, ask me, “Why one month? Why not just one week? Don’t you get bored? Isn’t it too expensive?” and I will answer all these questions right now. 

After travelling to over 60 countries (and all countries in Europe), I can no longer go to one city or place, stay for one or two days and claim to have visited it. 

I’ve grown out of my era of collecting country names to write on my blog, and I’ve realised that my soul is happier when I take the time to experience a place, and that means sometimes a week, sometimes a month. 

Of course, even a month isn’t enough, but it definitely gives me a better understanding than spending 2 days in that spot. 

And the truth is that I am picky. 

I dislike certain weather, big fan of the rain, but not to be outside, can’t really stand the wind and lower temperatures. 

If I were to choose, I would choose to live in a perpetual spring-like weather (which also exists in Europe, it’s called Madeira, but that’s a different topic). 

So when I stay longer in a spot, especially in a spot that’s famous for its unpredictable weather, I have a better chance of getting days with decent weather that allow me to go outside and explore. 

That’s the gist of it, really. The weather. Will get into more detail about the weather in a second. 

And the cost, of course. The longer you stay, the lower the cost goes when talking about the daily average. 

I feel obliged to mention that I ended up in Lofoten after starting this 4-month Northern European road trip, which I had no idea where it would take me. It was mostly the European heatwave guiding me to drive north.

The average daily budget gets better when you stay longer in Norway

Yes, Norway is expensive (and a lot of other destinations are expensive, even ones you might not be aware of), but the truth is that the longer you stay in one spot, the cheaper it becomes overall. 

The main constraint people have is time. 

A lot of people only have a limited number of holidays they can get per year, and then when they want to visit a place, they need to book flights, hotels, eat at restaurants and do tours to try to fit as many activities and must-do attractions in that time that they have. 

And all this translates into huge bills for each day. 

Given that Norway is already expensive (expensive is a relative term, depending on where you come from, because you will always compare it to where you live), you will soon see that you need hundreds of dollars per day, just to do tourist stuff in Norway. 

But if you choose to stay longer, you can book an Airbnb for one month, which, in my case, resulted in a cost of only about $100 per night for accommodation (I was there with my boyfriend and my dog, so this cost covers a small family or a couple). 

I wrote about the basics to consider if you want to travel through Europe with your dog, too (road trip or not).

Because we stayed for so long, and driving is necessary in Norway if you want to reach most of the nature spots, we drove with our own car from Romania.

So we didn’t have to rent a car, which is a huge cost for tourists staying up to a week (it depends on the company and the car, but it can reach over $1000 easily for just a few days). 

Sure, Lofoten is far away, but we were already somewhere in central Europe, and after carefully planning the road trip to Lofoten, it was much easier to get there. 

Also, this wasn’t the first time driving to Norway, so knowing what to expect made me feel much more at ease. But don’t be fooled, distances are long, and I do realise that driving to Norway from anywhere in Europe isn’t something most people can do (but still many do this!). 

Since we had a car, most activities were related to nature sightseeing, and we could do that on our own, almost for free (except for the gas cost, which isn’t cheap, but it’s still cheaper than renting a car). And you can always drive your electric car in Norway (which is something I have on my list for future trips – thinking of making this trip an annual thing because I love it so much). 

The cost of food and groceries isn’t something to neglect. 

Most 5-day tourists rely on restaurants and snack bars for food, but those aren’t budget-friendly either. So when you have your apartment for a month, you can properly buy groceries and cook for yourself, and the costs are reduced considerably compared to eating out on a daily basis. 

For reference, we would go grocery shopping every 2-3 days, and that averaged about 50-60 Euros, and we didn’t refrain from anything, although we don’t eat meat, only fish (and Norway is the perfect spot to do that). 

Where I stayed in Lofoten

I chose an apartment for a month in Svolvaer, which is a really good transport hub and the so-called “capital” of Lofoten. There’s even an airport (but there are other airports in Lofoten). 

Because I stayed for this long, I wanted the vibe of a town with larger supermarkets, shops, gas stations and restaurants. The town has a cute centre, and it is in itself an attraction and a spot on the Lofoten road trip itinerary. 

