Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
Twice-daily buses (except Saturday) connect Karasjok with Alta (Nkr475, 4¾ hours) and
Hammerfest (Nkr410, 4¼ hours). There's a service to Kirkenes (Nkr529, five hours) four
times weekly.
A daily Finnish Lapin Linjat bus runs to Rovaniemi (Nkr700, eight hours) via Ivalo
(Nkr280, 3½ hours), in Finland.
BEST FOR SAMI HANDICRAFTS
Juhls' Sølvsmie
, Kautokeino
Knivsmed Strømeng
, Karasjok
Kautokeino Sølvsmie
,
Kautokeino
Avzi Design
, Kautokeino
Kautokeino
Pop 3050
While Karasjok has made concessions to Norwegian culture, Kautokeino, the traditional
winter base of the reindeer Sami (as opposed to their coastal kin), remains more emphatic-
ally Sami; some 85% of the townspeople have Sami as their first language and you may
see a few nontourist-industry locals in traditional national dress.
The town is, frankly, dull in summer since so many of its people are up and away with
the reindeer in their warm-weather pastures (in winter, by contrast, around 100,000
reindeer live hereabouts). What makes a visit well worthwhile is Juhls' Sølvsmie (Juhls'
Silver Gallery), just out of town and a magnificent example of the best of Scandinavian
jewellery design.
History
From as early as 1553, during the gradual transition between nomadic and sedentary life-
styles, records reveal evidence of permanent settlement in the Kautokeino area. Christian-
ity took hold early and the first church was built in 1641.
The first road to Kautokeino didn't arrive here until the 1960s.
