Not all ferries are the same<\/h3>\n\n
The crossing from Bod\u00f8 to the island of V\u00e6r\u00f8y takes about 5.5 hours<\/strong>, and unlike the previous ferries we\u2019d taken in Norway, this one runs on the open sea. That comes with a few quirks we weren\u2019t fully prepared for.<\/p>\n\n Unlike on most ferries, passengers must leave their cars and move up to the passenger deck; access to vehicles is essentially prohibited during the crossing. It\u2019s trickier with dogs\u2014the deck is off limits and they have to stay in the car the whole time. We still tried to \u201csmuggle\u201d him up for a while; it worked for about an hour before a crew member politely asked us to take him back to the car.<\/p>\n\n We were told we could check on our dog once an hour in the car<\/strong>, but only with a crew member accompanying us. In practice that was easier said than done\u2014the staff weren\u2019t always available, so we managed to check on him just once during the crossing<\/strong> and once during the stopover on R\u00f8st<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n En route the ferry makes a stop at the islands of R\u00f8st<\/strong> (also called R\u00f8stlandet), the westernmost and southernmost part of Lofoten, almost 50 kilometers<\/strong> from the main chain.<\/p>\n\n This stretch had a strangely mystical feel. R\u00f8st is little more than a handful of rocky stacks in the middle of nowhere. We arrived right at sunset: golden light, open ocean, the silhouettes of the rocks, and the sheer remoteness\u2014an atmosphere that\u2019s hard to put into words.<\/p>\n\n Only a few people get on or off here. There\u2019s a small fishing village, a few kilometers of road, and a functioning airport. The island is of strategic rather than touristic importance<\/strong>\u2014serving fishing first and foremost, and acting as a key point in the North Atlantic thanks to its position on Norway\u2019s fringe and that working airstrip.<\/p>\n\n Fun fact:<\/strong> In 2002, the R\u00f8st Reef<\/strong>\u2014about 43 kilometers<\/strong> long\u2014was discovered just off R\u00f8st, one of the largest cold-water coral reefs in the world.<\/p>\n\n The sun is setting and we still have more than an hour to go to V\u00e6r\u00f8y, specifically to the harbor in the village of S\u00f8rland<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n As soon as we disembark, we drive around to scout a few potential camping spots. The best one turns out to be on the island\u2019s north side, at the very end of the road: quiet, peaceful, scenic, and almost empty. The bonus? Public toilets with running water just a short walk from where we sleep.<\/p>\n\n It doesn\u2019t take long to realize how small and compact V\u00e6r\u00f8ya really is. It covers about 19 km\u00b2<\/strong>, with only around 700 inhabitants<\/strong> and essentially just two villages\u2014S\u00f8rland and Nordland<\/strong>. The road network runs for only a few kilometers, and everything feels simple, calm, and unhurried.<\/p>\n\n Even though the sun has long set, it\u2019s still light\u2014the summer sun barely dips below the horizon here. After unpacking and pitching the tent we finally crash, tired from the day. The night is fairly warm and pleasant, interrupted by a few short showers.<\/p>\n In the morning we dry whatever we can. The car roof turns into a makeshift kitchen, and we have breakfast overlooking the uninhabited island of Mosken<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n Close by is a now-disused airstrip, closed because of sudden, unpredictable winds. Today the surroundings make an ideal place to camp.<\/p>\n\n Morning brings a slight improvement, but the forecast is relentless\u2014cloud will build through the day. We head back to S\u00f8rland and park at a small lot beyond the village, where most hiking trails begin.<\/p>\n\n Our goal is H\u00e5en (438 m)<\/strong>, known for views over the island\u2019s western side. There\u2019s a military radar on top and a service road called Natoveien<\/strong> leading up. \u201cVeien\u201d means \u201croad\u201d in Norwegian, which hints at the origin of the name. The road would make for an easy ascent, but its first section runs through a tunnel in the mountainside, and entering the tunnel\u2014on foot or by car\u2014is prohibited.<\/p>\n The official trail climbs steep grassy slopes before joining the road higher up. The ascent isn\u2019t difficult; the path is maintained and easy to follow even in poorer visibility. After about an hour we top out\u2014only to find thick fog and a military compound. As for views, absolutely nothing.<\/p>\n\n In good weather, the panoramas from here are sometimes dubbed \u201cNorway\u2019s Nusa Penida\u201d<\/strong>, reminiscent of the view of Kelingking Beach<\/strong> on Nusa Penida<\/strong> in Indonesia.