Stamsund Vestvagoy Island Lofoten Norway
Norway
3355
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Hurtigruten (3355 Cruises)
MS Kong Harald
548 Cruises
MS Nordkapp
571 Cruises
MS Nordlys
523 Cruises
MS Nordnorge
542 Cruises
MS Polarlys
618 Cruises
MS Richard With
553 Cruises
Frequently Asked Questions
Right in the heart of the village, on the south coast of Vestvågøy island in the Lofoten. The coastal express calls twice a day and passengers step straight into a world of red rorbuer, working quays and granite peaks rising behind the roofs.
Cod drying on wooden racks. It is the clean, briny smell of stockfish, a thousand-year-old preservation method and the oldest in the country. Until early summer, thousands of fish hang head to tail on the racks.
The working harbour first: trawlers landing their catch under wheeling gulls, pallets, winches. Then the rorbuer, deep-red fishermen's cabins on stilts ringing the basin. The outer mole gives the best framing of red roofs, drying racks and the wall of peaks.
The Arctic cod that comes down from the Barents Sea to spawn, January to April. It supports one of the largest fleets in the region. The stockfish produced here is exported to Italy, where it has ruled Venetian and Neapolitan tables for centuries.
The harbour and the rorbuer fill an hour. Add a walk: trails climb quickly behind the houses and a steady hour's ascent reaches viewpoints over the channel, the reefs and the islets. Otherwise, take an excursion to Vestvågøy's outer coast.
Yes, on the island's outer coast, by excursion. The white beaches of Haukland and Uttakleiv are among the most photographed in Norway. Unstad bay draws surfers in thick wetsuits right through winter — the water stays cold year-round.
Leknes, the island's small capital about twelve kilometres away; the fishing hamlet of Ballstad; and the Lofotr Viking Museum at Borg with its reconstructed longhouse. Vestvågøy is the most agricultural of the Lofoten: sheep graze at the foot of grey cliffs.
Yes, and it is unexpected for a village this size. Figurteatret i Nordland, a national puppet theatre centre, is based here, and art galleries are scattered through the lanes.
The Norwegian krone, and credit cards everywhere. Norway runs almost entirely cashless, including in Lofoten fishing villages. No currency exchange is needed.
Summer for the midnight sun gilding the drying racks deep into the night and for walkable trails. In winter, the northern lights dance above the masts, but daylight is very short. From January to April, the skrei season gives the harbour its full intensity.
