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The Varanger Tourist Road

starts at the bottom of the Varanger fjord and ends at Hamningberg. The distance between Varangerbotn and Vardø is the last stretch of the E-75 which starts on the the island Crete in the Mediterranean, and ends in Vardø.

The Varanger road continues from Vardø to Hamningberg through strange mountain formations.

Read more about this national tourist road.

The Norwegian newspaper Bergens Tidende run an article about roadside toilets. In the article the author said that the Gornitak roadside toilet is among finest and most expensive toilets. Not everyone puts so much work into a toilet project as does the highway authority (Statens vegvesen).

Part of the Gornitak Varanger toilet is in a restored German war remains munitions storehouse from World War II. The nearest stone part in picture

The project is designed by architect Margrete Friis and lanscape architects Berg & Dyring.

(All photos: Olav E. Johansen)

Nesseby

At the starting point of the Varanger road we find the excellent Varanger Sami Museum. Varanger Sami Museum offers different exhibitons during the year. The main exhibit is the "The Coastal Sami".

The museum also has the Nesseby tourist information office with a variety of good literature about the Varanger area.

Nesseby church is one of the oldest churches in Finnmark.

The Cultural Heritage Area Ceavccageaðge at Mortensnes is one of the richest and most characteristic cultural heritage sites in Scandinavia. Trails with informative signposts lead to the different parts, which show continuous settlement thousands of years back until our day.

There are traces of Stone Age settlements, Sami sacrificial sites and graves.

For guiding, please contact the Varanger Samiske Museum in advance (see link above).

Vadsø

Vadsø is the administrative center of Finnmark county. We could also call it the Norwegian capital of the Kven people of Varanger.

The picture below shows a traditional Kven building. They built the dwelling and the barn together.

At Vadsø you can visit the Vadsø Museum which is also the official Kven museum.

On the small island Vadsøya you can visit the nature and cultural park with remains of a 16th century Russian cemetery, the airship mast from the North Pole expeditions of Roald Amundsen and Umberto Nobile.

There are even some World War II memorials and other cultural memorials.

The island has a rich bird life.

Left picture is from a midsummer eve celebration at the Sirkka farm in Vadsø

As you go towards Vardø you pass small villages with populations descending from Finnish immigrants of the 18th and 19th centuries. Let's mention places like Salttjern, Golnes, Ekkerøy, Krampenes and Skallelv.

Ekkerøy is famous for its bird cliffs.
Ekkerøy is ideal for bird watching.

At Ekkerøy there are also German war remains on the peninsula.

Vardø

The Kiberg fishing village comes before the Domen mountain crossing.

At Kiberg the are many war remains from a World War II German coastal fortress.

The Partisan Museum is open during summer.
The museum is dedicated to the Norwegian partisans that opposed the Germans during World War II and supplied the Allies with information of military significance.

Vardø is known for its witch burnings. At Steilneset (left picture) there is a memorial to the 91 persons convicted of sorcery and burnt at the stake in Finnmark County.

The Vardø museum is at Lushaugen in a three story sandstone building. In this map you'll find the different departments of the museum.

At Vardø you'll also find the medieval Vardøhus fortress.

The town has also become famous because of all the cats that create problems for the people there.

Hamningberg

The last stretch of the tourist road is from Vardø to Hamningberg (in Båtsfjord municipality) about 40 km from Vardø, crossing a barren landscape. In some areas along the road the shale rises up in strange formations.

Picture shows nice sculpture that welcomes you to Hamningberg.

Read more about Hamningberg.

Varangerhalvøya national park

See map of the national park area which is in these : Nesseby, Båtsfjord, Vardø and Vadsø.

Read more about the other national parks in Finnmark.
You may even want to read a little about national parks in:

Other resources

• Read also about Finnish Lapland national parks
  
• Read also about Swedish Lapland national parks

• Read about Lapland section of E-6 Alta-Kirkenes.

• Read about Lapland section of E-75 Simo-Vardo.

  Further information about the Varanger area

  The best overall information about the Varanger tourist road area is undoubtedly in here.
  
  

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