Under the midnight sun: Helgeland coast and Svartisen

Hello all

Here is a north Norway trip, organized to last 4 days. This trip, which is called "live a whole spring in four days", will bring us in the no-stress destinations Helgeland and Svartisen national park ;). Let's immerse ourselves in hopping some of the most unique islands in the world in terms of landscape , one of them listed by UNESCO, and to achieve a memorable glacier hike under the midnight sun.

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The accommodation will be cabins or camping, or a combination of the two. Please declare in the form if you have a strong preference between the two options and we discuss it further in the group chat after you register.

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• Itinerary

I came up with an itinerary that traverses a part of the famous scenic route Kystriksveien with northern-most checkpoint at Northern Scandinavia's largest glacier Svartisen and a daytrip to an island that is what-i-believe the farthest arctic circle island that human can ever reach.

The trip focuses on enjoying these new places day and night, although there will be few hours of sleeping as well :)

Wednesday 7. June (Trondheim - Steinkjer - Lysfjord)

Approx. 16.00 or whenever everyone is ready - Depart from Trondheim with hire car.

22.00 - Arrive at Lysfjord for overnight accommodation (comfortable cabin with excellent view / camping).

Thurday 8. June (Lysfjord - Torghatten - Vega -Sandnessjøen)

8.30 am Check out and departure to Torghatten, where we we will have a pleasant walk to an impressive mountain hole with panoramic views over the ocean and the hundreds of small islands nearby.

12.30 am Depart to the island of Vega. One of the best ways to take in the beauty of this Unesco-listed island is to rent bicycles and cycle around the best points; The bicycle tour is easy on flat terrain and takes a couple of hours. There will be time to relax and have a meal.

5pm depart to the island of Sandnessjøen, home of the mountain range "The Seven Sisters". Someone had a good idea to connect all peaks together with a long hiking trail, but, our limited time on this island, will allow us only some short walks to enjoy some viewpoints from below and, maybe, on one peak of the mountain range.
Departure from Sandnessjøen either on the same night or the next day in the morning. The next part of the drive takes less than 2h and destination is Stokkvågen. The drive to Stokkvågen passes through the famous Helgeland bridge and the "House of the Winds"...

Friday 9. June (Stokkvågen - Arctic crossing point - Tjong - Svartisen)

1pm Depart to take the ferry to Jektvik which passes into the arctic circle (we will see a special landmark which welcomes us or something like that 😁). The plan is to arrive at the area of Tjong for a quick check-in to a cabin and then reach the meeting point for the glacier hike (It is also fine to depart at 9am from Stokkvågen and spend more time in the area of Svartisen)

5pm Meet our guide for the glacier hike at Holandsvika that will last around 7h. This activity is optional!

1am (Saturday) Return back to cabin at Tjong

Saturday 10. June (Tjong-Stokkvågen-Lovund-Mo i Rana)

Lovund is one of the farthest islands that belongs in the so-called "arctic circle islands". Lovund is home of a large population of atlantic puffins and we will probably spot some of these cute animals.

We can hike Lovundfjellet (2 hours one-way) for the "God's view" of the surrounding islands

5.45 am - Check out from the cabin at Tjong to catch the morning ferry back to Stokkvågen.

9.15 am 2-hour ferry trip to Lovund

18:20 - Leave Lovund behind and drive from Stokkvågen to Mo i Rana where we are staying for the night.

Sunday 11. June (Mo i Rana-"The marble castle"-Mosjøen-Trondheim")

9.00 am - A short drive from Mo i Rana will bring us at the unique Marmorslottet or the "Marble castle".

12.30 am - Depart to Mosjøen and then to Trondheim (stops to consider along the way: the old houses at Mosjøen center and the Skrøyvstadfossen waterfall near Namsos.

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• Estimated cost per person

Hire car for 5 days (unlimited kms): 400 NOK / person

Contribution for petrol: 300 NOK

Accomodation (4 days): 750 NOK (price will be reduced accordingly if you camp)

Ferry: 400 NOK

Total: 1100 - 1850 NOK / person for transportation and accommodation

Optional:

1850 - 2100 NOK for the glacier hike with guide (includes all equipment). The price per person depends on the number of participants.

~200 NOK for bicycle rental at Vega island

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• Registration

Please press "Going" and fill the following form for organizational reasons:

https://forms.gle/whkHCqcgGCdtZdif8

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• Things to bring

Steady hiking shoes, comfortable clothes (dress in layers), hat, sunglasses, gloves, bed sheets / sleeping bag