Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The wisp of a single-lane road runs through some of northern Norway's most fas-
cinating geology: inky tarns, copses of scrubby bushes clinging to the meagre topsoil
for dear life, flecks of snow even in late July and looming, lichen-covered eroded
stone pillars, the remnants of sedimentary layers turned on end. En route, you'll pass
reindeer herds and several sandy beaches. Save the bucket-and-spading, though, until
the return journey when, 7.3km south of Hamningberg, you can walk to the broadest
beach through the small nature reserve of
Sandfjordneset
, with its protected sand
dunes set back from the shoreline.
What makes the village special is that, being so remote, it was saved from the gen-
eral destruction of the Nazi retreat in WWII. Only one house was destroyed - and
that by a Russian bomber. The rest, abandoned in the 1960s except for summer visit-
ors, still stand as living reminders of what was once one of eastern Finnmark's
largest fishing villages. Here where the road ends, there's a small summertime
cafe
.
Information
Vardø has a seasonal
tourist office (
78 98 69 07;
www.varanger.com
; Havneprom-
enaden;
9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 2-5pm Sat & Sun mid-May-Sep)
.
Getting There & Away
VardøisastopontheHurtigrutencoastalferryroute.Busesfollowthescenicseasideroute
between Vadsø and Vardø (1½ hours) at least twice daily and two services run to Kirkenes
(3½ hours) daily except Saturday.
Kirkenes
POP 3500
This is it: you're as far east as Cairo, further east than most of Finland, a mere 15km from
theborderwithRussia-andattheendofthelinefortheHurtigrutencoastalferry.It'salso
road's end for the E6, the highway that persistent travellers will have been following along
the Arctic Highway ever since southern Norway.
This tiny, nondescript place, anticlimactic for many, has a distinct frontier feel. You'll
see street signs in Norwegian and Cyrillic script and hear Russian spoken by trans-border
