Norway
Stamsund
Stamsund: A Working Fishing Village in Lofoten
- Port traffic
- ModerateNext 30 days
Good to know
Where Ships Dock
Hurtigruten coastal-route ships call at Stamsund's harbor twice a day, southbound from Svolvær and northbound from Bodø. The village is on the south side of Vestvågøya, one of the Lofoten islands, about 12 km east of Leknes.
- Your daily program gives the time ashore for this call.
Stamsund on Your Own
Stamsund is a working fishing village, and the simplest independent visit is a walk along the harbor to see the old rows of rorbuer. Check the time ashore first, because it decides how far you can go.
- Burekka: Two rows of rorbuer from around 1900, known as Burekka, were built as bait sheds and lodgings for visiting fishermen. Since the 1980s many have been let to visitors, and they are among the best-known sights in Lofoten.
- Behind the village: The mountains behind Stamsund are popular for hiking, if your time ashore is long enough.
- Light and season: Stamsund lies north of the Arctic Circle. The midnight sun lasts from 27 May to 17 July, and in winter the last sunrise before the dark season is on 7 December and the first after it on 5 January.
- Getting back on time: Be back at the ship by the time posted on board. It will not wait for passengers who are ashore on their own.
Tipping and Currency
Service staff in Norway are paid a standard wage and bills generally include service, so whether to tip is up to you.
- A restaurant tip for outstanding service is usually a rounded-up bill or about 5 to 10 percent.
- Rounding up a taxi fare is plenty.
- Prices are in Norwegian krone (NOK).
The Village
Stamsund has a lively cultural life for a village of about 1,100 people, with two independent theater groups and an international theater festival held every spring since 2001.
- Figurteateret i Nordland, the county's puppet theater, is based in the village.
- A ski slope at Stamsund is usually open from January to March.
History
Stamsund grew as a fishing village and has long been a base for trawl fishing in Lofoten. In March 1941 it was one of the targets of Operation Claymore, the first of twelve commando raids on Norway in the Second World War.
- Hol Municipality: From 1919 to 1963 the village was the administrative center of Hol Municipality.
- Operation Claymore: On 4 March 1941, British commandos and Norwegian troops landed in Lofoten, with No. 3 Commando assigned to Stamsund and Henningsvær. Their targets were the islands' fish oil and glycerine plants, which supplied the German war economy.
- What the raid brought back: The raiders returned with about 228 German prisoners and 314 Norwegian volunteers. From the German armed trawler Krebs they also seized rotor wheels and code books for an Enigma machine, which helped Bletchley Park read German naval codes.
- The bunkers: A German bunker complex, with a lookout over the village and the sea to the west, still sits on the mountain above Stamsund.
- A fishing company town: J. M. Johansen, a long-established company in the village, now works in fillet production.
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