Bodø tourist attractions include Salten Museum, Cathedral of Bodø, Norwegian Aviation Museum, Saltstraumen’s maelstrom (vortex in the water), and village of Kjerringøy.
Salten Museum (www.saltenmuseum.no) is located centrally to the city, and offers a number of exhibitions about North Norwegian culture and history of the region.
The museum highlights include the entry level exhibit, showcasing:
- the region’s fish trading traditions and
- artifacts from Sami culture.
On the second level, you’ll find a Viking silver treasure, one of Northern Norway’s largest of its kind, found in 1919 from Bodø.
The treasure contains, for example, silver jewelry and Arabic coins.
On the third level of the museum, you’ll find an exhibition about the history of Bodø, from its founding (in 1816) up to the present day.
Bodø’s Cathedral, meanwhile, built in 1956, offers some of the most beautiful Northern Norwegian post-war architecture that you can find.
Many combine a visit to the cathedral to a visit to the Bodin Church, the other main church in Bodø, located just outside the city center, built in 1240, and representing Medieval stone architecture.
At the Bodø Cathedral, highlights include the building’s beautiful stained glass windows.
Bodø tourist attractions also feature Norwegian Aviation Museum (luftfart.museum.no/en/), located right next to the Bodø Airport, within a propeller-shaped building.
The museum has a variety of exhibits related to the history of the Norwegian aviation, with highlights such as the Norwegian military aircraft exhibition, with, for example…
- Lockheed U-2,
- Gloster Gladiator, and
- Supermarine Spitfire aircrafts.
The museum also features civilian aircrafts, such as the De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter.
Through the summer season, Norwegian Aviation Museum provides guided tours to the museum, with the price of the tour included in the admission price.
The museum also has a gift shop and a cafe (open year-round).
One of the main highlights at the museum, in addition to the main exhibition, is the “MaxFlight Flight Simulator”, where you’ll get to pilot and control the flight simulator.
Bodo tourist attractions also include the Saltstraumen Maelstrom (a vortex in the water), the world’s largest Maelstrom vortex.
These vortexes are familiar from movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End…where the Maelstrom was, however, a bit more dramatic.
The vortex is formed, as:
- around 400 million cubic meters (105,669 million US gallons) of sea water goes through
- a 3 km (1.86 mile) long and
- 150 m (492 ft) wide strait every six hours…
…with a water flow rate that is more than 30 km/h (18.6 miles/h).
When the power of this water flow is at its strongest, it forms Maelstroms in the water of up to about:
- 10 m (32 ft) in diameter and
- 5 m (16 ft) deep.
A visit to the waterflow is an easy day trip away, as it located 30 km (18.6 miles) from Bodø. Once you get there, you’ll get the best views of the stream from the Saltstraumen bridge.
Finally, of the Bodø tourist attractions,Kjerringøy village (www.kjerringoy.no) is a picturesque, historic port city, especially well-known among Norwegians for being a popular movie filming location.
The village, which is located about 40 km (24.8 miles) from Bodø, offers opportunities to enjoy fishing and outdoor life, in an idyllic setting.
In addition to the beautiful harbor, highlights in the village include:
its restaurant, serving Northern Norwegian specialties,
- a gift shop,
- art galleries, and
- Kjerringøy’s old merchant houses.
You can also take a guided cruise tour to the nearby regions, using the tour boats that are available from the village’s harbor.