A guide to exploring Kvaløya and Sommarøy in Norway

While many people will head to the Lofoten Islands in Norway during the winter, the islands of Kvaløya and Sommarøy, north of Tromsø make for an amazing adventure and an unusual alternative to the more popular photography locations.

Whether you arrive by car or are taking a Norway cruise the first island of Kvaløya is only 10 minutes from Tromsø. The mountains of the island can be seen from Tromsø, and as you drive around the island the road hugs the coast with the high peaks towering above.

Beyond Kvaløya are the smaller islands of Sommarøy and Hillesøya. These remote islands with small fishing villages feel like the edge of the world, especially in a winter storm. When the winter sun dances along the skyline they are totally different with stunning white sand beaches and big skies.

All of the islands provide lots of unusual photography locations as well as wildlife encounters. Even in the winter, it is possible to see reindeer grazing by the side of the road reaching the lichen that sits below the blanket of snow.

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Ersfjordbotn

After the first bridge to the small fishing village of Kvaløysletta, the road to the west will take you to Ersfjordbotn. This small fishing village sits on a small isthmus between Ersfjorden and Kaldfjorden. Ersfjorden is a beautiful fjord with high mountains on either side. During the winter months, the sun never makes it above the mountains and a beautiful pastel sky lingers through the day.

Even before you reach the village there are stunning views across the two fjords from the viewpoint above the village. In good weather, you can see across the fjords to the mountains beyond.

The shoreline here has pebbles that are often covered in snow and ice with shells dotted around the water line. Set back from the water are some small fishing huts that are weathered with beautiful red metal, silvered wood and old nets hanging from the ceilings, caught in the wind in icy patterns.

Ersfjordbotn is the perfect location for the northern lights. The fjord is north-facing and combined with the snow-covered mountains it is beautiful.

Discover more places to see the northern lights in Norway in my guide.

To the west of the village is a small waterfall that is often frozen and even when it is flowing it is a beautiful location.

Straumen Gård near Straumsbukta

On the shoreline of Kvaløya lies the traditional wooden farming village of Straumsbukta with the nearby Straumen Gård, now part of the Perspektivet Museum in Tromsø.  Close to the beautiful village of Ersfjordbotn, this wooden insight into fishing life is rugged and stunning.  With 10 listed buildings from the 1850’s it stands on the freezing shoreline. 

Balanced on the edge of the fjord is a collection of homes, made of birch from the 19th century around a central courtyard that blends in with the landscape.  This is a desolate location but perfect for photography.

The houses, from a distance, look colourful and smart but as you get closer the reality is far from it.  These are weathered and worn.  Surviving brutal cold in the winter.  Harsh winds and weeks of twilight and no real sunlight.  However, this gives them a beauty all of their own.

The silver from the birch glistens.  The mosses are bright green against the dark dampness of the wood on the roofs.  Plants are growing from any surface they can find.  Now dead and dried, the plants are surviving as best they can before spring and sunlight arrive in a few long months.

Tverrbotn

Close to the town of Nordfjordbotn is a small pull-in off the road. It is a strange place with power lines and a number of small summer houses and restaurants. With the winter light, the sky above the fjord looks spectacular while the sun glances along the tops of the mountains.

A small jetty gives height above the fjord or you can take the small path down onto the rocky shoreline. This is slippery with pebbles but this adds to the foreground of any composition that you may find. Bigger boulders hang on to the snow while the small pebbles are frosted with patterns and sprinkled with shells and small twigs. Small pancakes of ice spiral on the surface of the fjord as it attempts to freeze and the stillness of the fjord reflects the mountains and the sky.

Kattfjordeidet

Between Nordfjordbotn and Ersfjordbotn the road runs through a valley. In the summer this has a large lake with high mountains. In the winter this is frozen and hidden beneath deep snow.

The mountains behind catch glimpses of sun and shimmer in a beautiful alpenglow that lasts much longer than you would expect in other mountainous areas.

At Kattafjordeidet the trees that hug the shore can be seen peeking through the snow and give an impression of the shoreline that can only be imagined in the deep winter snow.

This is another location for northern lights photography as the lights spiral above the peaks.

Sommarøy

The village and its waterside hotel are about 90minutes drive from Tromsø, located close to the bridge joining Sommarøya to Hillesøya.  

The village backs onto the fjord with vast skies and northern lights if you are lucky. It is the perfect location for weather watching or just enjoying the calm of a remote Arctic village.

Photography around Sommarøy focuses on the wide open spaces and the vast ocean that extends as far as the eye can see. Mountains from the distant island of Tussøya can be seen on a clear day and the small fishing huts dotted along the shoreline are the perfect foreground focus.

Wide sandy beaches are close to the village and while coated in frost they give a hint of a tropical magic that you would not expect to see in the Arctic Circle.

How to get to Kvaløya and Sommarøy

Kvaløya and Sommarøy are easily reached from Tromsø by road. There are no ferries to worry about and while the weather can be bad at times the bridges are rarely closed and the roads are good. It is possible to hire a car in Tromsø or you can pick up a guide to take you out to the islands.

From Tromsø city centre take the E8 out past the airport and then pick up the 862 towards Kvaløysletta. This road loops around the north of the island past Ersfjordbotn and Nordfjordbotn.

Just past Sandviksletta, there is a smaller road towards Sommarøy. Following the 862 past the Sommarøy turning will eventually bring you round to Straumsbukta although beyond the village of Brensholmen and the ferry, it becomes a smaller unmarked road.

When is the best time to visit Kvaløya and Sommarøy

The islands are perfect year-round. In the summer months, there are beautiful sandy beaches and fjords to kayak along. Hiking trails can be found in many of the small villages and there is more than enough to do beyond photography.

In the winter months, the islands are quieter and the northern lights and snowy landscapes are the draw for many photographers. During the winter months, the sun never rises over the islands so it is the perfect location for long sunrises that run into sunset giving more than enough time for photography.

In the winter months, Arctic storms do pass through so it is sensible to keep an eye on the weather forecast and adjust your plans if needed. There are more than enough photography options in Tromsø where the weather can be less harsh and more predictable if it becomes impossible.