Napp: Fishing Village, Trade History and Nature

Napp combines the history of a fishing village with traces of trade, a shop featuring seaweed products and local walking trails. A bay with rock formations and a nesting area for coastal birds are also among the village’s distinctive features. This gives you several ways to approach Napp when choosing a destination: you might be interested in fishing history, nature or trails described in and from Napp.

Fishing Village with a History of Trade

A shop was established in Napp in the 1850s. This made the village the first trading post in Flakstad outside Nusfjord and Sund. Heimgården, also known as Karl-Napp Farm, dates from around the same period. The house was built around 1850 as the main house for a merchant who ran a shop there. These two details offer different insights into Napp’s trading history: one concerns the village’s development as a trading post, the other a house associated with a merchant and his shop.

The harbour also shaped the village’s history. Further dredging and expansion of the harbour made Napp the largest fishing village in Flakstad after the war. Napp is a fishing village with several fish-processing businesses, as well as a fishing community reflecting the more recent past. Those interested in the development of fishing and trade will therefore find more here than a single historical point of interest.

Seaweed, Local Products and Coastal Nature

The Lofoten Seaweed shop in Napp sells seaweed products and gifts by local artists. It also invites visitors to learn more about seaweed. Kelp is hand-harvested in the cold, nutrient-rich waters of Nappstraumen. These are two distinct aspects of the village and its surroundings: the sale of products and art gifts in the shop, and the hand-harvesting in Nappstraumen.

Northeast of Øya on Napp are a bay and rock formations that provide an attractive nesting area for Arctic terns and common gulls. This aspect of nature is quite distinct from the history of the harbour and fish processing. When choosing a place to visit, you might consider whether coastal birds and the landscape are among the things that interest you, alongside the character of the fishing village.

Walks and a Stone Age Site

Local walking options include the trail up to Mørkdalen. Another option follows the road to the end of the breakwater. There is also a hiking trail from Napp that runs several kilometres south to Storbåthellaren. The routes differ in their described direction and destination: Mørkdalen is reached by an uphill trail, the end of the breakwater is reached along the road, and the longer trail continues south.

Storbåthellaren is a settlement site from the Late Stone Age on Nappstraumen. It dates to around 4000 BC and is considered the oldest known settlement site in Lofoten and Vesterålen. The easiest way to reach it is by boat; a hiking trail from Napp also leads there. When planning a visit, both its approximate date and historical significance, as well as the stated ways of getting there, are relevant.

A Guide to Choosing a Holiday Destination

The E10, also known as Kong Olavs vei, runs through Napp. The road tunnel beneath Nappstraumen has its eastern entrance just north of the village. Together with the trails and the area’s different histories, these features provide practical context when considering Napp as a destination. You could consider a holiday apartment in Napp if you would like to combine your stay with the fishing village, its trading history and the walking and nature experiences described here. If you are travelling with children, these different themes can offer ideas for things to discover together, without limiting your stay to just one type of experience.

More village pages to help you plan: Sund i Lofoten, Fredvang, Flakstad, Ramberg.

Back to the main travel guide: Flakstad.