Vesterålen is the archipelago of four main islands (Hinnøya, Langøya, Hadseløya, Andøya) that sits immediately north of Lofoten on the northern Norwegian coast. The two archipelagos are connected by the Hadselfjord crossing and are often grouped together by international visitors, but they are genuinely different in landscape and atmosphere. Lofoten is dramatic, vertical and increasingly busy in high season. Vesterålen is gentler, broader, considerably quieter, and rewards the traveler who is willing to slow down.
The defining geographical feature of Vesterålen is the contrast between the dramatic outer coast - particularly on Andøya, where the Bleik beach and the Måtinden cliffs face directly onto the open Norwegian Sea - and the more sheltered inland fjord arms. The archipelago sits on the same Lofoten-Vesterålen ridge as its more famous neighbour but the peaks are lower (most around 600-900 meters) and the coastal landscape is interrupted by larger flat areas of agricultural land.
The most distinctive single thing about Vesterålen is the marine wildlife. The continental shelf drops sharply about ten kilometers off the Andøya coast, producing a deep underwater canyon where sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) can be observed year-round, one of the few places in the world where that is possible. The whales stay in the canyon all year because the squid and deep-water fish prey is constant. The whale-watching operators based at Andenes, at the northern tip of Andøya, have been taking visitors out since the 1980s.
Beyond the whales, Vesterålen is the right corner of the country for a slower, quieter Arctic trip. The fishing villages at Stø and Nyksund - Nyksund was abandoned in the 1970s and has since been repopulated - have a particular off-the-grid character. The architectural Hurtigruten Museum in Stokmarknes is a serious half-day visit. Several of our cycling trips pass through. See Cycling Vesterålen.