Three beers in Bodø

Bodø railway station

Bodø is a very compact city. It takes about ten minutes to walk from the railway station to the town hall. If you want to go to the airport, it takes five minutes in a taxi from the bus terminal in the city centre. If you prefer walking, it would take about 20 minutes.

In the city centre there are several bars and pubs. I wanted to watch a soccer game, so I ended up at the pub with a very fitting name, Wembley.

Wembley pub & lounge is first and foremost a sports bar. I enjoyed my soccer game and wanted something to drink. Sure, I could have had a half litre of Nordlandspils, which is available everywhere in Bodø, but I preferred something else.

The nice and friendly female bartender offered me toasts to eat, but I did not want any. Instead I looked around the bar. Carlsberg from tap did not tempt me. Neither did bottles of Tuborg Lime or Budweiser. Instead I ended up with a glass of Guinness stout from tap.

After the game was finished, I walked a few blocks and found another bar. Piccadilly looked like the closest thing to an English pub that I could find in Bodø, so I walked in.

Piccadilly could just like Wembley offer Guinness and Nordlandspils. In addition to these beers Kilkenny, Frydenlund Bayer and Stella Artois were available. Being in an English style pub made me choose what a hooligan would order: A pint of Wifebeater. Stella Artois, I mean.

Stella Artois is not my favourite pale lager, but once again I felt it took away my thirst. The pub was nice with leather furniture and classy interior. I liked staying there, but I would have liked some Haandbryggeriet, Nøgne Ø or Ægir beers on tap as well. And by the way: I did not share the Swedish waitress' music taste.

My time in Bodø was over for this time, so I found my things and got ready to go to the airport. I went down to the bus terminal and started to wait for a bus. It was not due to arrive in nearly an hour, so I ordered a taxi to the airport.

Bodø airport is a small airport, and most of the air traffic go to local airports in Northern Norway.

Inside there is a pub called Bodø Aktiebryggeri. It is found before the security check, so if you want a beer you must enjoy it before entering the departures hall. I sat down and ordered my first and only Nordlandspils for this trip. Once Nordlandspils was the local beer brewed in Bodø. Nowadays the beer is brewed in Trondheim, so it is not even brewed in the same part of Norway.

I drank my 0.6 litre of Nordlandspils and thought it was better than Stella Artois. But still it is inferior to the pale lagers I have tried in for instance the Czech Republic.

I left Bodø thinking that the city needs its brewpub back after Bryggerikaia has stopped brewing its own beers. The little city also needs bars, pubs and restaurants with a bigger selection than pale lagers and Guinness.