Sortland, the blue city

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Sortland is the regional centre of Vesterålen, a district and archipelago in Nordland county. It is also called the blue city. It is day 14 of our roadtrip in Scandinavia. We stay two nights at the Sortland campsite. Reviews about this campsite were very bad. ‘Book a hotel’ was one of the comments someone made. With a bit of fear we drove to the campsite. We checked in and drove to our cabin. ‘Small and simple’ is how the owner of the campsite called the cabine. Like she was warning us for what we would encounter when opening the door to our cabin. 😖

It is not the best campsite I’ve ever stayed, but it’s fine. The cabin has all that you need and is clean. Although the toilet building could use some renovation, the showers and toilets are clean as well. I’ve been through worse.😅

It’s not weird that Sortland is called ‘the blue city’. There are blue buildings everywhere. In 1998, Bjørn Elvenes, a local artist, had chosen blue as a symbol of Sortland’s maritime and fishing heritage. 17 blocks of the inner city were then painted in various shades of blue.

Blue City © My Little Travel Stories

What to do in Sortland?

Visit the fish farm with salmon and trout
Meet the sami culture and feed their reindeers
Visit the white sanded beaches of Norway

Visit the fish farm with salmon and trout

Sortland has a real fish farm where you can get a unique insight into the production of salmon. At the fish facility, you get to go out on our boat to visit a real fish farm with salmon and trout, meet a real fish farmer and you get a guided tour of our great exhibits, showing aquaculture history from the pioneer era in the ’50s to today’s high-tech operations. They have movies, an underwater-camera and a 12-meter long map in glass, showing aquaculture expansion in Northern Norway. The visit includes also a delicious taste of smoked salmon or trout from their own production.

Fish farm. © Norsk Havbrukssenter

Meet the sami culture and feed their reindeers

The Inga Sami Siida is a small Sami family business located in Sortland, on Norway’s largest island, Hinnøya. They’re really happy to welcome people on their farm. They tell you the stories about their Sami culture, myths and magic, herding reindeers, and the daily life of the arctic reindeers and their exciting properties. You will experience Joik (The traditional song of the Sami people) while seated around the warm, cosy fireplace inside our lavvu, enjoying the special atmosphere. Outside, you can try lassoing and feed the reindeers. They are tame and eat food straight from your hand.

Visit the white sanded beaches of Norway

When I say to you ‘let’s visit a nice white sanded beach’ you probably won’t be thinking of Norway. Nevertheless, Norway has many beautiful white sanded beaches. From Sortland, you can drive very easily to the West coast of Norway and meet these beauties. 😍

It’s late August and it is not the right time to visit Sortland. The best time to visit Sortland is during the midnightsun season, or in winter when there is a high possibility to experience Northern lights. Otherwise, many attractions are closed. Of course, there is always nature where you can hike and walk. But instead of hiking, we wanted to do something more cultural. We planned on visiting the fish farm and we wanted to meet a Sami family and their reindeers. Unfortunately, both of them were closed. We decided to have a nice and warm cappuccino, with a good cheese cake in a -what else? – blue painted restaurant with a nice view over the Norwegian Sea. 😊

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