Things to do in Finnmark
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Nordkapphallen
So you've finally made it to Nordkapphallen, Europe's northernmost rip-off - an opinion shared by the regular letters we receive from readers who've felt exploited. To reach the tip of the continent, by car, by bike, on a bus or walking in, you have to pay a toll. This allows unlimited entry over two days but it's small compensation for the vast majority who roll in, look around, take a snap and roll out.
This vast bunker of a place, topped by a giant, intrusive golf ball, is a love/hate kind of place. Within are a tediously detailed account of WWII naval actions off the cape, a cafeteria and restaurant, the striking Grottan bar with views of Europe's end through its vast…
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Alta Museum
Alta Museum is in Hjemmeluft, at the western end of town. The cliffs around it, a Unesco World Heritage site, are incised with around 5000 late–Stone Age carvings, dating from 6000 to 2000 years ago. As the sea level decreased after the last ice age, carvings were made at progressively lower heights. Themes include hunting scenes, fertility symbols, bears, moose, reindeer and crowded boats. The works have been highlighted with red-ochre paint (thought to have been the original colour) and are connected by 3km of boardwalks that start at the main building. The short loop (1.2km; allow around 45 minutes, including viewing time) is the most visited. You can also graft on a s…
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Royal & Ancient Polar Bear Society
Dedicated to preserving Hammerfest culture, the Royal & Ancient Polar Bear Society features exhibits on Arctic hunting and local history and shares premises with the tourist office. The place is, it must be said, a bit of a come-on (the Norwegian name, Isbjørklubben, simply Polar Bear Club, lacks the portentousness of the English but is nearer the mark). For around NOK160, you can become a life member and get a certificate, ID card, sticker and pin.
For around NOK200, you also receive a schnapps glass and, as the demure young receptionist will explain without blanching, get dubbed with the bone from a walrus's penis. It's well worth that extra around NOK35 for the conve…
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Gallery
Juhls’ Sølvsmie (Silver Gallery) is a wonderful building, all slopes and soft angles, designed and built by owners Regine and Frank Juhls, who first began working with the Sami half a century ago. Their highly acclaimed gallery creates traditional-style and modern silver jewellery and handicrafts, and displays the best of Scandinavian design. One wing of the gallery has a fine collection of oriental carpets and artefacts, reminders of their work in support of Afghan refugees during that blighted country’s Soviet occupation. Staff happily show you around and you’re welcome to buy items.
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Vardøhus Festning
The star-shaped Vardøhus Festning – yes, of course it’s the world’s most northerly – was constructed in 1737 by King Christian VI. For a fortress, it’s painted in gentle fairy-tale colours. On a nice, sunny day it’s pleasant to stroll around the flower-festooned bastions, past turf-roofed buildings and Russian cannons. You pay the admission fee either at the guard office or by dropping it into the WWII sea mine that guards the entrance.
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Church
As so often in these small Finnmark communities, the church is the most interesting structure architecturally – and all too often the only building to have survived the devastation wreaked by retreating Nazi forces. Vadsø’s didn’t. Built anew in 1958, it’s simple enough yet rich in symbolism. The twin peaks are intended to recall an iceberg, the Orthodox-inspired altarpiece looks metaphorically over the frontier and the rich stained glass depicts the seasons.
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Gallery
Local artist Eva Arnesen designed the Nobel Peace Prize diploma that was awarded to Jody Williams and the campaign to ban land mines. Her gallery is about 4km south of town, opposite the Statoil petrol station. Arnesen’s paintings evoke the colours of the region from the northern lights to the bright palette of summer. The handsome pair of carved and silvered polar bears on Rådhus Plass was fashioned by her husband, woodcarver Knut Arnesen.
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Vadsø Church
As so often in these small Finnmark communities, the Church is the most interesting structure architecturally - and all too often the only building to have survived the devastation wreaked by retreating Nazi forces. Vadsø's didn't. Built anew in 1958, it's simple enough yet rich in symbolism. The twin peaks are intended to recall an iceberg, the Orthodox-inspired altarpiece looks metaphorically over the frontier and the rich stained-glass depicts the seasons.
reviewed
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Museum
Outside, this charming little museum presents a traditional Sami settlement, complete with an early home, temporary dwellings and outbuildings such as the kitchen, sauna, and huts for storing fish, potatoes and lichen (also called ‘reindeer moss’ and prime reindeer fodder). Inside are Sami handicrafts, farming and reindeer-herding implements, religious icons and artefacts, and winter transport gear.
reviewed
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Kjeldsen Fish Plant
The third site, the Kjeldsen Fish Plant is at Ekkerøy, 15km east of town. It retains its old stores and lodgings, a mass of arcane fishing equipment, the old shrimp processing and bottling room and - to make you wince at childhood memories - a vast black vat and boiler for extracting cod-liver oil. Plan to arrive when hunger is beginning to bite and you can enjoy an excellent fish meal in the Havhesten Restaurant.
