Once a remote port with only 55 registered residents in 1816, Bodo rose to international fame less than a hundred years later when a smuggling fiasco in the small town became the catalyst that dissolved Norway’s union with Sweden. Join me on this walking tour where you’ll see the city’s main attractions and hear its sometimes controversial history.

You’ll make your way through the city’s downtown area to a jetty that’ll give you a clear view of the small but important Nyholmen Skandse fortress, located in the middle of the port. Along the way, you’ll see where Soviet spy, Selmer Nilsen, hid in the Norrona hotel to monitor aviation traffic during the Cold War. It was during this tense period that Krushchev threatened to obliterate Bodo after American pilot, Francis Gary Powers, was captured while flying through Soviet territory en route to the city.

It’s not all doom and gloom on this tour. You’ll also have the opportunity to visit Bodo cathedral where, if you’re lucky, you’ll hear the carillon chiming, and to stroll down the glass-covered Glasshuset shopping street. I’ll tell you about the majestic Norwegian coastliner, the Gamle Salten and show you the city’s beloved Stormen Concert Hall.

You’ll hear the answers to questions like:

• Who was Anna Benoni, what was her motto, and why is there a park dedicated to her?
• How did a lucky lunch break save the port manager, Ragnar Tonder, from a fire aboard the M.S Erling Jarl?
• Why is the city’s concert hall called Stormen and which famous performances have been held there?
• How are the Norwegian delicacies Sursild and Stockfish made?
• Where can you buy fresh shrimp in Bodo?
• Why did the artist Tony Cragg place his untitled sculptures along a dock on the edge of the Norwegian sea?

So join me for this one-hour stroll as I lead you through the highs and lows of Bodo’s hidden history. Or, take your time to savour the local secrets that I’ll point out along our route.