Bodø is a young city with an old burn scar. On 27 May 1940, German bombers destroyed most of the town centre during the campaign for northern Norway, and the replacement was built in the plain, practical style of the postwar years. It is not a pretty place in the postcard sense, but it is a sensible, friendly one, with about thirty-four thousand people, a harbour full of boats and mountains standing in a ring on the far side of the water.
Its true magic is its position, north of the Arctic Circle on a headland facing the Lofoten islands. In early summer the sun stays above the horizon for weeks, and in winter the sky puts on the northern lights. The cathedral, completed in the 1950s, stands apart from its bell tower, which looks like a separate building altogether, and the Norwegian Aviation Museum is a good place on a wet day. Bodø was a European Capital of Culture in 2024, and it has been busy ever since.
Out of town, the real star is Saltstraumen, about thirty kilometres away, where the tide forces vast amounts of water through a narrow channel and produces whirlpools you can watch from the bridge. It is regularly described as one of the strongest tidal currents in the world, and you can time your arrival with a tide table. Sea eagles gather there, and so do anglers. Further afield, the Svartisen glacier tumbles from a high ice cap not far to the south, and the Lofoten ferry leaves from the harbour for a crossing of a few hours.
For a long ride east towards the Swedish border, as this route does, the roads are gentle at first, then climb through birch and pine into high, open country. Traffic is light, bends are long and easy, and the main danger is reindeer, which stand on the tarmac as though it were their right. Mosquitoes in July are fierce, so stop with care. Weather can swing from sun to sleet in an hour.
Fuel is easy in a town of this size, with stations across Bodø, and it is the place to fill up and eat before heading inland. The roads beyond are long and the services sparse.
Finish the day on the waterfront, with fish and a late sun that does not seem to want to go down.