Previous port: Svolvær
At the heart of Lofoten, Svolvær attracts nature enthusiasts, adventure seekers, and artists in search of its very special light.
Stokmarknes – the birthplace of Hurtigruten
This idyllic village is where our founder Richard With started Hurtigruten more than 120 years ago.
Stokmarknes is the settlement and administrative center of Hadsel municipality, on the north side of the Hadseløya. You can find people of 25 nationalities in this town of only 3,200, many attracted by job opportunities in the fishing industry.
In Stokmarknes, you can find the Hurtigruten museum, which offers a journey through time along the coast. See how the onboard experience has changed on the ships over the last 120 years and hear darker tales of shipwrecks and loss of life, which is also part of Hurtigruten's history. Along the Stokmarknes waterfront, you can’t miss the large, bold glass building gleaming in the sunlight.
Encased within, you can see a full-sized ship—our very own MS Finnmarken from 1956. This is Hurtigrutemuseet, a modern museum in honor of the Coastal Express, in the shape of a massive ship in a bottle.
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Port Address
Nordnesveien 1, 8450 Stokmarknes
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History
Stokmarknes was a privileged trading place starting as early as 1776, with annual markets from 1851 to 1939. It was the head seat for Vesteraalens Dampskipselskap, now Hurtigruten, from 1891 until 1988. The name Stokmark probably originates from an old Norwegian word meaning 'forest and a place for chopping timber'.