There’s a daily ferry service from Havila and Hurtigruten (Norwegian cruise companies) that connects the entire west coastline of Norway from Bergen to Kirkenes. They titled this cruise as the “World’s Most Beautiful Voyage“. 

But it also serves as a really good transportation mode, as it goes both ways and there are daily ferries both ways (from both companies). 

And if you are driving from the mainland to Svolvaer, like I did, during the summer, you can take the ferry from Skutvik to Svolvaer for free (check the schedule and latest updates on torghatten.no). 

Note that the Skutvik – Svolvaer ferry doesn’t run after the end of August, but the Bodø – Moskenes ferry does (this one is not a free ferry because it’s more popular with tourists). I have a video about this ferry on my YouTube because last time we were in Lofoten, we took that ferry to reach Lofoten from the mainland.

I ended up driving a few times down to Reine, and that took 2.5 hours one way, but if you schedule your activities, you don’t have to keep driving back so many times, because you can do the top attractions located in that area in a couple of days. 

And there are plenty of things to do around Svolver as well. 

Another thing I had on my bucket list was to do a whale watching tour (which I missed last time I was in Lofoten). 

Those tours start either in Stø (a 2.5-hour drive north of Svolvær) or Andenes (a 3.5-hour drive north of Svolvær). I also did three hikes around Svolvaer and had plenty of grocery options since I don’t eat meat (only fish and dairy), and I occasionally eat vegan. 

What I did during my month in Lofoten

The weather played an important part in how and in what order I did everything.

Again, that’s why I chose to spend a longer time in Lofoten, to increase my chances of having sunny days with good weather. 

And good weather is needed for most activities which are outdoors: hiking, boat tours, and sightseeing. 

To put things into perspective, I will explain week by week what I did, my reasoning behind my  choices and any other elements that influenced it. 

Week 1 (15-21 August)

The first week was rainy almost every day, with strong winds and little visibility. And I didn’t do much during that week, except for exploring a bit of Svolver and checking out all the supermarkets around. I was also tired from the 5-day road trip that I did before, just to reach Lofoten. 

I felt more at ease knowing what Svolver has to offer and knowing where to get it when needed. 

Once more, it made me realise that I love this travel style that I have been embracing over the past few years. I might be getting into slow travel more than I realise. 

So Svolver has five big supermarkets (Xtra, Kiwi, Ren, Bonpris and Spar), has a decent-sized shopping mall (Alti) which has paid parking (2 hours free but you need to register on the parking app – EasyPark) and a Sport Outlet where you can find almost everything you need. 

Parking is not free on the streets of the city, so make sure you park somewhere where EasyPark works; otherwise, you’ll get a parking ticket. 

But staying in the town of Svolver meant that I could walk around the city and didn’t need to move the car and pay for unnecessary parking. 

We went to explore Svinoya and the Moloen in Svolvaer, but it was hard to observe anything as it was raining sideways. 

But I had an attempt at hiking that week. 

There was some FOMO setting in, and I realised that the weather might not get much better soon and that I didn’t want to spend all my time indoors waiting for a better day. So I was constantly scanning the rain clouds to find some parts of Lofoten without any rain. 

At some point, I thought I had found such a weather window to do the Offersøykammen hike. 

This was the first time I was driving south of Svolver, and as I was approaching the place, the weather looked good. So the weather can be very different from one island to another. 

But then, after parking, it looked like the mountain was a bit cloudy. My boyfriend convinced me to try it anyway, since it took us 1.5 hours just to get there. The dog was at home (luckily for him). 

The trail was very muddy, and halfway through the first incline (which wasn’t that big anyway), a burst of wind and a rapid shower happened, and I literally had to duck into the mud to prevent falling. It wasn’t pretty. 

We eventually made it to the first mountain, and it got really windy, and rain was coming from all sides. It felt very cold and wet, and we decided to abandon this quest and go back to the car. It was very muddy and slippery the way down, and somehow we got there unharmed. 

