Visiting Norway’s Most Beautiful Island: Træna

Even though I’ve now left Helgeland and moved to Bergen, I still consider the islands off the Helgeland coast to be the most beautiful part of Norway, and the most iconic islands of all would have to be the Træna archipelago.

Even before living here I recognized the shape of the mountains of Træna as being from “that famous island in northern Norway.” Træna is certainly special, and definitely worth a visit.

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So when I planned a summer island hopping trip in Helgeland with my friend Ida, I knew I’d have to take her to Træna. 

I had only visited Træna once before, mostly because Træna is a bit of a journey to get to. We got the ferry from Sandnessjøen, which is about an hour’s drive (or bus ride) from Mosjøen. The ferry from Sandnessjøen to Træna takes two and a half hours, though if you’re coming from the north you could get the ferry from Stokkvågen or even Bodø. You can check the ferry schedule and book your tickets here.

I already said this when writing about the island of Lovund, which incidentally neighbors Træna would make a great addition to a trip out here, but one of the wonderful things about these Helgeland islands is that you can get a ferry here from Bodø and you often won’t need a car as they’re usually small enough to explore by foot.

So while many of these islands are quite remote, they’re actually really convenient to get to and get around – at least by Norwegian standards! You can simply board a ferry in downtown Bodø and a few hours later find yourself having a totally unique and truly authentic experience of Norwegian coastal life, far away from the tourist crowds of Lofoten and the fjords of southern Norway. And what you lose in crowds you certainly won’t lose in views:

Fewer than 500 people live on Træna, on the islands of Husøya, Selvær, Sanna (the island with the famous mountain peaks) and Sandøy.

Husøya

On both of my visits to Træna I stayed on the main island of Husøya, where most of Træna’s residents live. There’s a supermarket here, as well as a few shops, cafés, a school, and several accommodation options. However – and now this is something I rarely say because I’m a huge fan of cute Norwegian accommodation – I really recommend wild camping on Træna.

Træna accommodation

I recommend camping if you’re visiting Træna in the summer and the weather looks nice. When I camped here I actually waited for a hot, sunny day to book my ticket to Træna and I still was very cold at night, as is the case with camping in Norway. But the views were totally worth the cold nose at night.

If the weather isn’t looking great or you don’t want to lug a tent around with you, I can also recommend staying at Træna Overnatting. Ida and I stayed here on my most recent visit, and their downstairs rooms are dog friendly so Alfie could come too! The stay includes quite a nice breakfast, and because the bathrooms and showers are shared, we were able to return here and shower after our hike on Sanna, even though we had already checked out that morning. 

But camping on Træna is certainly a more special experience. 

The great thing about camping on these islands is that while on mainland Norway it can actually be kind of difficult to find good wild camping spots unless you’re hiking up into the mountains, often the islands have such small populations that it’s easy to walk out of town and have tons of space to yourself. And that’s exactly how it is on Husøya.

There is a campground here with showers and toilets, but unless you really need to be close to a toilet I would definitely recommend setting up your tent somewhere more secluded with a better view. The campground is mainly for those coming for the annual Træna Music Festival, but you can stay here for free during the rest of the summer.

Petter Dass Chapel

While on Husøya you don’t want to miss the lovely Petter Dass Chapel (there’s a sign post at the end of the road from the ferry). The Petter Dass Chapel was built in 1997 in memory of theologian and poet Petter Dass, as well as those who struggled and disappeared at sea. Fishing has always been key to those living on Træna, and in fact ancient findings date Træna’s fishing village back nearly 9000 years.

The chapel is also nearby where I pitched my tent for the night. The views here were impeccable:

Eating on Husøya 

Ida and I had a wonderful dinner at Havfolkets Hus, right by the supermarket and ferry port. 

Aloha Café also looks really cute. 

And of course you can buy food at the Joker supermarket. 

Sanna

Considering that the main attraction on the island of Husøya is the view of the mountain peaks on the island of Sanna, you’ll probably want to visit Sanna on your Træna trip as well. 

You can get the express boat to Sanna from Husøya, and be sure to confirm with the staff on board when you’ll be returning, as the boat often only stops on Sanna by request. You can check the schedule here. 

At first I didn’t think getting the boat to Sanna was necessary, as the view from Husøya is so spectacular, but the mountains were even more incredible up close! 

Plus Sanna has the loveliest sandy white beach. 

Ida and I decided to hike up Gompen, which is the easiest of the peaks here to climb. The hike up only takes about 30 minutes, or perhaps longer depending on how fast you go. But what’s interesting is that the majority of the hike up happens in a pitch black tunnel! You can find the hiking route here. 

The tunnel was a lot darker than Ida and I had expected, so our phone flashlights were very little help. But luckily a family with stronger flashlights came up behind us, so we hiked up with them. Lesson learned: bring a proper flashlight if you want to hike Gompen, and don’t just rely on your phone! 

I hadn’t realized the hike was mostly up through the tunnel, so I was so surprised when we exited the tunnel and were already at the top of the mountain. Somehow hiking up in the dark felt easier, maybe because I couldn’t tell how steep the climb was. 

If you have good hiking boots you can go down the the side of the mountain instead of returning back down through the tunnel. But since we were wearing sneakers we returned through the tunnel. 

There’s also a café on Sanna called Grendahus, but it was closed when we visited. 

Otherwise there’s not so much to do here, but it’s a lovely place to simply enjoy the beautiful views! I also made a little video from our visit to Træna here.