Neigbour to the well-known destination Lofoten, the island Senja offers a Norwegian experience with less tourism and traffic. The nature is fabulously dramatic with steep mountains and beautiful sandy beaches. Cycling on Senja takes you along its winding roads and paths. Thanks to the midnight sun, you can extend your days by cycling in the evenings and nights. With short day trips, there is time for easy but spectacular hikes to mountain peaks that plunge down to the sea. It is possible to combine your time in Senja with whale watching in Andenes to see killer whales, or to take a kayak trip on Senja. Click here for a glimpse of Senja (play from 9:30).
If you first go to Hamburg, there is a night train Hamburg - Stockholm. After a day exporing Stockholm you can take another night train to Narvik. With travel to and from by nigh trains, it is possible to do this trip in just 8 days with cycling 5 of the days. If you are no rush however, we would recommend lingering a little longer in this beatiful part of Norway.
The two night trains are run by Swedish railways and they do not allow regular bikes on their trains. There are two options to bring a bicycle: 1) bring a foldable bike or 2) dismantle a regular bike and pack it tightly. For either option, the regulations by SJ state a maximum bicycle size is 140x85x30 cm.
Here you can find facebook-posts from when this tour was made in 2022: day 1-2, day 3-4, day 5-6.
Below is a detailed itinerary, with cycling between 40 and 60 km per day (text in Swedish).
Train arrives at Narvik 12:48
Lunch in Narvik, and then bus 15:50 to Sortland, arriving 19:05
Evening cycle 63km in midnight sun
Overnight stay at Marmelkroken
Cycle 46 km to Andenes
Whale safari at 11:00 or 12:00, lasting 2,5-5 hours
Ferry to the island Senja at 17:00, 1:40hr trip
AirBnb-stay i Gryllefjord
Possible hike on Barden (3 h) in the afternoon
Cycle to Finnsnes 65 km
Stay overnight at Finnsnes gård
Cycle to Bardufoss 44 km (via Djupvåg)
Bus from Bardufoss12:40, arriving at Narvik 14:20.
Train departs from Narvik 15:10