This travel update is for our two-day stay in Finnsnes, Norway. It covers August 26 – 27. “Any text in quotes and Italics has been copied and pasted from some informational website like Wikipedia.”

August 26, 2023 – Saturday: Driving to Finnsnes

We left the Lofoten Islands today. We enjoyed the impressive scenery of the area and have many pictures of fjords, mountains, lakes, charming fishing villages, etc. It’s been a nice week.

We departed the Airbnb in Svolvær around 9AM this morning. It was a fairly long drive to get to Finnsnes.

Just before noon, Patti used Google Maps to find a restaurant along our path and discovered an Italian restaurant in the village of Lodingen that was only 5 km off our route. As we came into the town, we saw lots of people milling around the downtown area and lot of cars around the docks. They were having a Classic American Car event today!!! Patti took some pictures.

Obviously, Norwegians like Classic American Cars. Last Saturday as we were driving toward the Lofoten Islands, we saw a parade of classic cars passing us by, so perhaps they have an American Classic Car gathering somewhere in the area every Saturday. Although the town was packed with lots of people, we easily found a parking spot near the Italian Restaurant and had an enjoyable lunch of pizza and pasta.

After that we continued on toward Finnsnes and drove through this area where fog was blowing into a fjord from the sea through a narrow straight. It was an interesting sight.

When we got into Finnsnes we went by the Coop Extra grocery store for some provisions, then went to our Airbnb. We are in a lower level / walk-out basement apartment. The host, Bianca, lives in the upper level. We have a small wooden front porch.

And our view from the porch is nice, we’re overlooking a fjord.

It’s a fairly standard place, the kitchen/dining/living room is roomy enough and the bathroom and bedroom are off to the side. Here’s Patti getting caught up on her computer work — she was probably updating this website!

We unpacked and talked about potential future plans. We are thinking that we’ll travel to Stavanger and Bergen after Trondheim, then maybe two weeks each in Stockholm, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark.

August 27, 2023 – Sunday: Senja

The island of Senja is a recommended pretty place to see, so our plan today was to drive around the island. Our Airbnb in Finnsnes is just over the bridge from Senja which is why we decided to stay here. From here we can quickly get to Senja and then tomorrow our drive to the Tromsø airport will not be very far. The western coast of Senja has a lot of fingers of mountains with fjords between them, as you can see on this map.

“Senja is an island in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway, Europe. With an area of 1,586.3 square kilometers (612.5 sq mi), it is the second largest island in Norway (outside of the Svalbard archipelago). It has a wild, mountainous outer (western) side facing the Atlantic, and a mild and lush inner (eastern) side.”

It was very foggy this morning in Finnsnes but we figured that on the west coast of Senja the fog would have attenuated by the time we got there. We made a picnic lunch of sandwiches then headed over the bridge to Senja. Unlike in the United States, most stores, including restaurants, are closed on Sunday’s here in Norway, so it was important that we prepared our lunch today. This map from Google Timelines shows today’s path, we went clockwise around the middle and northern areas of the island.

First we drove straight across the island to the village of Hamn which looks like it’s mostly a hotel, restaurant, and some fishing boats.

The fog was mostly cleared away and I got this picture of a lagoon there with fog in the background. I like the blue-green color of the water.

Next we drove by the place where the world’s biggest troll used to be, but, unfortunately it caught fire and burned up in 2019.

“The Senja Troll (Norwegian: Senjatrollet) was a tourist attraction in Finnsæter on the island of Senja in northern Norway. It was completely destroyed in a fire on March 28, 2019. The largest troll statue in the world, it was the centerpiece of a family park associated with the Hulderheimen cultural center, together known as the Hulder and Troll Park. The troll has been given a wife, or crone (kjerring); inside both figures are an adventure park and other attractions.”

Here’s a picture of what the troll and his wife looked like before they were destroyed by fire.

Even though the amusement park is closed there was a sign at the entrance saying people can walk around the grounds at their own risk. We’ve noticed in Norway that it seems like there’s a paradigm that people are responsible for their own safety.  I like this attitude. In the United States a closed amusement park would have fences protecting it with “No Trespassing” signs everywhere. Perhaps because in the United States they are afraid of being sued if/when someone is injured there. My opinion is that Norway is a more practical country in regard to these kinds of things.

We enjoyed our walk through the park, which is small, but still features a number of smaller trolls. Here’s Patti with a female troll at the entrance.

And here I am with a male troll partially camouflaged in foliage.

We had a fun 30 minutes walking around the park. After that we followed the coastal road to see the beautiful mountains and fjords that make Senja a popular tourist destination. Here’s our selfie at one of the scenic viewpoints.

Patti took this selfie and was surprised to see that her shadow reflected (that she has) a troll nose (on my shirt). Maybe it was the angle of the sun to her profile that made the shadow of her nose looks long and pointed, or perhaps, she has an inner troll?

At another rest stop we walked out on these rocks. We were close to the open end of the fjord and there was a fog bank out in the Norwegian Sea.

Here’s a nice picture of peaks across the fjord.

I liked the line of ridges at this fjord, the slopes have a different look, with more bare rock.

I zoomed in on these two ridges that I liked the shape of.

We saw several salmon farms in the fjords, here’s one. They have round pens in the fjord and there’s always a support boat nearby.

On the shore we saw the processing buildings.

As the afternoon went on ,we continued our drive along the coast and saw more scenic views. It is a very pretty island and we were glad to be there.

When we got back home to Lennsnes we did a little prework for our trip tomorrow. We’re driving back to the Tromsø airport to drop off the rental car then flying to Trondheim.