Ferries from Reine hurtigbåtkai

Reine is the picture everybody has seen of Lofoten — red rorbuer on stilts under grey peaks. What is less well known is that the small boats leaving this quay are the only practical way into the fjord arms behind it, where there are no roads at all.

The two express boat routes

• Vindstad — about 20 minutes, 5 sailings. The landing for the walk over to Bunes beach.
• Rostad — about 15 minutes, 7 sailings.

Both are run by Nordland fylkeskommune as county transport, not as excursions. 24 active sailings in total across the quay.

⚠ This is a bus service that hikers use, not a hiking service

The Reinefjorden boats exist to serve the few remaining households in the fjord. The timetable is built around that, and it is thin — a handful of departures, with the last one back earlier than a long walk allows.

Check the return sailing before you set out, and understand that missing it in a roadless fjord is a serious problem rather than an inconvenience.

Bunes and Kjerkfjorden

From Vindstad the walk to Bunes beach crosses a low pass and drops onto a wide sand beach facing open sea, with the Helvetestind wall above it. It is one of the best-known day walks in Norway and the boat is the only way to start it.

The fjord's other arms — Kirkefjord, Forsfjord — are served on the same rotation.

Reine itself

The village sits on Moskenesøya at the far southwestern end of the E10, close to the road's end at Å. Moskenes, where the Bodø car ferry lands, is a few minutes away by road.

Accommodation is largely converted fishermen's cabins, and in July it is fully booked months ahead.

Season

The express boats run all year on a reduced winter pattern. Summer adds sailings; it also adds several hundred people a day to a village of a few hundred.