Norway
Ornes
Ørnes: An Old Trading Post on the Meløy Coast
- Port traffic
- QuietNext 30 days
Good to know
What to Expect
Coastal voyage ships tie up at Ørnes beside the village hotel, on the north side of the mouth of Glomfjorden. The village runs about 1.5 km along the shore, so what you can see depends on the time your ship allows.
- Ørnes had 1,647 residents at the start of 2025.
- The coastal road, County Road 17, runs through the village, and Bodø is about 130 km to the north.
- Express boats link Ørnes with Bodø and Sandnessjøen, and local boats serve the islands of Meløy.
- Check your ship's program for the time you are due back aboard.
Tipping in Norway
Norway does not run on tips: restaurant staff are well paid, and rounding up the bill is the normal gesture. The currency is the Norwegian krone (NOK), and euros are generally not accepted in shops.
- In restaurants, about 10 percent counts as a generous tip.
- There is no fixed custom for taxis, so a tip there is up to you.
- Keep some cash for a guide if cards are not taken.
What Ørnes Is Known For
Ørnes is Meløy's administrative center, with an old trading post that has protected buildings. Inland, the municipality reaches up to the Svartisen glacier.
- Ørnes gamle handelssted, the old trading post, has three protected buildings and is thought to date from the 1780s.
- Houses, fishermen's cabins, boathouses, barns and a forge from around 1800 survive in the village, and several are protected.
- Engabreen, a western arm of Svartisen, reached almost to the Holandsfjorden around 1900. Its front now lies about 2 km inland, beside the lake Engabrevatnet.
- The village's Pite Sami name is Gárrgonjárrga.
- Glomfjord, farther into the fjord, is the municipality's industrial village.
History
Ørnes began as a tenant farm and became a trading center after an inn was licensed here in 1794. Meløy was separated from Rødøy in 1884, and its administration later moved from the island of Meløya to Ørnes.
- Rock carvings, 4,000 to 5,000 years ago: Carvings by the lake Fykanvatnet and on the island of Åmøya are thought to be 4,000 to 5,000 years old.
- The Benkestok family, 1500s: The noble Benkestok family set up one of its seats at Meløy farm, on the island of Meløya, in the 16th century.
- A farm, 1610: The farm of Ørnes is recorded in 1610, when a tenant farmer lived there.
- An inn and trading post, 1794: Elling Pedersen, of the Benkestok family, was licensed to run an inn at Ørnes in 1794, the start of the trading post.
- The widow takes over, 1802: After Pedersen died in 1802, his widow, Ellen Elisabeth Klæboe, moved to Ørnes and ran the business herself.
- Fires and survivals: The settlement burned several times, but buildings from around 1800 remain.
- Meløy municipality, 1884: Meløy became a municipality of its own in 1884, with its center first on Meløya and later at Ørnes.
- To learn more ashore: Meløy bygdemuseum, part of the Nordland Museum, is in a school building from 1923 beside the main road at Reipå, about 6 km north of Ørnes, and covers the history of the school and of the coast's fishing farmers. It has no fixed opening hours and takes group visits by booking, so check before you go.
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