At the end of a 43km single track road which is only open in summer lies Hamningberg. The weather was good and we got spectacular views over the barren rock formations and tundra vegetation. Traditionally a fishing village, Hamningberg is one of very few places in all of Finnmark county that was not burned down by the retreating …
From Kirkenes we were travelling around the Varanger Fjord, which is about 100 kilometres long, emptying into the Barents Sea where its mouth is about 70 kilometres wide. The landscape in Varanger is a very different one from the Norwegian fjord-and-mountain thing as it doesn’t have the characteristics of a fjord carved by glaciers. The peninsula of …
There is a point on the map where the borders of Norway, Russia and Finland meet. No road is leading to this point, but from Norway it is possible to hike there. That sounded just like the right place to go! From Kirkenes, the most eastern town in Norway, just before the border to Russia, …
On our way to the Norwegian border we stopped for a break (69.648447, 29.055334) and saw this old cabin in a distance which attracted me to explore. Through the windows I could see, that the interior was still completely furnished and looked like somebody walked out and didn’t come back anymore. I wonder what story …
In Inari, the Siida Museum on the Sámi culture and the environment of Northern Lapland gave a little insight with a lot of information and an open air part, where we could have a look at typical houses and other buildings. Afterwards we were on our way to the border to Norway. A temporary exhibition …
On a cruise on Lake Inari we went to explore a region which is the homeland of the Inari Sámi – a group of Sámi people who inhabit the area around the lake. We came past the sacred island Ukonsaari and other islands used as cemeteries before we got off the boat at the coast to hike to …
At this National Park named after Urho Kekkonen, the late President and Prime Minister of Finland, we had reached a landscape typical for Lapland: bare hills called fell which we went to explore. On the Kilopää fell a species of birch which grows only on the Kilopää and Saaroselkä fells. It has a twisted and relatively …
Today we crossed the Artic Circle rather unspectacularly, but the next hike at Pyhä with its 2 billion year old mountains was truly fascinating. Northern Finland – Reindeer area! And here they are, often next to the road – No bump, no line on the ground, no warnings, … Maybe I need this cap: “I’ve …
In Northern Karelia the Oulanka NP is famous for its 80km long hiking route called the bear trail. We did the little bear trail “Pieni Karhunkierros”, which was a 3 hour circular route. The landscape was spectacular, nothing else to expect in Finland! We had been to Kuusamo the day before to do some shopping, …
At Hossa, we did a tour around a lake which is squeezed in between rocks, something different to the flat lake district we had been travelling through. The National Park is called Kansallispuisto, but the area is better known as Hossa, I wonder why ;-). We had spent the night at a parking …
