Northern Norway is home to waterfalls, Northern Lights, dramatic cliffs and niche museums. Hop in the (probably rental) car and explore one of the best one-week road trip routes through Arctic Norway!

Why this blog? My name is Maddy and I’ve been working as an outdoor guide and travel writer since 2018. It’s my mission to help match travelers like you to the best possible adventures for your skill and comfort level. In fall 2026, my husband and I took a two week road trip through Northern Norway that laid the foundation for this article. These recommendations have been personally vetted in person on the ground.

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Ultimate One Week Arctic Norway Road Trip

Arctic Norway is one of the most beautiful places to explore, and a road trip is the perfect way to see both iconic and can’t miss sights and delve off-the-beaten path into the Norwegian wilds. Summer brings the midnight sun and daylight for 24-hours, while winters bring a dancing Aurora.

A few things to keep in mind on your Northern Norway Road Trip:

• Drive safely! Especially in the winter, roads may be treacherous. If you’re not experienced in winter driving, consider an autumn trip instead — your chances of Northern Lights are still good.
• Remember to be a conscious visitor: pack out all trash, hike only on designated trails and follow posted rules and regulations.
• Download the EasyPark app to pay for parking when relevant throughout Norway. Many hikes, scenic stops and more use this app.

This one-week route begins and ends in Tromsø, considering that this is one of the best places to fly-in and rent a car. While many popular routes head to the Lofoten Islands, this route ventures to a few less-touristed destinations. While the Lofoten Islands are beautiful, we wanted something less crowded that felt a little original and unique. This is the route I’m sharing with you today!

Day one: Explore Tromsø, Norway

You’ll begin your trip by flying into the Tromsø airport and picking up a rental car. If you’re coming from the United States, keep in mind your flight is likely to get in in the morning or mid-afternoon. To best combat jetlag, spend an afternoon exploring downton Tromsø before checking into your hotel.

Now we actually spent a total of 4 or so days in Tromsø on our trip since my husband has family who live in the city — truly if you can extend your stay in Tromsø I highly recommend it. It’s a really fun spot with so much to do. However, if you only have an afternoon and the following morning here’s what I would hit, plus or minus a activity:

• I’d get a cardamom bun at Rørt cafe
• Get a reindeer hot dog and hot wine from Raketten Bar & Pølse on Storgata Street (Tromsø’s oldest bar)
• Visit the Polar Museum on the harbor to learn more about the Arctic and
• Visit the Gateway to the Arctic Ocean Mosaic Arch

If visiting in the winter months, I’d also consider a whale watching tour in the fjords or a guided Northern Lights tour.

READ: 17 Things to do in Tromsø, Norway

Day two: Tromsø to Lyngen

From Tromsø, hop in the car and head North to the Lyngen Alps. You can take a ferry across the fjords to make the journey less than three hours.

Overall, the Lyngen Alps make for a really great destination for outdoor lover’s looking for a quiet, interesting and very beautiful area to explore. I highly recommend staying at the Aurora Distillery Cabins, which tiny cabins with kitchens and a sitting area and a stunning window right on the fjord.

There aren’t a ton of places to eat out in the Lyngen Alps, so it’s important to have a plan for food, even if just breakfast and lunch. This can also help you save money since food in Norway can be expensive. While light in restaurants, the Lyngen Alps are rich in hiking trails! Spend the afternoon of your second day tide pooling and relaxing by the fjord, or exploring any of the hiking options in the region.

Day three: Hike the Blue Lake and Sauna

Blåisvatnet, or “The Blue Lake”, is a 4.5 miles (8 kilometers) hike that has earned it’s place as one of the most photogenic hikes in Norway and for good reason. This trek takes you up to the base of a dramatic peak to an electric blue lake feed by glacial meltwater. This hike will likely take 3-5 hours depending how long you choose to linger at the Lake. Find Blue Lake parking lot here; this lot is a paid lot.

