Bodø is the largest town of the Nordland area of Norway.
Get in
By train
Bodø is the end of the line of the regional train from Trondheim. About 11 hours from Trondheim to Bodø. Trains leave and arrive several times a day.
By plane
Bodø airport serves many domestic flights. The airport is within walking distance of the city centre.
Get around
The Sentrumsrunden bus brings you everywhere you want within the city.
See
Do
Eat
Bodø does not have a great abundance of eateries, but there is a decent selection of cheap restaurants, as well as a couple of good gourmet restaurants.
Drink
As with everywhere in Norway, alcohol is expensive and limited to those over 18, a law that is vigourously enforced. liquors stronger than 22% vol. is limited to those older than 20. Beer can be bought at groceries, wine and spirits must be purchased at special outlets, Vinmonopolet. There are two of these in Bodø, one a short walk from the Glasshuset shopping mall, the other one inside City Nord, another shopping mall a bit away from the city centre.
Sleep
Get out
Most travellers only pass Bodø on their way to the Lofoten islands. You can go there by boat(ferries or the coastal express), or by plane to one of the airports, one located close to Svolvær, and one located in Leknes. The plane trip to these places take about 25 minutes, while ferries take several hours.
You can go to Narvik by bus, and you can travel to most parts of Nordland by boat.
There is also a bus connection to Skellefteå from Bodø, which stops several places both in Norway and Sweden.
Bodø is the last station on the Nordlandsbanen rail line, with which one can travel directly to Trondheim and a large variety of locations in the Helgeland region.
Bodø is a city and municipality in the county of Nordland, Norway.
The name
The municipality is named after the old farm Bodøgård (Norse Boðvin), since the town is built on its ground. The first element is (maybe) boði m 'sunken rock, skerry', the last element is vin f 'meadow, pasture'. The last element was later misunderstood as øy f 'island' (and written with the Danish form ø).
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1959). It shows the Sun (to represent the Midnight Sun).
History
Bodø was granted township status in 1816 and is now county capital of Nordland. Most of Bodø was destroyed during a Luftwaffe attack on the 27th of May 1940. 6000 people were living in Bodø, and 3500 people lost their homes in the attack. 15 people lost their lives during the air attack (2 British soldiers and 13 Norwegians). Due to the acute lack of housing, the Swedish government helped build 107 apartments in the winter of 1941. These houses were built tightly together just outside the town. This small area, today in the heart of Bodø, is still called "svenskebyen:" the Swedish town.
The town was subsequently rebuilt after the war. The rebuilding ended in 1959 with the completion of the new town hall.
Bodø received international attention during the U-2 Crisis in May 1960, when it became known that the American U-2 pilot Gary Powers had been shot down over the Soviet Union on his way from Pakistan to Bodø.
Since 2005 Bodø has included the formerly separate municipality of Skjerstad.
The military and Bodø
Bodø has a long history with the Norwegian armed forces, and especialy the Royal Norwegian Air Force.
Bodø is the home to a major NATO airbase, CAOC3, and airforces regularly exercise during winter months during Exercise Strong Resolve. It is also the home of Bodø Main Air Station, a major Norwegian military air base, which today is a candidate for The Northern Air Base in the new RNoAF system, and Bodin Leir, an RNoAF recruit school including NASAMS personnell and a national response unit.
Geography
The city lies just north of the Arctic Circle and the midnight sun is visible from June 2 to July 10.
The strongest tidal current in the world Saltstraumen is situated some 30 km east of Bodø.
Located on an unsheltered peninsula in the Norwegian Sea, Bodø is one of Norway's most windy cities. Snow cover during winter is usually sparse, not only due to the wind, but also an effect of a mild winter climate relative to latitude with periods of rain being common in winter. Average temperature for January is -2.2°C, while July 24-hr average is 12.5°C, annual mean temperature is 4.5°C and precipitation/year is 1020 mm . The coldest month on record was February 1966 with a mean of -8.9°C, and the warmest was July 1937 with a mean of 17.1°C.
As the northern terminus of Nordlandsbanen, Bodø is the northern end of the railroad network of Norway. However, travellers going further north will often switch to a corresponding bus in Fauske bound for Narvik. There is also a railway from Narvik to Kiruna in Sweden, and further into the Swedish rail network. The railway station opened in 1961. Bodø Airport lies two km outside the city centre and was opened in 1952. The airport served 1 308 000 passengers in 2004. Ferries run between Bodø and the Lofoten Islands.
Nature and hiking
Bodø is well-known for beautiful surroundings. Besides Saltstraumen, the municipality of Bodø has lots of wilderness to offer hikers. Just 10 kilometers north of Bodø lies the beautiful recreation area of Geitvågen. The area is inhabited by a large number of Sea-Eagles. There are 17 nature reserves in the municipality. Sundstraumlian nature reserve has undisturbed mixed forest with its marble bedrock (), Skånland with coastal pine forest () and Bliksvær nature reserve with well preserved coastal nature of many types and a rich bird life, making it a Ramsar - site as well ().
Institutions of higher learning
Media, culture and entertainment
The local newspaper is named Avisa Nordland.
The local football club, F.K. Bodø/Glimt, play in the Norwegian First Division during the 2007 season.
The National Aviation Museum and Salten Museum are located in Bodø. Salten Museum has four exhibitions: The Lofoten Fisheries, a Sami exhibit, a Viking treasure and an exhibition about Bodø's history from 1816 to 2000.
The Bodø Cathedral was built in 1956, representing post-war architecture, whereas the Bodin Church just outside the city centre dates from the 13th century, representing a typical medieval stone church.
Bodø is host to the cultural festival "Nordland Musikkfestuke" every summer, as well as "Bodø Hardcore Festival" in early winter, the latter one being free in every aspect, and based completely on volunteers.
Notable residents
External links
