Norway
Harstad
Harstad: Medieval Trondenes and a Compact Arctic Town
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Good to know
Where Ships Dock
Cruise ships tie up at Larsneset, about 150 meters from the town center, so you can be on the main square within a few minutes of stepping ashore. Norway's coastal ships also call at Harstad.
- The ferry terminal, the main bus station and most of the cafés and restaurants are close together in the center.
- Harstad is the only town on Hinnøya, the largest island in Norway outside Svalbard.
- Harstad/Narvik Airport at Evenes is about 44 km from the center by road.
Harstad on Your Own
Harstad is easy to see without a tour: the center is small enough to walk, and the Trondenes peninsula, the area's main historic site, is a 15-minute bus ride or about 45 minutes on foot. A good plan is the center first and Trondenes after.
- The square: Rikard Kaarbøs plass, named after Rikard Kaarbø, regarded as Harstad's founder, is surrounded by buildings from the early 1900s, including a savings bank in Art Nouveau and Gothic styles.
- Art: Galleri Nord-Norge occupies a building from 1958 that began as a swimming pool and community center and became an art gallery in 2001.
- Out to Trondenes: Take a local bus, or walk. Part of the way you can follow Stien langs sjøen, a coastal path that starts by the dock below the Trondenes historical center.
- What to see there: The medieval church, the historical center beside it, the foundations of a wartime prison camp with its memorial, and a small reconstructed medieval village.
- Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own. Allow time for the bus or the walk back from Trondenes.
Getting Around
Buses in and around Harstad are run by Svipper, the county transport company, and its app shows timetables and sells tickets. Taxis can be ordered by app, online or by phone.
- Harstad Taxi is the main taxi company, and its booking app shows the price of a trip before you order.
- An express boat links Harstad with Finnsnes and Tromsø, about three hours to Tromsø; check the timetable and fares before you go.
- The rail network does not reach Harstad; the nearest stations are at Narvik and Bodø.
- Svolvær, in Lofoten, is about 2 hours 20 minutes south by road.
Tipping and Paying
In Norway tips are not expected, though people often round up a restaurant bill. Cards and phone payments are taken almost everywhere, and a little cash helps with small purchases.
- Leaving small change or rounding up is the common way to tip in restaurants and bars, and 10 percent counts as generous.
- Some people tip taxi drivers on longer trips and others do not.
- Prices are in Norwegian kroner (NOK), and euros are generally not accepted in shops.
Culture and Local Life
Harstad is the home of the Arts Festival of North Norway, held every year since 1965, and the town keeps a busy cultural life for its size. Daylight shapes the year: the sun does not set from May 22 to July 18 and does not rise from November 30 to January 12.
- The Arts Festival of North Norway runs for about a week in June, around Midsummer.
- BAKgården, a town festival in August that began as a student project built around a backyard in the center, combines a daytime market with evening concerts.
- Harstad's culture house on Hamnneset opened in 1992 and also holds the town library.
- Harstad Kino, a cinema from 1955, was designed by the architect Jan Inge Hovig down to its lamps and floor pattern.
- Trondenes is the municipality's millennium site, chosen in 1999 for its long span of buildings and remains.
History
Long before Harstad existed, Trondenes was a center of power in the north, from the Viking chieftains to the medieval church. The town itself is young, and the Second World War left one of its largest monuments on the peninsula.
- A Viking power center: Trondenes was the seat of chieftains in the Viking Age, among them Tore Hund, who killed King Olaf, later Norway's patron saint, at the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030.
- The churches: Wooden churches stood at Trondenes from the 1100s, and the second was fortified with walls whose remains can still be seen. The present stone church was finished shortly after 1434.
- Election church, 1814: Trondenes Church was one of more than 300 parish churches that served as polling places for the assembly that wrote Norway's constitution.
- A town of its own, 1904: By a law of June 1903, Harstad was separated from Trondenes and became a town on January 1, 1904.
- The Adolf guns, 1943: The German occupiers built Trondenes fort with four 40.6 cm guns, among the largest land-based guns in the world. All four are still in place, and one has been restored.
- Prisoners of war: The fort was built by Soviet prisoners held in a camp just east of the church, and about 800 of them died. A memorial to them was unveiled on June 22, 1945.
- After the war: An ammunition store at the fort exploded on September 1, 1958, killing five people. In 1964 Harstad was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Trondenes and Sandtorg.
- To learn more ashore: The Trondenes Historical Center, at Trondenesveien 122 next to the church, covers more than 2,000 years of local history, from the Viking Age to the occupation of 1940 to 1945.
Harstad with Children
Harstad works well with children because the center is compact and the best rainy-day option, an indoor water park, is in town. Trondenes adds a medieval village and a giant gun for older children.
- Younger children: Grottebadet, at Håkonsgata 7, is a water park built inside the bedrock, with a water slide, a wave pool and a hot tub, and the water is kept at 29°C all year.
- School age: At Trondenes, the reconstructed medieval village next to the historical center and the old church make a good morning. Folkeparken, the town's recreation forest, has marked trails and lean-to shelters about 30 minutes' walk or 10 minutes by bus from the center.
- Teenagers: The Adolf gun at Trondenes is shown on tours, which must be booked 48 hours ahead. Harstad's bike park has 10 km of flow trails and a pump track.
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