Cruise the North Atlantic Coastlines by Sailing Schooner

Categories Small Ship Cruises Schooner Cruises Fjord Cruises Adventure & Eco Travel Winter & Spring Cruises Cruises

8 days and 7 nights aboard the sailing ship Nooderlicht

The North Atlantic islands and coastlines offer some of the finest scenery and wildlife experiences in the world. From the Scottish Isles to the High Arctic, visitors to the region can witness enormous colonies of seabirds thronging the cliffs and shores, and enjoy the thrilling antics of whales and dolphins and seals at sea.

Though remote and sparsely populated today, many of the places we explore have been inhabited in the last 5000 years, and thousands of unique prehistoric and historic sites are a testimony to the thriving cultures of the past.

The Lofoten voyages take place in late autumn, when the days are short in Northern Norway. We can expect the first snow showers, and sometimes temperatures just above freezing. The autumn colours will be beautiful during the day time. At night, when there is open sky we may be able to admire the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights). The Lofoten voyages are very dependent on the weather, which can be quite rough. Therefore the outline of the voyage, given below is just for guidance.

Itinerary

Arrival by public bus in Lødingen. Staying on the sailing-ship “Noorderlicht” in the harbour of Lodingen.

Departure from Lødingen and sailing for the Tysfjord. At noon we land at Musken, a Sami community.

At Musken is the entrance to the deepest cave in Europe. In the evening we arrive at Hellemobotn near a deserted summer camp of the Sami.

We will have an extensive excursion in the untouched wilderness area of Hellemobotn, where we are close to the Swedish border. There are small chances of seeing some reindeer. Later in the afternoon we sail to Drag, where another Sami community exists. Here we will spend the night.

Morning walk to the Stone Age petroglyphs at Leiknes. Images of animals such as a Killer Whale and Elk have been carved into the hard rock in the hills. In the afternoon we climb the hill at Skarvberget which is an outlook post for Sea Eagles. In the evening we sail to Tranoy to spend the night and may visit the small museum there.

In the morning we walk to the nice lighthouse of Tranøy and admire the works of art that are placed in this small artist’s village. Tranøy is known because of the Norwegian writer and Nobel-prize winner, Knut Hamsun. We sail to the island of Skrova where we arrive late in the afternoon. We stay there for the night. Skrova is a small, rugged island where the 200 inhabitants mainly live from fishery. It is one of the few places in Norway from where whale hunters still hunt for Minke Whales.

Morning walk on Skrova. A easy walk brings us to a nice bay on the other side of the island. The active passengers can climb the 255 meters peak of Skrova for the 360º view. Good chances of Sea Eagles during these walks. In the afternoon we sail for Henningsvaer the Venice of the North. This beautiful historical village was until the beginning of the 20th century a centre for the Lofoten Cod fisheries. Later we sail to Svolvær the biggest town of Lofoten. We stay for the night in Svolvær so there is a chance to enjoy the famous Svolvær night-life.

In the morning we sail into the Trollfjord, a famous steep fjord a few hours sailing from Svolvær. Afterwards we head for Tranøy, on the Norwegian mainland, where we stay for the night. With a good wind we sail in the afternoon to Hustadgaard in Vestbygd. Here we will have the opportunity to see the “Øye I Stein”, “Eye in Stone”, a sculpture of 37 tonnes made by the Indian artist Anish Kapoor. Then we have to head for Lødingen again. Arrival in Lødingen late in the evening and staying there for the night.

Disembarkation from the Noorderlicht in the morning, public bus to the airport

Notes