After your hike, hit the Svensby – Lyngen sauna (contactless, book online) for the quintessential Norway experience — a hard hike followed by a hot sauna and a swim in the frigid North Atlantic!

READ: Ultimate Guide to Norway’s Lyngen Alps

Day four: Tennes Pictoglyphs and Målselvfossen

Spend the fourth day of your Norway road trip on the road between Lyngen Alps and Senja Island. Along the way, there are plenty of interesting sights to visit. We opted first for the Tennes Pictoglyphs which date back to around 6000 years ago and hunter-gatherer societies.

Here, we learned that these glyphs, which now lie on exposed rock well above sea level, were once the coast at the edge of fjord. Wild!

The Tennes pictoglyps are a short hike through the woods to reach multiple pictoglyph sites; we budgeted around an hour to explore here before heading to our next destination: Norway’s national waterfall!

Målselvfossen is the National Waterfall of Norway and it is well worth the visit, reached with a short hiking trail from the campground parking lot. Here, you can check out multiple viewpoints as the large falls cascade over a series of drops.

While the waterfall itself is beautiful, one of the most interesting parts of this stop is the historic fish ladder and interpretative signs in English and Norwegian lining the site. Well worth a visit for anyone intersted in geology, history or just looking for a lovely waterfall to check out.

Day five: Ånderdalen National Park

It’s time to leave the mainland and head out to Senja Island! Spend day five of your road trip exploring beautiful Ånderdalen National Park, whether by a short day hike and exploring the visitor’s center, a longer, full-day hike or driving through the scenic roads that wind through this part of the island.

Truly this part of Senja Island was my favorite part of our Norway road trip. There were so many roadside waterfalls and pull offs with short hikes to beautiful views, and this was the first place we saw reindeer grazing in the wild. It felt really magical.

I recommend buying a paper map for this part of your trip, and exploring whatever strikes your interest. We spend two days here doing this instead of one, and rest assured that you really can’t go wrong; whatever you choose will be a stunning experience.

Day six: The Senja Coast

After spending some time exploring the lesser-traveled parts of Northern Norway and Senja Island, it’s time to head to the scenic and very famous part of the coast — after all, I tend to believe that popular things are popular for a reason. Hike Hesten peak to view the iconic Selga mountain (pictured below, right looking back from the iconic peak at all the tourists enjoying the more popular view).

Also check out Ersfjord Beach and Bergsbotn Viewpoint for no-hike scenic views. For two options for beautiful places to stay on Senja Island, check out Hamn i Senja and/or Norwegian Wild. Overall we spent five days on Senja Island, which was honestly more time than we knew what to do with — we were way too tired and sore at this point to squeeze in another hike! I think two to three days is probably the perfect amount of time to spend on Senja for most visitors.

READ: 15 Incredible things to do on Senja Island

Day seven: Return to Tromsø and/or explore Kvaløya

With any road trip, I recommend leaving your final day flexible. At this point, you might well be tired from all your adventures. Or perhaps there was something you ran out of time for on a previous day, and are hoping to fit in before you leave. Either way, keeping a flexible final day makes for a more enjoyable trip in my opinion.

Spend day seven in transit back from Senja to Tromsø. We opted to head back into Tromsø early and check out some of the things we’d missed in our time there initially, but if you have extra time Kvaløya island is also really cool and worth a visit.

We did a few hikes on Kvaløya earlier in our visit, and had the weather been nicer we probably would’ve spent our final days near Tromsø exploring more here, particularly Sommarøy and Ersfjord. For us, we took our final day to pack in a few more museums in Tromsø and some shopping.

Love planning your next big adventure? Also check out…

• This remote backpacking circuit through the Canadian Wilderness has the best campsites you’ve never heard of
• It costs $455 USD to visit this waterfall. Decide if it’s worth it.
• This island national park is one of the least visited, but most revisited. Find out why.

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