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Bird Safari
Sails two to three times daily between June and late August to the offshore bird colony on the Gjesværstappan islands. There are an estimated three million nesting birds, including colonies of puffins, skuas, razorbills, kittiwakes, gannets and white-tailed eagles. Reserve this 1½-hour tour directly or at the Honningsvåg tourist office. Bird safari can also arrange accommodation June to August.
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Stappan Sjøprodukter
Fisherman Roald Berg will take you bird-watching (NOK1000 for up to two passengers, NOK450 each for 3-6) in his small boat. Or join him for a fishing expedition (NOK2000 per hour, maximum four passengers). He also runs a splendid waterside summer café offering delights such as smoked wild salmon sandwiches, cloudberries and cream, and waffles with homemade blueberry jam; he runs a well-furnished apartment.
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Andersgrotta
Drop down the steep stairs of Andersgrotta into this cave that once served as an air-raid shelter and bunker as wave upon wave of Russian bombers sought to knock out the Nazi ore shipping facility. There’s a multilingual presentation and a nine-minute video also tells the tale. Wrap up warmly since the temperature is 3°C, even in summer.
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Restaurant Haldde
There’s even more quality from this excellent restaurant within Quality Hotel Vica. It relies almost entirely upon local ingredients in the preparation of choice dishes such as the Finnmark Platter of grouse, reindeer and elk, or its Flavour of Finnmark dessert of cloudberries and cowberry-blueberry sorbet within a nest of spun caramel.
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Kautokeino Cultural Centre
If you’re interested in fine modern architecture, make a similar small detour to the outskirts of town and the Kautokeino Cultural Centre, winner of several awards. It’s the base for the Nordic Sami Institute and also Beaivváš, the world’s only professional Sami theatre company, which tours throughout the region.
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Church
Behind the altar of Hammerfest’s contemporary church, consecrated in 1961, the glorious stained-glass window positively glows in the summer sun. The wooden frieze along the organ gallery depicts highlights of the town’s history. The chapel in the cemetery across the street is the only building in town to have survived WWII.
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Hammerfest Kirke
Behind the altar of Hammerfest's contemporary Hammerfest Kirke, consecrated in 1961, the glorious stained-glass window positively glows in the summer sun. The wooden frieze along the organ gallery depicts highlights of the town's history. The chapel in the cemetery across the street is the only building in town to have survived WWII.
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Alfa-Omega
As its name suggests, this place has two parts: Omega, its contemporary café, open 11am to midnight, serves salads, sandwiches, pastas and cakes. Alfa, a pleasant, casual bar, comes into its own from 8pm. There’s also a terrace, ideal for taking a little summer sunshine, overlooking Alta’s bleak central square.
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Arctico
For a shiver in summer and sense of how Nordkapp must hit the senses in winter, visit this ice bar. Owner José Milares, himself a polar adventurer, talks with passion of the shapes, bubbles and inadvertent abstract art in the pure ice that he garners freshly each season and there's an igloo for the kids to crawl in.
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Barents Safari
Barents Safari runs a three-hour boat trip (adult/child Nkr790/400, at least twice daily from June to mid-September) along the Pasvik River to the Russian border at the historic village of Boris Gleb (Borisoglebsk in Russian). Tariffs include a salmon meal with cloudberries and cream in a Sami-style hut.
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Qa Spiseri
Run by a young team, this welcome recent addition to Hammerfest’s limited dining options offers reliable cuisine with a great price-to-quality ratio, whether you opt for a main course or one of its lunchtime snacks (Nkr90 to Nkr110). Whichever, save a cranny for a hunk of one of its mouthwatering homemade cakes.
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Asia Burger Café
Disregard the off-putting name, shun the burgers and order a dish of tasty, authentic Thai cooking in – you’ve guessed it – mainland Europe’s most northerly Thai restaurant. Accompany this with one of the 36 kinds of bottled beer on offer, including equally authentic Thai Singha beer.
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Kaikanten
An appealing café that serves light meals by day, the Quayside becomes a popular evening pub serving pizzas. Nautically themed (the backdrop to the bar represents old Hammerfest’s dockside, and sail canvases billow beneath the ceiling), it has a pool table and comfy sofas into which you sink deep.
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Energy House
The Energy House, a new interactive centre, explains natural gas extraction, which is bringing increasing wealth to Hammerfest, and also alternative energy sources such as wind and tidal power. Coincidentally, it’s on the site of northern Europe’s first hydropower station.
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Odd’s Mat & Vinhus
Drop downstairs to one of the finest restaurants in all Norway, offering dishes such as grouse steak, fillet of hare and salmon marinated in gin. Hanks of plaited rope are festooned from ceiling and windows, and there’s plenty of attractive dark woodwork. Reservations are all but essential.
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