We drove right back to Svolver, had a hot shower, and jumped in bed. It was a hard reality call that the weather in Lofoten is unforgiving. 

But after that, the next day was better, with lighter rain and lots of rainbows. 

And then we had a gorgeous day that we again used for hiking, and we attempted the Festvågtind trail, close to Henningsvaer. 

This time, the forecast was more on point, and we turned back before the rain started on the mountain. 

Week 2 (22 – 28 August)

The first part of the week was still raining, but at this point, I was looking at the weather forecast hourly (get the yr.no weather app on your phone and use it), and I was hoping for just a couple of hours without rain and reasonable wind to be able to do something outside.

We do a few more hikes, such as Mannen Haukland, Tjeldbergtinden, and Djevelporten, considering the good weather windows in different parts of Lofoten. 

We also reserved a day to drive to Reine and do the boat trip to Bunes Beach (tickets must be bought in advance online), where we had the most beautiful day. Dogs travel for free on the ferry.

We also explore for a second time the Moloen (breakwater) in Svolvaer that leads to the Fiskerkona statue. This time we took our dog, and we had a much better time than the first time we visited it during the rain.

Week 3 (29 August – 4 September)

I planned and did a lot during the second part of the trip in Lofoten. 

All of a sudden, the weather forecast was showing summer temperatures (about 18 Celsius or more), no rain, no wind, and I felt overwhelmed because there were so many hikes and activities on my list that I didn’t know what to do first. 

Also, I felt like I needed to rest in between these full days, but there wasn’t much time for that because you might not have more sunny days, and you don’t want to waste such a good day indoors. 

I took the Trollfjord cruise on the hybrid catamaran and hiked Offersøykammen (again), this time with our dog. It was so hot and dry this time that I really enjoyed it. It made me realise what a huge difference there is between good weather days and rainy days in Lofoten. 

One day, I drove all the way to Andenes (a 3.5-hour drive from Svolvaer) to take the Arctic Whale Tours. 

Although the beginning of September is between seasons for whale watching, we saw five sperm whales, and the water is really calm (considering you are in open waters). 

Nevertheless, some people got seasick, so bring medication if you need it. 

The guide said they would provide it, but they didn’t have any pills. Dogs were allowed on the boat for free, but you need to mention it when booking. 

On the way back to Svolver, we stopped at Bleik beach, which is 20 minutes away from Andenes, and it’s one of the most beautiful spots in all of Lofoten. We had the beach to ourselves almost the entire time. 

I also recommend the Bukkekjerka Rasteplass, which is close by, and it’s a famous Norwegian toilet spot (if you know, you know). 

Honestly, there are so many little gems scattered all across Norway; some of these you will find accidentally, while others need some research or someone else to tell you about them. 

This was my third time in Norway, my second time in Lofoten and some of these spots were already saved on my map, and that’s how I knew about them and will include them all on my Lofoten road trip itinerary (because it’s places like this that you will love and make your trip memorable). 

Now this week, the night starts to be darker, or at least dark enough for us to be able to observe the aurora. It was shy at first, but it was visible on nights with clear skies. 

I also discovered the beautiful Midnattsol veien (road), which is not far from Svolver. This area is far less touristy than the south of Lofoten, so we were almost alone on the beach there (we went at low tide in the afternoon).

Week 4 (5 – 15 September)

Writing this now, I realised I spent more than one month, because I had the Airbnb apartment from 15th of August up to 15th of September, hence the weird count on my last week, which is more like a week and a half. 

As the good weather continued, we tried to pack all the extra hikes in. At this point, the weather was good most days; we just needed to take some days off to rest a bit. What they don’t tell is that most of  these hikes are short but very demanding, as the mountains are steep and a lot of the trails are on rocky mountains. 

