Harstad; Saturday, 09 May, 2026

Woken by the Hurtigruten once again, but at least today it was around the time I’d intended on getting up anyway, so I quickly showered and headed down for breakfast as I wanted to get a bus about 9:30.

I caught the bus out of town for about 20 minutes to the stop at Skallan which is the easiest access point onto the Kulturstien a 3km long walk along a ridge high above the Bygdesundet of the Kvæfjord. The reviews on the local tourist website listed it as one of the best things to do from the city and I wasn’t disappointed as the views along this relatively easy walk were spectacular from the wild landscape of the path, the historic farm huts and the views down on the fjord.

The walk should take a little over 90 minutes, but that’s if you’re not constantly stopping for photos, but even so I was comfortably at the end of the walk in Borkenes in time for the bus back into Harstad.

From the centre of town I headed back to the hotel to finish off my packing before checking out and heading down to the fast ferry quay to catch the final northbound leg of this journey onto Tromsø