Island Hopping in Helgeland: Dønna & Herøy

A big reason I decided to move to Mosjøen is that I wanted to explore more of Helgeland. I love how varied the landscape is here, and that I can spend winter days in the snowy mountains in inner Helgeland and summer days on the beaches along the coast.

And so to make my fantasy a reality I decided to kick off my summer with a trip out to Dønna and Herøy, two nearby islands off the Helgeland coast.

Remember when I visited Støtt in the winter and vowed to return in the summer? Well this is the first of what I hope will be many blog posts about the magic of the Helgeland coast in the summertime. Though I am quickly running out of summer – maybe the next posts will have to wait until future summers.

The other day I jumped on Vrbo to see if there were any last minute rentals available for the weekend. And as luck would have it, one of the only options was a cottage on the island of Dønna. I say luck because just a few days prior I had hosted a Couchsurfer who had just returned from a trip to Dønna and the neighboring island of Herøy and she couldn’t stop raving about them. It seemed like fate!

What’s crazy is that I was a little reluctant to book this place because it didn’t look so nice in the photos, but ultimately I chose it for the location. Dønna sounded amazing, plus this cottage was just a few meters from the water!

But oh my goodness, the Vrbo photos did not do it justice at all – so of course I had to take my own. This exact cottage actually isn’t offered anymore, but this cottage on Dønna is similar. 

The cottage is owned by a fisherman who has worked all over the world, so he had lots of stories to tell in the short time he handed over the keys. This was his old family cottage that he had renovated, so it felt just like the Norwegian family cottages I grew up spending my summers at.

Again this is something I love about Vrbo in Norway – a lot of Norwegian families have cottages and cabins they barely use, so it’s wonderful that Vrbo gives them an opportunity to rent them out, plus cabin life is such an integral part of Norwegian culture that foreign visitors should get a chance to experience as well.

Dønna is seriously such a special island and I wish everyone could experience it.

A wonderful thing I discovered about Dønna is that, at least in June, even on a weekend the hikes were totally empty. It’s a sort of peace and quiet that I’m not sure even exists in southern Norway – at least not in the areas I know.

My couchsurfer had climbed Dønnamannen, or “the Dønna Man,” with her friend and raved about the views, but locals told me it was too dangerous to attempt alone. I still drove to the Einvika trailhead for Dønnamannen, but instead of heading up the mountain I mostly stayed down by the beach.

And if you’re wondering why it’s called the Dønna Man, just tilt your head.

I did climb up from the beach a little to get a better view, but I didn’t go too far up.

And then from Einvika it was just a short drive to the Åkviksundet bridge that connects Dønna to the neighboring island of Herøy.

Herøy is really small and has beautiful views of both Dønna and the Seven Sisters peaks overlooking Sandnessjøen.

I had also heard there’s a famous flower shop and garden on Herøy called ETCETERA that apparently you shouldn’t miss, so of course I had to check that out. And whoa, what a place!

And then afterwards I stopped by Herøy Brygge for a lovely meal right on the water.

After exploring Dønna and Herøy on my first full day on the island, the next day I was a bad blogger and relaxed on the back porch in the sun all day.

Though in the evening I did walk down to Breivika beach, which has a view of Dønnamannen from the other side – along with a very pretty beach! I even made it into the water. Very, very briefly.

I also enjoyed watching the midnight sun dip down to the water and then back up again each evening from my spot on the back porch. Norway in June really is something special.

Getting to Dønna and Herøy

Getting to Dønna is quite easy. There’s a ferry from Sandnessjøen, which you can reach by bus from the train station in Mosjøen. The bus lines up with the train, so it always leaves a few minutes after the train arrives.

I drove to Dønna (using the ferry from Sandnessjøen), and while I love the idea of exploring the island on foot or by bicycle, I was glad to have my car with me so I could see all of the island and also drive across the bridge to the neighboring island of Herøy.

Though the drive from Mosjøen to Sandnessjøen was a little bit scary.

Anyone who has done that drive probably thinks I’m referring to the 10+ kilometer tunnel between Vefsn and Leirfjord, which certainly is a bit anxiety inducing. But what really made me anxious was the Helgeland Bridge to Sandnessjøen.

I already have a slight fear of driving over bridges (it’s a real phobia, I swear), and this one curves around in what I would probably consider a very beautiful manner as a passenger, but as a driver it feels like I’m about to drive straight off the edge of the earth.

So you can look forward to that on your way to Dønna.

But I’m still glad I took my car, because the drive around the islands was so pretty and I honestly could have happily spent all weekend driving around and around Dønna and Herøy.

Though actually now that I think about it I could have left my car in Sandnessjøen and just brought my bicycle to Dønna. Maybe I’ll do that next time.