Lilløy
Lindenberg.
A small island off Bergen with a timber house, a sauna by the water and room for ten guests.
Getting thereNearest airport Bergen (BGO), about 40 min by car to Herdla, then about 5 min by boatPlan flights
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Around forty minutes by car from Bergen Airport to Herdla, then five minutes by boat: Lilløy is a rocky island off Herdla with a timber house, a boathouse and room for no more than ten guests. You cook on the Aga, fire up the sauna by the water and have the whole island to yourselves.
Lilløy belongs to Lindenberg, a Frankfurt group that has built its hotels around shared spaces and communal living since 2012, with houses in Frankfurt and on Bali. On the island, that idea becomes a house you live in as if it were your own: four bedrooms across the main house and the boathouse, a big kitchen, one table for everyone. It was furnished by the Bergen studio Vera & Kyte and has been taking guests since February 2025.
01
Crossing to Lilløy
Getting there is part of it. From Bergen airport, the hotel says, it is about a 40-minute drive to Herdla at the northern tip of Askøy, by hire car or taxi. The skipper waits at the jetty, and five minutes later the boat ties up at the island. Two days before you arrive, the hotel sets up a WhatsApp group with your host to sort out the transfer and arrival.
For the main grocery shop, the hotel suggests stopping at a supermarket on the mainland before you cross. Once on the island, there is only the little island shop.
02
A house of wood and craft
Inside, the main house is pale wood with white-painted ceilings. Vera & Kyte combined traditional Scandinavian furniture with contemporary pieces: handmade ceramics, glass from the region, paintings by Bergen artists, mattresses incorporating seaweed.
A fire burns in the living room, and the dining room has a handmade wooden table for card games and long evenings. The Botanical Library is both a reading room and a small bar, with books, records, spirits and drawings of Nordic plants.
03
Four rooms, ten guests
The main house has three bedrooms. Vårt lille boudoir is a room for two, 30 square metres with a view of the Atlantic, a walk-in wardrobe and its own bathroom. Fire døtres soverom is meant for four, the hotel says, for families or friends: one room with two small rooms leading off it, each with its own door.
The kitchen, dining room, fireplace and sauna are shared only within your own group: from December 2026, Lilløy is booked exclusively as a whole, by one group at a time. From then on, individual rooms will no longer be available to book.
04
The boathouse on the water
Det lille Naustet, the little boathouse, stands right on the shore. It has 60 square metres over two levels: a living room at sea level with floor-to-ceiling windows, a piano looking out over the water and a small kitchen, plus a double bed and its own bathroom. Sleep here and the waves are at your door.
05
Cooking on the Aga
The heart of the island is the kitchen and its Aga. Lilløy is meant for self-catering: each morning a plant-based breakfast of fresh bread, homemade spreads, fruit and coffee is laid out. After breakfast, guests cook in the kitchen or over the fire outside, then gather around the long table. The island shop stocks regional plant-based produce, homemade treats and ready-to-cook meals.
The kitchen follows Lindenberg’s plant-based principles. Seaweed comes from the island’s own underwater farm, herbs, berries and algae are foraged, and the small garden grows herbs and vegetables. If you would rather not cook, one of the hotel’s guest chefs can come over. On a few evenings a year the island becomes Kelp Club: chef Antje de Vries and guest chefs cook nine courses over the fire for one shared table.
06
Sauna, tub and fjord
The sauna stands a little apart and opens onto the sea, with an outdoor tub beside it that can be filled hot or cold. You cool off in the fjord. On the island’s highest rock there is a fire pit with a wide view.
Kayaks and snorkelling gear are free to use. The hotel arranges boat trips through the fjords, wind- and kitesurfing, yoga, mushroom walks and a workshop with the glassblower Sigrid Røstad. Around the island stand sculptures made of island stone, which the artist Dennis Rudolph links with digital art.
07
Who it suits
Groups of friends and families of up to ten who want an island to themselves; even a couple books the whole island. This is primarily a self-catering stay: if you like to cook, you will feel at home, and on evenings when you would rather be cooked for, a guest chef can be arranged on request. You can reach the jetty by taxi, so there is no need to hire a car. Two to four nights work well: in summer for the water and the long evenings, in winter for the sauna and the fire.
On the west coast the weather turns quickly, and wind and rain come with it. For days like that there are games and film nights in the house.
All images.
A tip from the hotel
Herdla
Herdla, the flat island by the jetty, is the hotel’s suggestion for a free day: birdwatching, walking and cycling, a round of frisbee golf and the sheep in the fields. It fits in well before you cross or on the way back to the airport.
See the experiences on LilløySources & editorial status
Researched from the hotel’s official information, editorially checked on 26 October 2026. We do not claim to have stayed here. Prices and availability directly from the hotel.
Lilløy Lindenberg · Private Island · The House · Culinary · Spaces · Experiences · Getting Here
The hotels provide these images for editorial use. Where a photographer has been confirmed to us, they are named here.
- Photo: Jack Johns
- Photo: Robert Rieger
