Wedding Location, Bodø

Bodø is a city in the north of Norway, located above the Artic Circle. You can find it on google maps here: here.

Bodø is the gateway to the Lofoten Islands, see below.

Getting there

Flying is probably the cheapest and easiest way to get to Bodø. The major airlines serving Bodø are SAS and Norwegian. I find google flights to be a good flight checking service: Google flights. Alternatives, such as road, sea and rail are also possible, but will take a lot longer, and we have little personal experience.

Bodø airport

Bodø has a small airport, which is very close to the centre of the town. There are taxis and busses easily available. You can even walk. You can follow this link for travel to and from the airport.

Flying

As mentioned above, I find Google flights provides good possibilities. Since a lot of people will travel from the UK, below are options from Birmingham and London. If you do fly from somewhere else and find something convenient, please let me know and I will update it here.

From Birmingham

There is usually a flight from Birmingham that goes via Copenhagen, Oslo and on to Bodø, with the airline SAS Alternatively, Manchester airport as well as London Heathrow usually have better and cheaper flights.

From London

Check Google flights and SAS for flights from London Heathrow (LHR) to Bodø (BOO), for the quickest and most affordable flights. They usually go through Oslo (OSL).

By Road

Driving will take a couple of days, but you can get a ferry crossing from the UK to the Netherlands and Denmark to Norway (Oslo) to shorten the trip a bit. Having said that, landing in Oslo and driving from there will be slow going. Nobody drives between cities in Norway, as the country is vast and mountainous. Norway has slow, single track, roads with heavy speeding fines. Better to blast it up through Sweden and cross closer to Bodø at a place called Gradis.

By Sea

As far as I am aware there is no ferry between Norway and the UK. Maybe you can get one from the Shetland or Orkney Islands, I cannot find anything myself, but if you do discover it, please let me know.

You can probably take a cruise to Norway. From withing Norway you can take the Hurtigruten, which is a famous old cruise boat that visits many of the cities and towns on the sea and fjords. Remember to take sea sickness tabs with you.

Staying in Bodø

There are many hotels in town. Here is a short list. There are no links, but you can find them with a quick web-search. Any hotel in walking distance to the centre of town is a good bet.

High-end

Mid-range

Cheaper

Weather

The weather is mercurial. It can be warm/cold, windy/still and all sorts even in summer. We are hoping for some warm weather with little rain, as we have outdoor space. We have a lot of indoor space though so it is not a problem if it’s bad. A little rain never hurt anyone (but it certainly tried). We will of course update the suggestions for clothing closer to. As the saying goes, there is no bad weather, only bad clothes.

Sunshine

In the midsummer in Bodø the sun does not set, but since we will be having the wedding on 2 August, there will be a couple hours of twilight. There may be clouds, which will make it darker, but not dark.

Wildlife

There are some incredible animals in Norway. In August you may be lucky enough to see the sea eagle (norsk: havørn) and the elk (norsk: elg). There are also whales (norsk: hval) and occasionally killer whales (norsk: spekkhogger). From Røst (a nearby island), you can take a trip to see puffins (norsk: lundefugl), and pufflings, though you may wish to book in advance.

Facts about the Elk

The Elk (what a Canadian would call a Moose, example phrase “hey, you’re not the same moose from last night!”) is in essence a very large deer (Latin: heftus deerus). They exist throughout Norway. They are usually shy, but should not be approached, especially if they have young nearby.

If you do find yourself face to face with an aggressive elk the best course of action is to take the initiative and charge first. Just put your head down and go for it. And I mean, really go for it. Try grunting too — why not? Remember, you want to catch it off guard, make it think: “hang on, I thought I was meant to be charging them”. If you do attempt this, please make sure you have someone on hand to film it.

Things to do

Lofoten islands

The Lofoten islands are a short ferry trip away and are a UNESCO world heritage site. It’s really worth a visit if you can make some time. From there you can swim, surf, hike, climb and do plenty more activities. Renting a car is a good idea.