The earth's crust buckled and pushed up a mountain range that stretches out and into the sea. When the giant ice cap from the last Ice Age continued working its way along, it left behind the Lofotveggen (the Lofoten wall). This is a range of peaks and islands, narrow sounds and fjords, emerald green bird cliffs and chalk-white beaches with some of the best surf waves in the world.

Lofoten skrei (arctic cod)

In the midst of this magnificent natural landscape, you will find clusters of houses and people - and fishing boats. Lofoten is the place where the "skrei" come to spawn. It migrates along the coast making it a firm, lean fish and ends up in Lofoten, where it gives life to new generations of cod. But for many, it will be the last journey they make. Fishermen from all along the coast come to catch the cod. Some of the catch is served up fresh on the dinner plate, but much of it is salted and dried.

You can still see rows upon rows of cod fish drying around the fishing villages of Lofoten. Fish have been dried here since the Middle Ages, and for centuries this northern delicacy has been shipped to the rest of the world. This fish has been one of Norway's most important exports, and the thousands of different varieties of bacalao you are served around the world have one thing in common: they originated in Lofoten. Many people regard dried fish as a snack; maybe you should try some when you are in Lofoten.