Heia Henningsvaer and Festvågtind hike

The Heia and Festvagtind hike is the best Henningsvaer hike and one of the best hikes in the Lofoten Islands.

As you climb steeply up to the summit of this hike, you’ll get some incredible views out over Henningsvaer; a pretty fishing village in Lofoten Norway. There’s also a lake and plenty of places to sit and take in the views (ideally with a flask of tea!).

If you’re looking to get a great view of Henningsvær in Lofoten and its numerous islands interconnected by bridges, then hiking Heia or doing the Festvågtind hike near Henningsvær should be on your Lofoten things to do list!

Heia and Festvågtind start from the same place and both offer incredible views of Henningsvær Islands Lofoten.

Festvågtind climbs quite a bit higher than Heia, but with less effort, you’ll still get incredible views from Heia.

How to get to the Heia/Festvågtind trailhead

The Heia/Festvågtind trailhead is just outside of Henningsvæer in Lofoten.

The Festvagtind car park and Heia car park are on 816, Henningsværveien Road and is marked as ‘Festvågtind car park‘ on Google.

You need to pay for this car park and there are signs advising on the price. There are also camping details here too.

There is also another small and free parking space slightly further along the road here.

However, I would expect it to be full quickly in summer since this area is popular with both climbers and hikers.

Alternatively, there is another parking space right before Engøysundbrua (the first bridge to Henningsvaer) which seemed to be free and slightly larger than the second car park.

For all car parks, you will need to walk along the road for a few hundred meters before arriving at the trailhead which is just between some trees. You’ll be able to see it’s the trailhead as the trails are well-worn.

Read more: Hiking Delp and Matmora in Lofoten

What to know before hiking in Lofoten

Before you go on a hike in the Lofoten Islands, make sure you pay attention to the following:

• Always practice leave no trace ethics. Not sure what those are? Get a refresher here.
• Remember to respect the terrain, environment, and other users while you are enjoying the trails.
• Follow the three Ts—trip planning, training, and taking the essentials.
• Don’t leave home without your 10 essentials. They could save your life!
• Do not walk off the trail – this damages the environment which is very fragile and leads to trail closures being put in place.
• Read up on the Lofoten Code of Conduct to minimise your impact.

Guide to hiking Heia in Henningsvær

Heia is the easiest point to hike up to and starts on the same path as Festvågtind.

To start you’ll have to navigate your way through, up, and over some huge boulders.

There are faint arrows spray painted on the rocks that guide you the correct way and you can see on the ground where a trail has been worn in.

Read more: What you should know before your Lofoten trip.

Overall you just want to head up straight through the middle but you’ll need to take a bit of a roundabout way to do that.

This is one of the most challenging parts of hiking Heia but also pretty fun!

Once you’ve put the boulders behind you, you’ll see a clear trail going up the bit gorge between the two mountains on your left and right.

Read more: Hiking Eltofttuva near Leknes

Follow this trail as it climbs steeply uphill.

Personally, I think this will be the next Lofoten hike that gets Sherpa steps put in. You can see the trail is beginning to wear away and I’m sure it’s super popular in the summer.

With sherpa steps, it’ll be very similar to hiking Fløya Svolvaer and Reinebringen as well as the Sherpatrappa in Tromsø!

You’ll soon come to a split in the trail with one trail going left and the other going right. If you’re going to Heia first, take the trail to the right.

From here, it’s a continued grind up to the top until you come out at a plateau.

At this plateau you can go right immediately to go to the Heia viewpoint, or go straight on and enjoy views of Heiavatnet; the lake up here that becomes a local’s swimming pool in the summer!

When you’re reading to go to the viewpoint, follow the trails that lead over to the point sticking out. From here you get pretty similar views to those from the top of the Festvågtind hike only you’ve had to work a lot less for them!

When you’re done at Heia, head back towards the plateau with the lake.

If you wish to hike up to Festvågtind follow the trail that goes straight past the lake (it’ll be the trail ahead of you if you’re coming from Heia, or the trail to your left if you’ve just arrived at the plateau, with the lake straight ahead of you).