But we overcame our tiredness, definitely improved our fitness levels and did these hikes and activities:

• Delpen hike (up to the first mountain from the Matmora trail near the Midnattsol veien, which we had already explored).
• Did an Aurora chasing tour and we saw a beautiful Aurora in a spot with no light pollution and not too far from Svolvaer. 
• Drove to Reine (again) and did the famous Reinebringen hike. Since we were already there, we visited Å at sunset. We stayed in Å last time we visited Lofoten, so this was a nice walk (literally and figuratively) down memory lane. 
• Explored the village of Kabelvåg, which is right next to Svolvær. 
• Attended a Cinnabon masterclass and a food tasting tour. I recommend this tour if you want to learn more about the history of Lofoten and taste the cheese and fish that they are so proud of. 
• Explored Skrova. This is the small island right next to Svolvaer that can be accessed by ferry. No need to bring your car, you can walk everywhere on the island. Skorva has some of the most gorgeous beaches in all of Lofoten, and its nickname is the “Hawaii of Lofoten”.
• Hiked Ryten and witnessed one of the most gorgeous sunsets over Kvalvika Beach.  
• Visited the UNESCO-listed fishing village of Nusfjord. 
• Explored Ramberg beach at sunset. 
• Checked out Eggum. 
• Did some souvenir shopping, and my boyfriend got a Norwegian wool sweater. The rest of the souvenirs (chocolates, dried cod, Arctic water, salt and soup) we got from the Extra supermarket.
• Saw the Northern lights almost every night from our balcony (it was insane how good the weather was the first two weeks of September 2025). 

The second part of our trip in Lofoten was beyond everything I could have imagined, and we were blessed with gorgeous weather. 

Even though I panicked a bit during the first week, the weather turned out much better than expected, and we had time to do everything we wanted to do (and a bunch more). 

All this info will go into my personalised Lofoten road trip itinerary (to be added soon), together with my best tips on how to plan a perfect trip in Lofoten (because now I have all this first-hand knowledge that is really hard to get otherwise). 

Living in Lofoten for a month (groceries, cooking, daily Life)

In between all these activities, I took some days to just relax, sleep, recover from hikes (I had days when my legs felt sore), do some work on my laptop and just enjoy being there. 

After talking to locals (and also foreigners who now like and work in Lofoten), it seems that the weather has changed during the last few years, and it tends to get warmer during summer, but also summers tend to get longer.

And this was the case for us, as I had planned to be in Lofoten for the last part of August (thinking the weather would still be good) and the first part of September (hoping that the weather would be good, but also have a chance to see the Aurora). 

And in the end, we had much better weather in September, which left us with gorgeous weather for hikes during the day (I mean T-shirt and shorts kind of weather, and gorgeous Auroras at night). 

During my rest days, I was doing grocery shopping, cooking and doing normal things like you normally do. And I find this an essential part of this slow travel style. 

Doing activities every day can leave you exhausted, but also immune to the beautiful world in front of you. We, as humans, are built to admire and perceive things on a comparative basis. And if every day looks like a day in the Arctic paradise (but with great weather), it gets overwhelming and exhausting really fast. 

Groceries and cooking in Lofoten

We don’t eat meat (my boyfriend and I are pescatarians). 

However, Lofoten is one of the best spots to eat a good fish diet, has more than decent options for dairy (lots of goats and sheep in Lofoten), and these big supermarkets in Svolvaer have some options for vegans too. 

I did most of the groceries at Extra, but Kiwi and Rema also have good options. All supermarkets are within walking distance of each other. 

I cooked lots of fresh fish (salmon and cod), but frozen options were cheaper. I would usually bake it and have baked potatoes (fresh or frozen) on the side, or a veggie mix cooked in a pan. 

Veggies and fruits are more limited, but you can find the most common ones. Whatever you cannot find fresh, you might find frozen. 

In northern countries, buying frozen anything is more common as it is more convenient for the stores to sell it without wasting much produce. 

I also bought frozen bread buns to make at home. 

Extra also has a lot of freshly-baked goods (you need to go earlier as they are gone in the evening), some ready-to-eat sandwiches and snacks and even a small salad bar (I love the salad bar from Coop, and Extra is also part of the Coop chain). 

Most prices are very similar between the supermarkets, although there seemed to be a bit better options for vegans at Kiwi. 

