From Mannen, you see two fantastic beaches

A hike to Haukland beach, Europe’s best beach according to Lonely Planet 2021 and Uttakleiv the most romantic beach in Europe, says the Times.

Haukland beach

A rather long walk from Leknes to these beaches. I arrived to Vik beach first and then walked around the bay and got the first sight of Haukland beach. This is what Lonely Planet nominated as Europe’s best beach in 2021. With its clear water, white sand an arctic paradise. It did not disappoint. This is a must see, and from tales I have heard it is difficult to get here with a car and find parking in the summer.

I hiked up the 400 meters to the top of Mannen (The Man) and got the complete view of Haukland beach and Vik beach in the background, not to mention the mountains surrounded.

Uttakleiv

I walked down again and continued on the pathway over the mountain to Uttakleiv. On foot, you have three options to get to Uttakleiv. The first and oldest is the trolley road over the mountain. In 1947, they got a road around the mountain along the sea. Because of danger for avalanches, they closed this road for traffic in 1998 when they got the tunnel through the Mannen Mountain. I was uncertain if you could walk through the tunnel, but I did see some people coming from there.

Uttakleiv is a small village with 22 inhabitants, and 320 sheep’s. I found this charming closed down house where they had painted a window on the shutter.

The beach is very nice, and a few people had put up their tent there. I walked the old road around the mountain back to Haukland beach and back to Leknes.