Introducing Alta

Although the fishing and slate-quarrying town of Alta lies at latitude 70°N, it enjoys a relatively mild climate. The Alta Museum, with its ancient petroglyphs, is a must-see and the lush green Sautso-Alta Canyon, a quick hop away, is simply breathtaking.

The river Altaelva, which runs east of town, was once a Sami fishery and a popular haunt of sporting 19th-century English aristocrats. In the late 1970s, it became an environmental cause célèbre when, despite fierce local and national opposition, a 100m-high dam, the Altadammen, was built to exploit this rich salmon-spawning stream for hydroelectric power.