STAMSUND

With the sea at your doorstep and the mountains as your walls

Stamsund is the region's most complete starting point for adventures

The central location on Vestvågøy - right in the heart of Lofoten - has made Stamsund the ideal base for those seeking versatile experiences. The short distance from the airport in Leknes (LKN) and the frequent arrivals of the Hurtigruten makes it easy to access everything Stamsund has to offer. In Stamsund you will be treated to fantastic meals made of fresh ingredients caught straight out of Vestfjorden. Here you can enjoy yourself visiting one of the local pubs in the harbour or perhaps prepare fish you have caught yourself for dinner while watching the midnight sun. Here you can meditate and connect with nature - either at the ocean-view terraces or up in the mountains or out at sea - Stamsund offers something for everyone. We even have our own theatre festival each year in late May / early June.

The place to experience the sea and the mountains

Stamsund is surrounded by both the sea and mountains - the possibilities for activities are endless. Some of Lofoten's finest walks start right outside the door. What is truly unique is that everything Lofoten has to offer as a region can be found right here. Mountain hikes around Stamsund is an experience for both children and adults. You can choose from easier hikes in safe and accessible terrain or more advanced routes with more challenging vertical profiles. Randonee skiing in these mountains is a must for people who love the combination of beautiful scenery and exciting terrain. In the summer you can venture up in the mountains and watch the midnight sun reflect on the mountainside and the sea. In the winter the mountains serve as a starting point for Norway's most spectacular skiing excursions. Stamsund also has a skiing area with lifts to serve those looking for a more laidback profile to their skiing and snowboarding. However for most visitors the goal is to climb a mountain by themselves before skiing all the way back down again to the beach.

A lot of visitors also come here to experience the Northern Lights and their magical colours flashing across the Arctic sky. In late autumn and during winter the northern lights are so spectacular that people come from all over the world to experience and capture this unpredictable lightshow as it rolls above the Vestfjorden sky.

If your dream is to catch a fish almost as big as yourself, then the sea outside Stamsund is an ideal starting point. Here people frequently drag up cod weighing 30 kilos or more. Such heavyweights are nicknamed "coffee cods", as capturing a cod of 30 kg or more was awarded with 1 kg of coffee and a diploma by the local Lofoten newspaper. Fishing is at its peak in the winter months when the "skrei" (large Arctic cods) are returning from the Arctic Ocean, but at any time during the year the waters are packed with fish, which means you can choose anything from cod to whale or lobster for dinner.

A short drive away is Unstad, which due to its spectacular location and conditions has become one of the world's most rapidly growing surfing destinations. Surfers from all over the world come here to experience Arctic surfing at its finest.