<\/p>\n\n We linger on H\u00e5en for a while, hoping the clouds might break. It soon becomes clear they won\u2019t, so we carry on.<\/p>\n\n From H\u00e5en we follow the ridge north toward Hornet (346 m)<\/strong>. At first we\u2019re still walking in fog, but the weather slowly eases. That\u2019s when we finally grasp what lies to our left: steep, often very exposed cliffs plunging straight into the sea. We put the dog on a leash, just in case.<\/p>\n\n On the right, by contrast, gentler grassy slopes drop toward S\u00f8rland. Only on the descent does the fog finally part and we get at least partial views. In the foreground Hornet shows itself; beyond it lies Mosken, and in the distance the main Lofoten islands.<\/p>\n\n After the descent we head straight back to S\u00f8rland. We\u2019re tired\u2014there\u2019s been a lot of moving around and a hike in changeable weather. We park near the fire station and cook a simple lunch.<\/p>\n By afternoon the weather is gradually improving, so I take the chance to send up the drone. At first I capture only the immediate surroundings and the military station on H\u00e5en\u2019s summit, but as the clouds lift, more distant views open up. I finally manage to photograph the island\u2019s western side, which we\u2019d missed in the fog. From above it\u2019s clear how rugged the coastline is\u2014and that there are several genuinely beautiful beaches.<\/p>\n\n In the evening we head back to the harbor to wait for the same ferry<\/strong> that brought us here the day before. This time we\u2019re sailing toward the better-known, busier parts of Lofoten<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n This detour at the end of the world was worth it. R\u00f8st felt mystical even from the ferry, and V\u00e6r\u00f8ya<\/strong> is a chapter of its own\u2014hard to pin down, all the more unique. For 0 NOK, it was absolutely worth it.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On our road trip through Norway, we\u2019ve made it to Bod\u00f8. This is where the next little adventure begins. We\u2019re heading for the famous Lofoten archipelago, but unlike most visitors we plan to start with one of its lesser-known islands\u2014V\u00e6r\u00f8ya. … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1980,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"V\u00e6r\u00f8ya, Lofoten: Ferry from Bod\u00f8 via R\u00f8st & the H\u00e5en Hike \u2022 IBO GUIDE","_seopress_titles_desc":"Ferry from Bod\u00f8 to V\u00e6r\u00f8ya via R\u00f8st: camping spots, dog rules on board, and the H\u00e5en hike with cliff-edge views and rugged beaches\u2014plus the 0 NOK fare quirk.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[105,88,112,135,87,134,132],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","category-hiking","category-norway","category-on-water","category-road-trips","category-through-forests-and-mountains","category-with-a-dog","latest_post"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibo.guide\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibo.guide\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibo.guide\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibo.guide\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibo.guide\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1979"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibo.guide\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3118,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibo.guide\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979\/revisions\/3118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibo.guide\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibo.guide\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibo.guide\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibo.guide\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}R\u00f8st: the end of the world<\/h3>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ibo.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/494311139_2874536376059759_8764462269176581679_n-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\nWhere are we?<\/h3>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ibo.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/494235590_2874536049393125_1442515225353843479_n-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ibo.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/494763394_2874536062726457_5188408877213412519_n-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nH\u00e5en<\/h3>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ibo.guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_2579-1-683x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAlong the ridge<\/h3>\n\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n