Note that alcohol is sold in state-owned stores in Nordic countries, including Norway, where these stores are called Vinmonopolet. The shop in Svolver is inside the Alti shopping mall, where Extra is, but the opening hours are shorter than those of the other shops around. 

Also, shops and supermarkets are closed on Sundays in Norway, so plan accordingly. 

Fortunately, rules around weaker alcohol are more loose now, and we were able to buy beer of up to 4.7% alcohol from the supermarket (the limit was about 2-3% a few years ago). 

However, the hours for selling alcohol still apply, and you will find the schedule written on the door of the fridge. For instance, we tried to buy the weak bear from Extra one evening at around 10 pm, and we couldn’t. They took it back at the cash register. 

I recommend bringing your recreational school with you if you’re driving to Norway. But please respect local import limits. It really doesn’t matter where you come from; even Denmark or Sweden has cheaper beer (and a lot of other goods) than Norway. 

We had some beers from Denmark, and although it seemed excessive at first to bring 48 cans of Carlsberg in the car, it ended up being just enough for a month in Lofoten. My boyfriend is a football fan, and you can’t watch football or have dinner without a small beer. 

I’m sharing all of this because I want to help you get the real picture of what it is like to travel to Norway, and specifically to Lofoten. 

Nobody can deny that Norway is expensive. So if you are driving there and have extra space in your car, bring stuff you might want to buy there, because you will save a bit of money, which you can then use for local tours or food. 

What I brought with me to Norway

Driving to Norway is both a blessing and a curse. 

It’s a long way, usually a few days long, and it really tests your relationship, ability to drive, and passion for travelling. 

But the blessing is also the fact that you can bring more stuff with you, which brings the budget down because you will need to buy less stuff once you reach your destination in Norway. 

So in my case, driving to Lofoten, I chose to stay in campsites and cook my own food. 

Campsites are popular spots in Norway, and many Norwegians and foreigners stay in them. But they are a bit different from normal hotels, because you need to bring your own bed linens, towels and clean a bit after yourself. 

Of course, you can rent the towels and linen and not clean, but then you get to pay much more, and then that’s not much cheaper than a normal hotel. 

And I cooked most of my meals, which implies I had cooking utensils (just basic ones) and other small things (salt, oil, baking paper, cutlery, paper towels, etc). 

The rule I apply is that if it doesn’t spoil, has room in the car, I use it and can be transported, then I bring it with me. 

How much did it cost me to stay in Lofoten for one month?

It cost us (a couple and a small dog) a total of $6,174 (5,237 EUR). I’ve reached this sum by approximating all the expenses.

While this includes the road to get there and back from Denmark/Germany, this comes down to about about $140 (~119 EUR) per day for 2 adults. I have calculated 45 days (to include days to get there, the actual 1-month stay and the days to get back to Denmark). As I said, the longer you stay, the lower the cost goes.

Here’s the breakdown cost for each important category, such as transport, accommodation, and food.

Transport

No car rental, but paid 5 nights of accommodations through Norway to get there + ferry from Denmark, which was a total of $600 (2 people + a dog). 

Some places charge a small extra fee for pets. All accommodations were booked 1 month in advance; otherwise, it gets more expensive – this was more on the budget side. 

If you are a dog parent, then read all about the logistics of doing a road trip with a dog in Europe in my separate guide.

Then we paid for gas while in Lofoten, and it added up to about $600 (the cost was about $2 per litre of gas in August/September 2025). The total cost could have been less if I had planned better. 

But then you have to add  the cost to drive back home from Lofoten. I chose to drive back through Sweden (as this was the only road back from Northern Norway that I hadn’t tried before), and it took about 8 days of intense driving to get back home. 

I can’t really make a budget for this, because it really depends on where home is for you; you can reach Germany in 4-5 days, or it takes 8 days to reach Romania or Spain. 

I find that prebooking your hotels helps if you want to lower your budget, because then you can allocate equal driving time and distances every day, and it makes the entire process more efficient, and you can also find better prices for hotels. 

