Svolvær is the main town of the Lofoten Islands, far north of the Arctic Circle, and it sits on a tight cluster of rocky islets and harbours beneath steep, jagged mountains that rise straight from the sea. It has about four thousand people, a busy harbour full of fishing boats and ferries, and colourful wooden buildings on stilts along the water, including the red and yellow rorbuer, old fishermen's cabins now used for tourist accommodation.
Above the town, a pinnacle of rock called the Svolværgeita, the Svolvær Goat, rises from the mountainside with two horns at the top, and climbers sometimes leap from one horn to the other, a jump of about a metre and a half with a long drop below. The mountains around Svolvær are steep and rugged, with trails to summits offering views over the islands and the sea.
For centuries, Lofoten has lived from the sea. Every winter, huge shoals of cod, called skrei, come here from the Barents Sea to spawn, and fishermen have come from all over Norway to catch them. The fish are hung on wooden racks to dry in the cold air, producing stockfish, which has been exported to Europe for over a thousand years. You will see the racks everywhere, empty in summer and full in spring. Nearby, in Kabelvåg, the old fishing village has a large wooden church, often called the Lofoten Cathedral, and an aquarium and a museum telling the story of the fisheries. During the Second World War, British commandos raided Svolvær in 1941, destroying fish oil factories and capturing German soldiers.
The riding in Lofoten is spectacular. The E10, the main road, runs the length of the islands, connected by bridges and tunnels, with views of mountains, fjords, beaches and villages. It is narrow in places, with tight bends and single-lane bridges, and it is busy with tourists in summer. The weather is changeable, with rain, wind and fog, even in summer, but when the sun shines, the light is magical. From late May to mid-July, the midnight sun never sets.
Svolvær has fuel, food and every service, and the harbour has restaurants serving fresh fish. Try bacalao, a stew made from dried and salted cod, a dish that came back to Lofoten from the countries that bought its fish.