While booking our accommodation at Lofoten, did not know that Reine and Hamnøy are such beautiful locations.  We had decided to stay in a single place for the whole duration of our trip and we had booked accommodation at Eliassen Rorbuar at Hamnøy. Was wishing we get one of the tiny red houses which are seen in most lofoten photos. Luckily we got the cottage I was dreaming to stay in, the one facing the sea and the bridge to Sakrisøy. When we reached Hamnoy, it was night and we could only see the dark mountains in the moon light. And the same day we got our first impressions of Aurora Borealis, which made these mountains look more beautiful.

View from windows of Eliassen Rorbuar Cottage nr. 1

Next day was also supposed to be a sunny day and we woke up early to catch a glimpse of the surroundings during sunrise time. And my photography experiments started quite early before dawn and this is how the surroundings looked.For sunrise, we went across the highway where there are some big rocks on the other side of the road. One can climb up on those stones and see the sun rising above the Sea. Just before sunrise, the peaks of the mountains starts glowing orange and the whole surroundings gets such magical light part by part, words can not express. Best location to take photographs was from the Bridge which connects Hamnoy and Sakrisoy. From the Bridge, one can get the view of whole surroundings.

Impressions of Hamnoy at different times on a single day!

On the island of Hamnoy, if one walks down towards Eliassen Rorbuer reception building and still further down, there are rocks facing the mountains. One can sit on those rocks and enjoy the mountain views. From there one can get a panoramic view of whole mountain range along with Bridge to Sakrisoy. Once in a while small ferries which commute between Reine and small villages in Kirkefjord pass across.

Before sunset,  the whole area used to look different again with colorful clouds trying to kiss the mountain peaks.Days when we could not plan any outings, we walked towards Reine having glimpses of mountain range and the Rorbuers(fisherman cottages) along the way. In almost all places that we visited, the fisherman cottages were red in color. But at Sakrisoy, it was interesting to see them in yellow with dark shade of mountain range in the background.

In spite of having temperature around 0 degrees and wind making it much worse, I felt like sipping every cup of coffee/fruit tea standing in the balcony witnessing the changes in colors of the mountains and the surroundings, than being warm inside the cottage. And not all places make you feel like staying there for ever, but Hamnøy made me feel so.

Some more pictures of Reine, Sakrisoy & Hamnoy…