Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Four to five buses daily connect Leknes and Å (1¾ hours) in summer, stopping in all
major villages along the E10.
Å
At the southern tip of Moskenesøy and the Lofoten islands, the bijou village of Å (appro-
priately, the last letter of the Norwegian alphabet), sometimes referred to as Å i Lofoten, is
something of a living museum - a preserved fishing village with a shoreline of red
ror-
buer,
cod-drying racks and picture-postcard scenes at almost every turn. It's an almost
feudal place, carved up between two families, now living very much from tourism but in
its time a significant fishing port (more than 700,000 cod would be hung out to dry here
right up to WWII).
Do the village a favour and leave your vehicle at the car park beyond a short tunnel and
walk in.
Sights
Norsk Fiskeværsmuseum
MUSEUM
(Norwegian Fishing Village Museum; adult/child Nkr70/35;
10am-6pm mid-Jun-mid-Aug, to
3.30pm Mon-Fri rest of year)
This museum takes in 14 of Å's 19th-century boathouses, storehouses, fishing cottages,
farmhouses and commercial buildings. Highlights (pick up a pamphlet in English at recep-
tion) include Europe's oldest cod-liver oil factory, where you'll be treated to a taste of the
wares and can pick up a bottle to stave off those winter sniffles; the smithy, who still
makes cod-liver oil lamps; the still-functioning bakery, established in 1844; the old
rorbu
with period furnishings; and a couple of traditional Lofoten fishing boats.
Lofoten Tørrfiskmuseum
MUSEUM
(adult/child Nkr60/40; 11am-4pm or 5pm Jun-Aug)
The Lofoten Stockfish Museum is housed in a former fish warehouse. You'll be bowled
over by Steinar Larsen, its enthusiastic, polyglot owner, who meets and greets every visit-
or. This personal collection, a passionate hobby of his, illustrates well Lofoten's traditional
mainstay: the catching and drying of cod for export, particularly to Italy. Displays, arte-
