Helgeland Coastal Route (Kystriksveien)

About 650 Km Of Coast Road With Six Ferry Crossings, Past Torghatten, The Seven Sisters And The Svartisen Glacier, Crossing The Arctic Circle By Ferry · Bronnoysund, Nordland

Kystriksveien, the Helgeland Coastal Route, is road 17 (Fv17), running roughly 650 km from Steinkjer in Trondelag to Bodo in Nordland along one of the most island-strewn coasts in Europe. Instead of the fast inland E6, it threads between the sea and the mountains and uses six car ferries to cross the fjords, so the journey is as much by boat as by road. People come for Torghatten, the mountain with a hole right through it near Bronnoysund; the Seven Sisters peaks above Sandnessjoen; the Petter Dass Museum at Alstahaug; the ferry that crosses the Arctic Circle past a globe marker; and the Svartisen glacier reaching down towards the fjord near the northern end. Thousands of islands, pale shell-sand beaches, fishing villages and light traffic make it a road trip rather than a single sight. The honest caveat: it is slow. Ferry queues, narrow stretches and long distances mean you want at least three or four days, and in poor weather the islands and peaks can vanish into low grey cloud for days at a time.

Road 17 between Steinkjer and Bodo along the Helgeland coast; Bronnoysund and Torghatten near its southern end, Bronnoysund, Nordland, Norway

Open all year as a public road, with no season and no opening hours, but the six ferries run to timetables: frequent in summer, fewer late in the evening, at weekends and in winter. Most crossings are first come, first served, so you queue at the quay; check each timetable on Entur or the operator's pages before setting off, because missing the last evening ferry can strand you for the night. The southern end is roughly 2 hours by car north of Trondheim at Steinkjer; the northern end is Bodo, with its airport and the Hurtigruten and Havila coastal ships, which also call at Bronnoysund, Sandnessjoen and Nesna. Book rooms and cabins ahead for July; museums along the way keep summer hours.

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