Kayaking in Lofoten

Lofoten's mountains come straight out of the Arctic sea without foothills — thousand-metre granite faces rising sheer from the water — and from a kayak you are right at the base of them, looking up. Over six days of expedition paddling you camp on white-sand beaches, thread between islands, and cross open channels where the swell of the open sea makes itself felt.

What lifts it beyond a paddle is the exposure. In June the light never fully leaves — the midnight sun keeps the sky bright around the clock — but the water stays around ten degrees, the crossings are committing, and the weather is the real variable that turns this from a trip into an expedition. When it's calm, gliding beneath those walls in low golden light is about as good as sea kayaking gets.

The cold water and exposed crossings mean guided trips are the sane choice unless you have genuine sea-kayak experience. Go in the Arctic summer, and be ready for the weather to rearrange your plans.

Six days of expedition sea kayaking beneath Lofoten's mountains, which rise straight out of the Arctic sea without foothills — thousand-metre granite faces you look up at from the waterline.

You camp on white-sand beaches, thread between islands, and cross open channels where the swell of the open sea makes itself felt.

In June the midnight sun keeps the sky bright around the clock, but the water stays near ten degrees and the crossings are committing — the weather is the variable that turns this from a trip into an expedition.

When it is calm, gliding under those walls in low golden light is about as good as sea kayaking gets.

Go in the Arctic summer, June to August, and treat guided trips as the sane choice unless you have genuine sea-kayak experience — the cold water and exposed crossings are unforgiving of mistakes. Base around Svolvær or Reine, reachable by air or the ferry and road down the archipelago.

Come prepared for the weather to rearrange your plans; days off the water waiting out swell are normal. Bring or rent proper cold-water paddling kit — drysuit or thick wetsuit — and camping gear for wild beaches.

If self-guiding, carry full navigation, tide and rescue skills; this is open Arctic sea, not sheltered water.