Senja's Lighthouse

Flooded with 360-degree views of mountain, fjord and sky, this purpose-built tower (ideally for two) is one of the best kept secrets on Norway’s second largest island. With Anderdalen National Park close by, opportunities for outdoor activity are endless – snow or shine. Best of all, the crowds haven’t found it yet.

South of Senja’s spikey coastal peaks, sleepy Camp Tranoybotn peers across a sheltered fjord on a site popular with Norwegians since the Seventies. But beyond quaint wooden cabins, an extraordinary building sits at the water’s edge, recently transformed into a modern, fairy-tale escape.

Dressed in a nautical style, it sings of the sea: fishing nets drape kitchen windows, oars provide towel rails and propeller blades function as candle votives. A panorama of windows wraps the top floor, framing wintry light shows and skies scorched by midnight sun, and when it’s time to switch off, black-out curtains sweep around the bed.

Having fallen in love with Senja, former city-dweller Hege bought the camp in 2017, and now guides kayak tours around islands inhabited by seabirds and seals. Join her on a paddle and picnic to former Viking outpost Tranoya - or snuggle up in reindeer skins for Sami storytelling sessions on the ice.