Norway
Rorvik
Rørvik: Coastal Ships, the Norveg Museum and the Vikna Islands
- Port traffic
- QuietNext 30 days
Good to know
What to Expect
Coastal voyage ships call at Rørvik in the evening, and the northbound and southbound ships meet here. Check how long your ship stays before you go ashore.
- The port handles more than 15,000 ship calls a year.
- Since 1981 a bridge has linked the Vikna islands to the mainland by road.
Rørvik on Your Own
A coastal voyage call at Rørvik comes in the evening, after Norveg, the coastal museum, has normally closed. Check how long your ship stays, and keep the stop to a walk near the quay.
- Stay close to the ship: Be back on board well before the departure time your ship posts. It will not wait for anyone ashore.
- Norveg from outside: The coastal museum's building, at Strandgata 7, was designed by the architect Guðmundur Jónsson and is admired for its architecture.
Norveg and Berggården
Norveg, the coastal museum at Strandgata 7, also looks after Berggården in the town center and the old fishing village of Sør-Gjæslingan offshore. It normally opens Tuesday to Saturday and closes by 15:00, with different hours in some holiday periods, so check before you go.
- Sør-Gjæslingan, a group of about 80 islands, islets and reefs, was once an important fishing village, where several thousand fishermen gathered in the season.
- Norveg runs a display center on modern aquaculture together with SalmoNor.
- In summer, the viewing boat MS Sunniva runs guided trips to a modern salmon farm.
- Skreifestivalen, a festival of food and coastal culture, has been held in Rørvik every year since 1998.
- Many private gardens in Rørvik have plum and apple trees, even at a latitude of 65 degrees north.
- Rørvik's church of 1896 burned down in 2012, and a new church was consecrated on December 22, 2019.
History
Rørvik grew from a handful of households into a town because the coastal steamers chose to call here. Its later growth came from the bridge to the mainland and from fish farming.
- A tiny place, 1701: Only four households lived at Rørvik at the census of 1701.
- The steamers, 1838 to 1866: When a state steamship route up the coast began in 1838, ships called at Kråkøya, 4 km to the north. The call moved to Rørvik in 1863, and the post office followed in 1866.
- Hurtigruten, 1893: Hurtigruten has called at Rørvik since 1893.
- A church and a ferry, 1896 and 1929: Rørvik's church was built in 1896, and a ferry served the town from 1929.
- Moving to town, from 1947: Families from the outer islands of Vikna began moving to Rørvik in 1947, some to work in town and some to keep fishing from it.
- Fish farming, the 1970s: The first experiments with aquaculture in the region began in the 1970s, and it became an important industry in the 1980s and 1990s.
- The bridge, 1981: The Nærøysund Bridge opened on November 6, 1981, ending the ferry service and opening the islands to road traffic.
- A new church, 2019: After the old church burned in 2012, a new Rørvik Church was consecrated in 2019.
- To learn more ashore: Norveg, the coastal museum at Strandgata 7, looks after Berggården and the fishing village of Sør-Gjæslingan and has a display on modern fish farming. Its normal opening hours end by 15:00, so it suits a stay in Rørvik rather than an evening coastal voyage stop. Check before you go.
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