In 2024, during our road trip through Scandinavia and the Baltic states, we ended up driving almost the entire Nordøyane archipelago. This little-known corner of Norway slipped into the itinerary by pure chance—while planning, a road threading across these islands caught my eye on the map, and I found almost nothing written about it. Intriguing, a bit mysterious. No iconic viewpoints, no famous names, no must-see stops. So we went for it.
Route 659
From Ålesund we headed north on Route 659, part of the Nordøyvegen project. It’s a relatively new road, officially opened in 2022, that links six islands—until recently entirely reliant on ferries—via bridges, causeways, and especially subsea tunnels.
Unlike iconic Norwegian drives like Trollstigen or the Atlantic Road, Nordøyvegen isn’t dramatic or showy. It doesn’t serve up photogenic hairpins or viewpoints designed to flood social feeds. Its strength is its understatement—it works quietly, efficiently, with no need to dazzle.
The archipelago is made up of Haramsøya, Flemsøya (Skuløya), Fjørtofta, Harøya and Finnøy. Only a few thousand people live here, and tourism is still more a side note than a livelihood. That makes the contrast between the modern infrastructure and the quiet, almost empty villages the road passes through feel all the more striking.
With time often our biggest enemy on the road, we skip the first island, Lepsøya, and roll straight over the bridge and through the tunnel to Haramsøya. This is where Nordøyane’s odd charm really shows—yes, the modern road moves you quickly from place to place, but the islands themselves keep their own unhurried pace.
A night on Flemsøya
Along the way a few things leave us speechless. The bridges and tunnels impress most, but our first stops also reveal the natural beauty of these islands. The landscape is clean, Nordic-tough, vividly green; the sea, turquoise. It all sits alongside a mix of relatively modern wooden buildings and older fishermen’s cabins, often with grass on their roofs.
After a bit of aimless wandering and soaking up the mood, it’s time to find a place to sleep. There are only a handful of hotels on the islands—the cheaper ones were hopelessly sold out, and the one pricey option was simply too pricey. Our tent and the car save the day.
We pick Sandvika Beach on Flemsøya for the night. The weather, though, isn’t on our side—rain for most of the evening—so even though the beach is stunning, we can’t enjoy it the way we’d hoped.
We pitch the tent just a stone’s throw from the sea. Despite the rain, the place hums with atmosphere—views, the sound of waves, a mountain stream, a small pond of clear water, and absolute quiet. As a bonus, there’s a belt of dwarf mountain pine; paired with the nearby sea, it makes an unforgettable contrast.
As if the scene needed more kitsch, a rainbow appears just before sunset. The sky turns properly golden and, in that light, the rainbow feels more like a hallucination than reality. The only downside is the swarms of tiny midges, crawling everywhere they can and, unfortunately, they do bite.
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Harøyburet – a small hill, big views
The next morning we dry out the soaked tent and continue through the tunnels, across Fjørtofta and on to Harøya.
Here we take a short break and climb the island’s highest point—Harøyburet (156 m). A quick, easy hike that offers unexpectedly wide views. We see the whole archipelago, the mainland with its much higher mountains, and even Flemsøya with the beach where we slept the night before.
End of the road on Finnøy
Finnøy is the last island on our route. The road ends here. Either you head back the same way, or you carry on to the mainland by ferry, which runs several times a day.
It’s not worth hanging around too long for the ferry here. Finnøy doesn’t offer many ways to kill time, so I recommend checking exact departure times in advance. We filled the wait with a quick lunch, walking Iba, and a short nap in the car. Our ferry is already appearing in the distance, and we roll on to the next adventure.
Final thoughts
The Nordøyane archipelago offers the perfect space for solitude in beautiful surroundings—just about an hour’s drive from Ålesund. Sea, wind, raw nature, beaches, silence, and the sense of being off the main routes. A place that asks for nothing yet gives you exactly what you set out to find.