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 administration centre in Hadsel Municipality on the north side of the Hadseløya. Among the population of only 3,200, you will find people from 25 nations, many of them attracted by job opportunities in the fishing industry.

In Stokmarknes you find the museum of Hurtigruten, offering a journey through time along the coast. See the changes that have been made on board the ships over the last 120 years, and hear darker tales of shipwrecks and loss of life, also part of Hurtigruten's history. Along the waterfront of Stokmarknes, you can’t miss a big, bold glass building gleaming in the sunlight.

Encased within is a full-sized ship - our very own MS Finnmarken from 1956. This is Hurtigrutemuseet, a modern museum in honour of The Coastal Express and taking the form of a massive ship in a bottle.