Nusfjord Arctic Resort: Meditation in a magnetosphere

With the sun in hibernation, one might think that the north of Norway was plunged into darkness, but our star, dipping just below the horizon, brings with its teasing streams of light a luminous spectacle all through winter.

Behold Nusfjord in Lofoten, the former fishing village now converted into a lush, Arctic resort. If you want to feel the sun on your face on the day before it disappears on 6 December, you have exactly 13 minutes before its healing rays go to sleep and don’t reappear until 5 January.

Still, while you won’t physically see the sun throughout winter, that doesn’t mean that it goes completely dark. “The combination of a sun leering up from just below the horizon, the snow and the sea is just remarkable,” manager Renate Johansen explains. “It is a time for light to truly play around. It’s as if nature itself puts a filter on its own motif, every single day!” It makes for a remarkable view, those hours of the day when the sun can be sensed so close, but oh so many weeks away – like a very pretty, winter-long game of patience, one which the people up here play every year.

You, me and Aurora

If you want to, for the ultimate switching off, you can leave your phone at reception when arriving at Nusfjord and have it back when you leave. This is the ultimate place to relax, phone or no phone. It’s like a place taken out of a mindfulness text book.

“The outdoor hot tub is the perfect place to repose with a drink while scouting for the northern lights,” Johansen continues. Or, why leave the comfort of your room (a converted fisherman’s cabin – a dream for all things fur, original wood carvings and cute fishing memorabilia) at all, just to catch a glimpse of the polar lights? You could just stock up on hot chocolate and nestle in on the balcony.

Put simply, if you’re lucky, you don’t need to trek for hours to see the magnetic storms play out above you. At Nusfjord, the northern lights are right above your head. All you need to do is log off, let go and look up.

Web: nusfjordarcticresort.com