Ferries from Gryllefjord ferjekai

Gryllefjord is a fishing village on the outer coast of Senja with a mountain behind it and a ferry slip in front. For nine months of the year it is a harbour that lands fish. For the other three it is one end of the only sea link between Senja and Vesterålen, and the road here fills with motorhomes.

The summer crossing

Gryllefjord to Andenes takes about 100 minutes, with 3 sailings each way, operating under the Svipper network for Troms. The service is seasonal, roughly mid-May to late September, and there is no booking.

Season dates, queue times and the practical planning around them are set out on the Senja guide. The short version: arrive early, and do not make this the last leg before a flight.

⚠ Getting to the quay is its own problem

Gryllefjord is on Senja's exposed western side, reached by Fv86 over the interior. The road is narrow, winding and slow, and in poor weather it is the part of the journey that goes wrong rather than the crossing.

Allow considerably more time than the distance suggests, particularly with a large vehicle. Coming from the Tromsø direction the driving is the long part of the day, not the boat.

What the village is

A working fishing harbour of a few hundred people, with the mountains dropping straight into the fjord behind it. There is fuel, a shop and somewhere to eat, and not much else — which matters if you are queueing for a sailing several hours ahead of departure.

The Senja national tourist route runs along this coast, so the approach is genuinely spectacular even though the village itself is unremarkable.

Out of season

When the Andenes ferry stops, Gryllefjord goes back to being a fishing port and the only way to Vesterålen is the long road round the mainland — several hours rather than one hundred minutes.

That is worth knowing in early May or late September, when the road is open and looks like it should work but the boat is not running.