Øksfjord – where ice meets the sea

The Øksfjordfjellet mountain looms behind Øksfjord like a giant. This tiny village with barely a handful of cafés and pubs barely blemishes the wild landscapes surrounding it – which include the only glacier in mainland Norway that calves into the ocean. 

Signs of human life here stretch back around 10,000 years, when the coastal Komsa people hunted seals and fished along these shores. Many centuries later, Øksfjord grew with the fish trade that fuelled much of northern Norway’s economy.  

Local legend tells of an English hunter who, in a case of lost in translation, supposedly bought much of the Øksfjord peninsula in the mid-1800s when he only intended to lease hunting rights.  

Small as Øksfjord remains today, there’s plenty to keep adventurous types and nature lovers happy here year-round. Framed by the cliffs of beautiful Øksfjordfjellet, the village sits within reach of Øksfjordjøkelen – Norway’s ninth-largest glacier and the only one on mainland Norway that calves directly into the sea.  

Here, you can go deep-sea fishing, hike beneath the Midnight Sun or spot the Northern Lights. Kayak or ride a RIB to the sea-reaching arm of Øksfjordjøkelen, which is sometimes known as Jøkelfjordbreen. You might even see clumps of ice plummet into the sea from the plateau glacier, which peeks over the edge of the towering rock wall at the head of the Jøkelfjord, the other side of the glacier from Øksfjord.