Nyksund (Norway): “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.”
From Ghost Town to Creative Hub. Nyksund and the Lesson the Mediterranean Still Ignores
Some press releases you skim. Others make you spill your coffee and rush to the keyboard. The rebirth of Nyksund (check the link at Visit Norway), a tiny fishing village in Northern Norway’s Vesterålen, definitely belongs to the second category.
Once upon a time — let’s say until the 1960s — Nyksund was noisy, crowded, and prosperous. Hundreds of men came for the Atlantic cod season, squeezing boats into a harbor already too small, stacking warehouses two or three floors high just to fit all the activity. Then technology did what it often does: bigger boats, deeper ports, new logistics. By the 1970s, Nyksund was a ghost town.
Now, if this had been somewhere around the Mediterranean, we know the script: a bit of nostalgia, a few articles about depopulation, maybe a dreamy photo series of abandoned houses, and then… silence. But Norway, as usual, refused to leave things at “tragic but beautiful.”
In the 1980s, a group of Germans showed up — not with cameras but with hammers. They salvaged timber, doors, and memories, turning ruins into a living museum. Guesthouses were restored, communal dinners reappeared, and slowly, life returned. By the early 2000s, a second wave of settlers — creatives, restaurateurs, architects — joined in. They didn’t see trash, they saw culture. They didn’t see isolation, they saw possibility.
Fast forward to today: Nyksund has fewer than 30 permanent residents, yet it feels unexpectedly urban and creative. There are coworking desks, artist studios, a recording studio, a live music venue, a book café, and galleries. It’s a place where you can eat cod stew at Holmvik Brygge, spend the afternoon sketching storms rolling in from the Atlantic, and close the day watching the northern lights without streetlights to dim them.
“The biggest resource the place has is actually its energy, which can give you so much support if you want to work creatively,”
— Ssemjon Gerlitz, guide and owner of Holmvik Brygge
And this is where the provocation kicks in. If Nyksund — more remote than remote, lashed by winds, connected only by a skinny road clinging to cliffs — can reinvent itself, then villages in Calabria, Crete, or Corsica truly have no excuse. Yes, the winters are dark and brutal, but that didn’t stop Norwegians (and a few stubborn Germans) from reimagining a fishing outpost as a playground for digital nomads and artists.
Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean we often hear: “it’s too far from the airport,” “the young people left,” “the houses are falling apart.” Guess what? Nyksund had all of that, plus storms that peel roofs off and winters when the sun barely shows up. Yet today it’s buzzing — in a low-key, Arctic sort of way.
This isn’t to romanticize. Living in Nyksund year-round means long nights, isolation, and a population smaller than your average high school class. But it also means community, shared meals, creative energy, and the ability to brand a place not as lost but as found again.
And here at Nomag, we’ll admit it: we have our obsessions. Italy and the Nordics. We forgive ourselves for being biased. But when the press release about Nyksund landed in our inbox, we couldn’t help thinking of all the abandoned hamlets in Sicily, the whitewashed towns in Greece, the forgotten fishing ports in Spain. If they can do it up there, at the edge of the Arctic Ocean, then down here — in places blessed with sun, olives, and beaches — there are really no excuses left.
Nyksund is not just a story of revival. It’s a reminder that creativity thrives where people decide it matters more than convenience.
So yes, the next time someone tells you their village is “too remote” to attract people, just show them a photo of Nyksund’s colorful houses popping against a backdrop of stormy skies. Then smile and say: “If they managed it there, what’s your excuse?”
How to get there (and how much it might cost)
Nyksund doesn’t make it easy — and that’s half the point. Most travelers fly into Evenes (Harstad/Narvik Airport), then rent a car for the 3–4 hour drive across Lofoten and into Vesterålen. Alternatively, you can fly to Bodø or Tromsø and connect by regional flights or ferries. Expect flight prices from major European hubs to start around €250–400 round trip (more in peak summer), plus car rental at €70–100 per day. For digital nomads, a month-long stay might mean budgeting at least €1,500–2,000 including flights, rental car, and accommodation — less than a trendy coworking month in Lisbon, but with northern lights thrown in.
Where to stay
Accommodation in Nyksund is quirky by definition. You won’t find chain hotels, but you will find living museums turned into guesthouses. The legendary Holmvik Brygge offers historic rooms and apartments with antique doors and salvaged furniture, while the Nyksund Ekspedisjonen has rooms above its restaurant. For longer stays, check out coliving options like the Traditional Lovely House (a converted fish factory + guesthouse) or Arctic Day & Night Coworking Home, which combine shared kitchens, coworking desks, and weekly communal dinners. Expect prices from €40 per night in shared rooms to €100–150 for private studios. Higher end solutions can be found nearby at the Nyken Resort.
Useful links
Holmvik Brygge guesthouse and restaurant
Nyksund Ekspedisjonen café, restaurant & rooms
Nyken Resort (check the video at the end of the article…)