Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Båtsfjord
POP 2100
If Berlevåg is rustic, its neighbour, the small port of Båtsfjord, has a much more bustling,
industrial feel to it.
The main site in town is the
Båtsfjord church ( mid-Jun-mid-Aug)
. Constructed
in1971,itsmundaneexteriorcontrastssharplywiththeviewfromwithinofitsglowing85
sq metres of stained glass.
A25kmhikeeastwardalongthefjord'ssouthernshoreleadstoMakkaur,an
abandoned
fishing village
that dates from medieval times and escaped burning during WWII. There
are all sorts of interesting junk to poke around, including the remains of a German POW
camp.
Båtsfjord's best accommodation choice is
Polar Hotell ( 78 98 31 00;
www.polarhotel.no
,
in Norwegian; s/d from Nkr1000/1250; Apr-Oct),
trim and tidy
with a bar and restaurant. Beside it there's limited
camping (sites Nkr150)
with access to
the hotel's facilities.
Getting There & Away
Flights run from the airport, 5km from town, to Tromsø and Kirkenes, offering excellent
views of the Arctic landscape, complete with grazing reindeer.
Buses connect Båtsfjord with Tana Bru (Nkr174, two hours) once or twice daily except
Saturday. Båtsfjord is also a stop on the Hurtigruten coastal ferry.
Tana Bru
POP 600
Tiny Tana Bru takes its name from the picturesque bridge over the great Tana River, the
onlyoneformilesup-anddownstream.Here,ononeofEurope'sbestsalmonreaches,loc-
als use the technique of constructing barrages to obstruct the upstream progress of the fish;
the natural barrage at Storfossen falls, about 30km upstream, is one of the finest fishing
spots in all Norway. Test its waters, though you'll need singular good luck to pull out any-
thing to compare with the record 36kg specimen that was once played ashore.
Tana Gull og Sølvsmie (
www.tanagullogsolv.com
; 10am-6pm Mon-Sat)
was es-
tablished over 30 years ago as eastern Finnmark's first gold- and silversmith. Andreas