Follow this trail as it climbs up steeply and then take the lefthand trail when it splits into two. This will join you up (almost at the top) with the Festvågtind hike detailed below.

The Festvågtind hike in Henningsvær

If you wanted to go straight to the peak rather than Heia first, take the trail to the left when you get to the first split in the trail.

This trail will take you closer to the cliff and you’ll continue to climb up the mountain and then wraps around the backside of the mountain.

It gets pretty steep here at times but it’s not as exposed as some of the other popular Lofoten hikes.

The trail keeps taking you upwards without needing to climb until you eventually come out to a ridge.

From the ridge, you can enjoy some of the sea views, then take a left to head towards the Festvågtind summit and views of Henningsvær down below.

There are a few places here where you should use your hands for balance and help you over some rocks.

At the summit, you’ll be rewarded with those magical Henningsvær views as island after island seems to appear.

You can also see over to the Norwegian mainland in the distance and Stamsund to your right.

To return, come down the way you came taking a lot of caution the whole way down. The trail is quite gravel covered and slippery and it’s super easy to slip on gravel!

Stats for the Festvagtind Lofoten & Heia hike

If you’re hiking up to Heia, this is what to expect:

• Distance: Roughly 2.4 km (a little longer if you decide to hike around the lake as we did)
• Elevation: 238 m
• Duration: 1 hour
• Difficulty: Moderate

For those just going to Festvågtind, here are the full details. Note that if you’re going to Heia or Heiavatnet too then the hike will be longer than stated below. Lofoten Islands hiking is typically very steep but not too long.

• Distance: 2.1 km
• Elevation: 424 m
• Duration: 2 hours
• Difficulty: Strenuous

I used the AllTrails+ app as my Lofoten Islands hiking map while hiking Lofoten Islands many trails!

AllTrails is my go-to hiking app for finding, planning, and navigating while I’m out on the trails. With offline maps on AllTrails+ you can be confident you’re still on the right track, even without mobile signal.

What to pack for hiking Heia and Festvågtind in Henningsvær

What to pack for this hike depends on what season you’re hiking in.

• Check out my day hike packing list here.
• If you’re hiking in summer you should pack sunscreen, sunglasses, layers, water and bug spray as well as everything in the 10 essentials for hiking list.
• Here is what to wear hiking in hot weather
• Check out this post on the best leggings for hiking or what to wear hiking in summer for more details and my gear recommendations.
• If you’re hiking in winter after the snow has started falling you’ll need microspikes at the very least. If there is a lot of snow you will probably need snowshoes.
• You should also take plenty of layers including a fleece layer, a puffy insulated jacket and a wind and waterproof outer layer. Hats and gloves are also necessary as well as a good backpack to keep everything in.
• You should also pack water and some snacks too to keep you going as they’re part of the 10 essentials for hiking!
• Planning a hiking date? Check out what to wear on a hiking date but still look cool.

FAQs about Heia Lofoten and the Festvagtinden hike

Final thoughts on hiking Henningsvær Norway

The Festvagtind hike in Henningsvaer is one of the best hikes in the Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway.

If you’re doing a Lofoten Islands road trip, then you 100% need to visit this cute town and do this hike for some incredible views over Henningsvaer.

The Festvågtind trekking route is pretty steep, and you can also get great views just by going up to Heia. However, if you want to bag a true peak then you’ll want to continue going upwards as you hike Henningsvaer.

If you’re looking for more things to do in Lofoten, check out this guide to camping in Lofoten as well as the best beaches in Lofoten Islands. I’ve also got a tonne of Lofoten Islands Norway hiking guides from all the hikes we did during our 6 weeks in the area. These include the Reinebringen hike, the Fløya hike, Kvalvika and Ryten hike, and my ultimate favorite Lofoten hike, the Tjeldbergtind hike which is stunning during the polar night!

For more information on Arctic Norway, check out my Norway travel guides.

Last Updated on August 22, 2023 by Hannah