Where to stay in Straume
Most beds in Straume gather in the small village centre near Bø kirke, where guest rooms and a few rooms stand within a short walk of the church and the road that serves the seat of Bø. The centre suits travellers who want the services of the island municipality close at hand. It is the natural base.
Out toward the open coast and Malnes kirke, cabins and sea-side rooms sit by the water, a quieter berth for visitors drawn to the exposed ocean edge of this northern part of Nordland. Rooms there are few. Across the rest of Bø, holiday houses spread among the islands near the Bø Museum and Betel bedehuskapell, a scattered base for travellers touring the coast of northern Norway by car.
Beds thin between the hamlets. Reserve well ahead in the bright summer, when the ocean and the islands draw visitors to this corner of Nord-Norge.
About Straume
What is Straume known for?
Straume is the central village of Bø, an island municipality in the northern part of Nordland. The listed Bø kirke and Malnes kirke stand among the farms as the chief landmarks of the parish, two heritage churches above the open coast. The sea shaped the district.
Fishing and the exposed ocean edge have long worked the islands of Bø, and the Bø Museum keeps the local story while the village gathers the services of this corner of Nord-Norge.
What are the main landmarks in Straume?
Bø kirke is the chief landmark of the Straume district. The listed church stands among the farms and has served the island parish of Bø for generations, the fixed point of worship for the scattered settlement. Heritage protects several here.
Malnes kirke rises by the open coast, the small Betel bedehuskapell counts among the chapels of the municipality, and the Bø Museum keeps the local story of this northern corner of Nordland.
What is the history of Straume?
Straume grew as the central settlement of Bø, the island district in the northern part of Nordland. The farms along the exposed coast built their churches early, and the listed Bø kirke and Malnes kirke still mark the old centres of worship that gathered the scattered households of the parish. The ocean fed the people.
Fishing ran through the islands of Bø for generations, and the catch from the open sea built the households of this corner of Nordland through the long winters. The seat settled on Straume as the municipality took shape. Roads and bridges of northern Norway bound the islands to the village, and the services of Bø gathered around the centre while the boats still worked the grounds off the exposed coast.
The old life endures. It was kept in memory at the Bø Museum, and the small Betel bedehuskapell served the faithful of the district. Straume holds the seat where Bø keeps its business, a quiet centre on the northern reach of Nord-Norge by the open ocean.
Where is Straume?
Straume lies on the islands of Bø in the northern part of Nordland, in northern Norway. The village sits where the low ground meets the open sea below the fells, the centre gathered near Bø kirke and the road that serves the seat of Bø. Ocean and island frame the place.
Bø reaches across an exposed coast of islands and sounds, taking in the farms whose churches, among them Malnes kirke, stand by the water beyond the village edge.
What is the climate of Straume?
Straume has the wet, wind-swept coastal climate of the outer Nordland islands. Winters stay dark and stormy this far north, though the open ocean keeps the cold milder over the village of Bø than the surrounding fells would otherwise allow. Summers are short and bright.
The midnight sun lights the islands through the high season, while cloud and rain off the exposed sea reach this northern corner of Nordland in every month of the year.
How do you get to Straume?
Straume sits on the road network of the Bø islands. Buses and the coastal connections carry travellers between the village and the wider routes of Nordland, and the centre lies a short walk from Bø kirke. Many come by car.
The main roads thread the islands and bridges of northern Norway to reach the seat of Bø, while the airports of the region handle the longer journeys of visitors arriving in this northern corner of Nord-Norge from the south.