Here are a lot of good travel tips for how to get to Lofoten and Lillevik by plane, ferries, cars, etc. And some local rental car companies you may not know about.
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Travel to Lofoten by plane
Flying is definitely the fastest way to get to Lofoten. There are four “local” airports:
- Svolvær airport (small propeller airplanes only, requires a stopover)
- Leknes airport (small propeller airplanes only, requires a stopover)
- Evenes airport (domestic only, requires a bus or car ride)
- Bodø airport (international, requires a short flight to Svolvær or Leknes airports, or a ferry)
Fastest: Fly to Svolvær airport (or Leknes airport) via Bodø international airport
Fly to Svolvær with SAS or Widerøe, with a short stopover in Bodø. Rent a car (see below) at Svolvær airport, drive 45 minutes to Lillevik.
You can also fly to Leknes airport instead of Svolvær, the total time will be about the same.
Cheapest: Fly to Evenes (domestic) airport, then drive
Fly to Evenes (Harstad/Narvik) airport with SAS or Norwegian, rent a car (see below), drive 3 hours to Lillevik. Or take the airport bus, Flybussen, to Svolvær – which also takes about 3 hours.
This can be almost as fast as flying to Svolvær.
Getting around in Lofoten: Get a car
We strongly recommend having a car in Lofoten, unless you are travelling by bicycle or motorcycle. Public transport is extremely limited, and you risk wasting a lot of time waiting.
Local Lofoten rental car companies
There are several local rental car companies, plus the more common larger ones. Tip: The local companies may be easiest to reach by phone.
- Lofoten Rental Car: lofotenrentalcar.no (Svolvær and Kabelvåg, they will drive to meet you)
- Rent a car Lofoten: rentacar-lofoten.com
- Rent a car Moskenes: rentacar-moskenes.no
- Lofoten Leiebil: lofotenleiebil.no
- Avis (Svolvær)
- Hertz (Svolvær)
- Sixt (Svolvær)
- Budget (Svolvær)
- Rentalcars.com (global aggregator, often cheap)
- You can also try to rent privately with Getaround (used to be “Nabobil” or “Neighbourcar”)
There is also some useful “getting around” information at 68North. Also: Google search for “rental car lofoten”.
See Location for maps and driving distances to popular sights in Lofoten. You can also use Google Maps and the “Direction” functionality:
Alternative travel methods
EnTur is often the easiest way to find travels that combine different transportation methods (plane, ferry, bus, etc).
Torghatten Nord runs all(?) the ferries and express boats in the area.
Reis Nordland is the official travel planner, but it’s only available in Norwegian.
Travel by plane to Bodø, then a ferry to Lofoten
- Fly to Bodø (with SAS or Norwegian), take the express boat to Svolvær (ca. 3 hours). Then drive 35 minutes to Lillevik.
- Fly to Bodø, take the ferry to Moskenes (ca. 3 hours), rent a car, drive 2 hours to Lillevik. This ferry also takes cars.
Travel by car, from anywhere
Drive to Bodø (ca. 17 hours from Oslo), then take one of the ferries. (Pssst: Although some people think Tromsø is near Lofoten, it’s still a 6.5 hour drive)
- Drive to Bognes (north of Bodø), take the ferry to Lødingen, drive 2 hours to Lillevik. This ferry is the most frequent and reliable, and is rarely cancelled due to bad weather.
- Drive to Skutvik (north of Bodø), take the ferry to Svolvær via Skrova (ca. 3 hours), then drive 35 minutes to Lillevik. More risky in bad weather – and this ferry only operates in the summer.
- Take the ferry from Bodø to Moskenes (ca. 3 hours), drive 2 hours to Lillevik.
- Take Hurtigruten (the Norwegian Coastal Express) to Stamsund or Svolvær, drive 30-40 min to Gimsøy.
If you’re driving to Lofoten from the south: The Coastal Road (RV17) is really nice, and highly recommended. You drive on small roads near the ocean, and get to see a lot of beautiful nature and small towns. There are a lot of ferries, so it will take much longer than the more boring E6 highway. From the website:
Kystriksveien (The Coastal Road) stretching from Steinkjer to Bodø – a total of 650 km. This is a scenic road and most of the stretch is a National Scenic Route. You can expect breathtaking views and you will cross the Arctic Circle along the way. There are thousands of islands along this coastline and you should take the time to visit a few of them.
Don’t confuse the coastal route with the Atlantic Ocean Highway, which is only 8 km long, starts around 1000 km south of Lofoten, and is – to be honest – over rated.
