Southern Kvaløya round trip

This is a fantastic two-day cycle tour for people staying in Tromsø. You can camp in tent, or stay in a high standard fishermen’s cottage or hotel room in the Brennsholmen/Sommarøy area.

You start in the city center and cycle out past the airport, over Sandnessund Bridge, over to Kvaløya. Here you turn south interpreted Eidskjosen you get to where you turn right at the junction of Eide Handel. You are now in the Kaldfjorden and continues beyond 4 km, until you come to Henrikvik. Here you turn left, signposted Sommarøy, and a relatively steep and long climb ahead, until you are on top Kattfjordeidet, which is about 150 meters. Mid Kattfjordeidet there is a nice picnic area with tables, benches and toilets.

When you roll on with the Kattfjordeidet you come in Nordfjord bottom, which is part of Kattfjord. Here follow the signs to the left, Sommarøy, and follows the fjord towards Sommarøy.

Do you want a little detour, continue straight on, signposted Vasstrand and Lauklines. This is a dead end at about 10 km, where there are several nice picnic areas with tables and benches. You can also experience the old cabin environment at Lauklines and Tulleng brewer. A good tip is to hike Vasstinden, where there is a marked path up from Lauklines. At the top you have amazing views over the Kvaløya, down North Senja, Malangen and the islands and the sea.

On the way towards Sommarøy pass Sjøtun, where Sjøtun Brygge (brew) can offer over night stay and meals for groups on request. It is also possible to turn left and follow a dirt road to Raudfjellet and the windmill Anna Kitty “. This is a relatively hard ride with a rise of 450m, and the gravel road has some places bad standard.

Further out towards Sommarøy come first to the intersection in Sandvika, where you turn right. After a few hundred yards here you can take down the right again, down to the sea, where there is a nice tent and a sandy beach. A tip, if you care, is that you first take a trip out to Sommarøy, before you unpack the tent in Sandvika, on the way back. Sommarøy is dead end and the end point of the trip. On Sommarøy are hotels, grocery stores, small zoo, and otherwise an active fishing village.

The next day, put the price towards Tromsø again but this time on the south side of Kvaløya. The first village we come to when the Brensholmen, where the ferry goes over to Botnhamn on Senja. Brensholmen is also the grocery store. It continues in the gently rolling terrain, mostly along the waterfront, past the towns Buvik, Greipstad and Bakkejord, before coming to the Straumsbukta, which is a warm and sunny agricultural district. A few miles past Straumsbukta comes to Hella, and Rystraumen maelstrom, which is a nice outdoor area with tables, benches and toilets. Ryastraumen is also known for its fine fishing on the rocks down to the sea. Just past Hella is also a rock carving that is now opened for the show. You turn left about 1 km after Hella.

Furthermore cycling can reach around Tisnes, where you have nice views of Tromsø Island and the mainland, before we get to Håkøybotn with Håkøya outside. In Håkøybotn keeps Tromsø Wilderness Centre to, with Norways largest dog kennel. Their huskies used for dog sledding with tourists in winter, and is also an attraction for tourists in the summer. On Håkøya stands a monument to the fallen of the bombing of the German battleship Tirpiz, which lay just outside the island when it was hit and fell, World War 2.

From Håkøybotn bikes we cycle over Kvaløysletta, Sandnessund back over the bridge and into downtown. You can choose whether you want to ride over the island, or around the southern tip. The road across the island is a bit unwieldy, and has a slope of approximately 100 m, while around the southern tip is slightly longer but follows the sea without incline.

Profile of the trip

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