Lofoten · Norway

Gimsøystraumen rest area

Norwegian Scenic Route rest area beside the bridge between Austvågøy and Gimsøy, toilets open all year; a reliable stop on the way to flat, open Gimsøy, which Visit Lofoten praises for its 360° sky.

See tonight's live score and best time to go for Gimsøystraumen rest area in Aurora Atlas

Gimsøystraumen Bridge in Vågan, Lofoten, Norway, 2015 April
“Gimsøystraumen Bridge in Vågan, Lofoten, Norway, 2015 April” by Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

Why it works for the aurora

View
North and south along the sound; Gimsøy's flat land to the north-east..
Darkness
Mostly dark sky, grade 2 on a scale from 0 (darkest) to 5. Some light from a village, houses or a road nearby.
Aurora
Under the auroral oval: aurora can be overhead even on quiet nights.

Getting there

Distance
About 37 km by road from the middle of Lofoten (estimate), roughly 43 min by car.
Parking
Rest area / community-centre car park.
Coordinates
68.2604, 14.2705 · Open in OpenStreetMap

Before you go

The E10 between Haugen and Gimsøybrua is avalanche-exposed: check vegvesen.no/trafikk after heavy snow.

Dress for standing still in the cold, bring a head torch with a red light, and park only where parking is allowed. A forecast is guidance, not a promise: check the road and weather warnings for Norway before a night drive. See our winter safety note.

Spot information from openstreetmap.org.