Agnes Maltesdotter’s family getaway to Lofoten

Creator and nature lover Agnes Maltesdotter travelled to a Landfolk home by the shore in Lofoten with her boyfriend Jonatan, their toddler Lo, their two dogs and her parents, who came all the way from Stockholm. What she had hoped for was simple: time together, nature close by and a few days living near the ocean.

Agnes lives in Kiruna today, but grew up in Stockholm. “I always had that longing for adventure and nature,” she says. “So here I am, in the middle of the wild, and I love it.”

She had crossed her fingers that she would be fit enough to run the Arctic Triple, but a sore muscle changed the plan. Instead, the stay became a slower kind of adventure: shorter runs, hikes in the area, ocean swims, barbecue on the deck and evenings in the sauna watching the midnight sun.

What kind of holiday were you hoping for before you arrived?

“I was looking forward to living close to the ocean,” Agnes says. The trip was also a chance to spend time with her parents, who had travelled from Stockholm to experience a place that, for Agnes, already felt close to home.

Even without the race she had hoped to run, movement became part of the stay. “I love to move my body, so we did shorter runs, amazing hikes in the area and not far away from the house by car.”

Do you remember the first moment the place made you slow down?

The first real memory from the house was a morning on the porch. Agnes woke from a good night’s sleep, brewed coffee and stepped outside while Lo played nearby.

“I sat there in the sun, with my cup of coffee, and enjoyed the amazing view,” she says. “Ocean and mountains, big clouds far away.”

Later that same morning, they went out for a long hike with Lo in the carrier and the dogs alongside them. “A slow morning that I will forever remember.”

What did a typical day in the home look like for your family?

Their days quickly found a rhythm around Lo, the dogs and the landscape outside the door. Agnes and Lo would often wake first and head downstairs for a small pre-breakfast. Then came a walk with the dogs, coffee back at the house and a quiet start while the rest of the family slept a little longer.

“Around nine, the rest of the family would wake up and join us for breakfast,” Agnes says. “At eleven, Lo needed to sleep, so we either went for a run or a long walk in the area.”

After lunch, they would head out again — to hike a mountain, explore the surroundings or visit Unstad. Back at the house, the day often ended with grocery shopping, barbecue on the deck and dinner together before Lo’s bedtime. “Then ending the day in the sauna, watching the midnight sun,” Agnes says.

What made this holiday home work especially well for your family holiday?

For Agnes, the home worked because it placed them close to the things they came for: trails, ocean, quiet mornings and easy access to the wider Lofoten area.

“It’s located really well on Lofoten, close to a lot of things and trails,” she says.

The house also gave the family room to follow their own pace. Some moments happened out in the landscape, others on the deck, around the table or in the morning sun just outside.

Which corner of the home did you keep returning to?

“The deck. The porch.”

That was where mornings began, coffee was carried outside and the view became part of the day before anything had to be planned.

What did the surroundings invite you to do?

“Hike, visit good bakeries, slow mornings and spend a lot of time outside,” Agnes says.

In practice, those days were shaped by being outdoors: walks with the dogs, swims in the ocean, hikes with Lo in the carrier and coffee breaks after long stretches outside. Unstad is the place Agnes returns to again and again. “I have been there so many times, but each time I get there I fall in love again,” she says.

There are several hikes to choose from, depending on your level, and if you want to try surfing, Agnes says Unstad is the place to be. On this trip, the family did one of the most beautiful hikes of the stay and ended it with coffee and a cinnamon bun at Arctic Surf Café — one of the bakery-style stops behind her note about good bakeries.

For an evening out, Agnes also recommends Trevarefabrikken, around 40 minutes from the house. “They have fika, yoga and it is a perfect place if you would like to eat outside of the house for a night.”

Dear future guests of this home…

“You will sleep like a queen,” Agnes says. “The bedrooms are amazing.”

She also leaves a smaller tip for the next guests checking in: find your own morning spot outside. “I enjoyed my mornings just around the corner of the house. I took one of the outdoor chairs and placed it there underneath a beautiful tree and in the morning sun.”

Visit the home Agnes stayed in here, and follow the place on Instagram at @borgvaag.