Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Main Cemetery
WAR GRAVES
In this cemetery, beside the E6 on the north side of town, are monuments to the French and
Polish troops who fought alongside the Norwegians on land, and the graves of German de-
fenders and British sailors who died at sea.
SVARTA BJØRN
No one knows for sure whether there actually was a comely cook nicknamed Svarta
Bjørn (Black Bear) who dished up meals for the navvies (railway workers) who built
the railway of the Ofoten line. But her name certainly lives on in legend and in fic-
tion. In his Malm trilogy, published in 1914, novelist Ernst Didring recounts some of
the stories the navvies passed on to him.
It's said that this dark, beautiful girl, although still too young to be away from
home, got on well with the rail workers and was a great little cook into the bargain.
But she fell in love with the same man that another woman coveted and was beaten
to death with a laundry paddle.
It's said that the navvies arranged for her burial at the Tornehamn cemetery. Today,
the grave site bears the name of Anna Norge, but the date of death has been changed
at least three times to fit different women who at different times have been assumed
to be the genuine Svarta Bjørn.
Activities
Narvik og Omegns Turistforening (NOT;
www.turistforeningen.no/narvik
)
isanexcel-
lent source of information about hiking. It maintains more than 20 cabins, mostly between
Narvik and the Swedish border. Collect keys from the tourist office against a deposit of
Nkr100.
Narvikfjellet
CABLE CAR
(Mårveien;
www.narvikfjellet.no
; adult/child return Nkr100/free; 1-9pm or 1am
Jun-Aug, shorter hr Feb-Apr)
Climbing 656m above town, this cable car offers breath-
taking views over the surrounding peaks and fjords - even as far as Lofoten on a clear day.