In the end, the cost of driving all the way to Norway from your home country and then driving back home is worth it to save on the car rental in Lofoten, but only if you spend more time. 

If it’s only for a few days, it wouldn’t make that much sense, because it will make you very tired and take a lot of days just on the road. 

If you drive to Lofoten, you also have to add the cost of driving back. I chose to drive back through Sweden (to cut some of the costs). I wrote all about this itinerary in my complete Northern European road trip itinerary (because this stay in Lofoten was part of a much longer European trip I did in 2025.

In my case, the cost of driving back through Sweden to reach Germany was about $545 (hotels, but I stayed 2 nights in Stockholm to explore) and $250 for gas. There were also the costs of food.

Remember that you need to have your licence plate registered to drive in Scandinavia (both Norway and Sweden). I wrote all about it in my Norway guide. That is a fee that gets charged after you leave, via the Epass24. I paid a total of $79 (because Northern roads have fewer tolls than southern part of Norway).

Accommodation

For one month in Svolver, I paid for an Airbnb apartment $3000. 

Groceries

An average of $60 every 3 days, let’s round it up to $600. We don’t eat meat. 

Restaurants

None. Most dishes are meat-based or fish, which we cooked ourselves in our apartment. 

Tours

We did four tours (Trollfjord cruise, Aurora, whale watching and food tasting), which were a total of $500 per person. Tours aren’t cheap, but I am happy we did them. 

I think we could have done it for cheaper, but we had a gorgeous view from our apartment, which was worth the splurge, and the parking was free, with a very good internet connection. 

Final thoughts: Why Lofoten is worth a long stay

Yes, Lofoten is worth a long stay.

The main considerations are the weather, which can be unpredictable, and can interfere with your activities.

But when staying longer, the chances of getting more good weather increase, although there is no guarantee for anything when talking about travelling in the Nordic countries. 

By the end of my month-long stay in Lofoten, I was beyond grateful for everything I experienced in Lofoten and also a bit exhausted from all the activities, because the weather was so good (global warming is real) and we had more good weather than we had energy for. 

I believe that the best kind of travel is a slower travel style, which also implies a longer stay.

But I do realise this isn’t an option for some people.

I’m sharing my experience to help you plan and get a more comprehensive perspective on Lofoten travel. 

I follow Lofoten travel groups on social media, and I noticed that a lot of the recent travellers are staying for shorter times; some stay for 4 days, and others stay for a week.

Some had really bad weather and only drove around and visited some museums, while others had only sunny days and did a bunch of hikes in Lofoten. 

Both of these experiences can happen on your trip, and I think it’s important to be mentally prepared for them and not take them for granted if you have good weather or be disappointed if you get bad weather. 

Personally, I believe that I got much better weather than I bargained for, and there is a tendency in the Arctic for generally hotter summers, according to locals.

But the weather remains unpredictable. I know I talked about the weather topic in my other blogs about my month in Iceland and the time I spent in Sweden. 

If this will be your first time in the Arctic, it will be more brutal and somehow different from what you expect. Being prepared for the bad weather is the most you can do. 

I would definitely do it again, and I am seriously considering making this trip to the Arctic a yearly thing. That’s how much I enjoy being in nature and exploring Norway. 

I believe that the shock of how everything is expensive in Norway has worn off, and now I put more emphasis on the quality of service, the good I receive for my money and the unbeatable nature. 

If you enjoyed reading about my experience of living for a month in Lofoten in Norway, check out my blog about one month in Iceland and also the comparison between Norway and Iceland, which is such a debated topic by many travellers who also love nature. 

As always, if you have any questions, you can find me on social media. 

More Norway Travel Guides

Here is the complete list of guides I’ve written about Norway (all from extensive personal experience):

• Norway Travel Guide
• 10-Day Norway Road Trip Itinerary
• Best Norway Hiking Itinerary (Trolltunga, Preikestolen, and More) 
• Driving to North Cape, Norway
• Iceland vs Norway comparison guide
• Northern Lights in Norway
• Why Norway stole my heart forever