Svolvær

Both, depending on the ship. Hurtigruten and small expedition vessels up to roughly 200 meters tie up alongside at Svolvær Harbour, directly in the town center — you walk off the gangway onto the main square. Larger cruise ships anchor in Vestfjorden offshore and tender passengers ashore, which adds 30–45 minutes to the round trip. Check your ship's daily program the night before; it's the difference between an 8-hour day in town and a 6.5-hour one.

If the weather's bad and your call is short, yes. It's an ice bar and ice-sculpture gallery built inside an old fish-freezing facility — kept at -5°C year-round, fishing-village themed, you get a thermal poncho and a drink in an ice glass. Not life-changing, but a 45-minute indoor option two minutes from the pier. Summer hours (June 15 – August 25) are 12:00 to 22:30; the rest of the year it's 18:00 to 22:00, which means it's closed during a typical morning cruise call outside high summer. Check before you walk over.

Yes, easily. Henningsvær is 25 km southwest of Svolvær on the E10 — about 25 minutes by car or taxi, slightly longer by Lofoten public bus (line runs several times a day; check 177nordland.no the morning of). It's the cod-rack-and-art-gallery village with the famous football pitch on a rocky islet. A taxi round-trip with a 90-minute walk-around runs roughly 1,500–1,800 NOK; the bus is under 100 NOK each way. Doable in a 6-hour port call if you skip lunch in town.

The hike to the base of the Goat — and the easier Fløya/Devil's Gate route next to it — is doable for fit walkers, not for casual ones. It's a 1 km approach on a steep, partly-staircased trail that takes 45 minutes one way to the rock's foot. Reaching Fløya summit is 3–4 hours round-trip from town. The actual climb of the Goat's twin horns is technical rock climbing — guides only, full day, book in advance. Don't attempt any of it on a wet day; the rock and the staircase get genuinely dangerous.

Norwegian krone (NOK). Norway is one of the most card-forward countries on Earth — contactless and chip-and-PIN work everywhere, including the Trollfjord boat operators, every café and restaurant, the Magic Ice ticket booth, and most taxis. You can spend a full cruise day in Svolvær without touching cash. ATMs exist in the town center if you want a small reserve, but most ships' euros and US dollars are useless here outside of a few tourist shops that quote inflated rates. Use the card.

Only if you're here roughly October through March and the sky cooperates. Svolvær sits at 68°N, well inside the auroral oval, and aurora season runs from late September to early April. From May through July you have midnight sun instead — beautiful, but no darkness, no aurora. A summer cruise call won't see the lights. A shoulder-season or winter Hurtigruten itinerary in port overnight is your best shot, and even then it's a weather lottery.