"Oh my god, you should definitely visit.." - My favorite spots ch 2

Here we go again, it's already Wednesday again according to my mental and physical calendar and I'm here to ramble on to you about yet another of my all time favorite spots in the world. I'm totally psyched about how my first post was received although now I have to work even harder on this piece to uphold that standard that was set before me. I hope I'll succeed in that endeavor, but if you feel like I fail on that task, I'll be happy to receive any constructive feedback in the comment section. In any case, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who supported my first article and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter just as much.

This place I have in mind for this week really emphazise the meaning of the phrase "the destination is not as important as the journey" because just getting your travel-thirsty souls there in the first place is an epic journey in it's own right, although the destination is still very important, but you get my drift I hope -
aaaand you might also want to pack your winter clothing just in case..

Chapter 2: Nordkapp - Norway

If you are in Europe, anywhere will do, and you decide one day just to start going north for whatever reason, then you will in the end find your frozen tired self on the North Cape in Norway (I'm going to refer to the North Cape by it's original Norwegian name "Nordkapp" for the rest of the article, to avoid confusion). This place is nothing but amazing and while it see it's fair share of tourist, I honestly don't believe there are enough travelers paying the northern most point of Europe a visit.

The monument of Nordkapp at 71°10′21″N , 25°47′04″E

Where, when and how?

Nordkapp is located on the top of mainland Europe in the contry of Norway on a small islands known as Magerøya, reachable by the very appropriately named tunnel the "Nordkapp tunnel" that stretches 6 km down to a depth of approximately 200 meters. You have to pass the northern arctic circle no matter which country and mode of transportation you arrive by.
From the Nordkapp visitor's center it's about 280 km to the Finnish border, 550 km to the Russian border and 470 to the Swedish borde, practically leaving it in the middle of nowhere. There are no trains available so far north from Oslo or Stockholm (the closest train station is in the town of Bodø in Norway, still leaving small 1000km between you and your destination. I don't recommend flying either unless you got enough money to afford it as it is a fairly expensive flight just from Oslo, but of course, if that's not one of your concers then go for it by all means.
You can take the ferry Hurtigruten from Bergen to Kirkenes for an amazing journey along the rugged coast of Norway and then go from Kirkenes to Nordkapp, still a long (and expensive) trip but definitely worth it, I'll try to to cover that in another post.
What I did myself and what I'd recommend everyone else to do, if you ever plan on visiting, is a good old-fashioned roadtrip with friends or family. Get to Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo or any other northern transport hub/capital, rent a car and get on the road. I realise it'll be expensive in gas and rental but if you are at least two or more to share the expenses then it's still cheaper than the other choices.
It's worth nothing that due to being so far up north most of the year it will be incredibly cold and probably hard to reach, that's why I recommend going during the warmer half of the year, spanning from May to September. I went there in August and while we had 22 degrees in Copenhagen it was 6 degrees when we reached our destination.

Nordkapp visitor center - containing a little bit of info and lots of hot drinks

How to get there?

Now that's where it gets interesting and why the journey is as important as the destination, specially in this particular case. There are a few ways to drive up there but the most common ones for Europeans that's not residing in Finland and everything east of there, is to either go up through Norway or Sweden. If you are from Denmark like me or somewhere south of here you'll go probably go one of those ways depending on your budget, mood and how much you dislike the respective country (just kidding, we love you both Sweden and Norway.. really!). When I went there I was going with my Father - we have a long history of doing roadtrips together -and it basically just came from us being really bored and from one day to the other deciding to get in the car and drive. We decided to drive up through Norway and down through Sweden, without having any idea what to expect at all, neither of us had ever been further north than Stockholm so it was quite new territory for us.

On the road on the Norwegian alpine tundra, amazing ecology here

Norway turned out to be really really expensive, and that's coming from a Dane that lives in an already expensive country, but also breathless in it nature, warm and welcome in it's population and just in general an amazing place to be, it's not for nothing they are now the happiest country in the world instead of us. Navigating through Norway is like stealing candy from a immobile kid, there is basically only one road in that country, going all the way from Oslo to Kirkenes.
In travel directions that means: get on E6 anywhere between Malmö and Oslo and simply just go straight until you need to take a left turn at Olderfjord and then you are there, easy right? Of course there are many other roads in Norway but E6 is the only road that will take you all the way from south to north on a decent road through a ridiculously jaw dropping landscape. Places that is worth a visit along E6 is the alpine tundra, the city of Trondheim where the houses stand on pillars along the water, the arctic circle and basically every single piece of nature that you pass through. As you drive up north the nature will get more and more rough, the mountains will be more raw and the forest will be thinner. Herds of reindeer will start to show up together with small animals and if you are lucky you get to see a moose, hopefully not on the road.

A herd of Reindeer, Norwegian nature and the houses on pillars in Trondheim

As you reach the arctic circle you'll reach the arctic information center and a crazy amount of cairns raised by fellow travellers. We were quite taken aback by the sheer amount of cairns but we obviously had to do one of our own! (I've later come to think about this and how it affect the area but back then I was in a bliss, see this post for more explanations and thoughts on cairns)
On the plateau where the center is you'll again see lots of roaming reindeers and an almost otherworldly flora if you venture out into the wilderness.

The sea of cairns and the arctic circle center

The further up north the surrounding landscape turns increasingly mountainous til when you reach the area around the archipelagos of Lofoten where everything is mountains, as far as the eye can see. Don't worry by the way, you are meant to take the ferry here, cause there just ain't no more of that precious asphalt road that we normally navigate on. It's so impossible to get around here that they have just given up on road, which surprised me a little cause the Norwegians really love to blow things up, like a lot! But here they had to give up and no tunnel is of yet available, so don't worry, sit back and enjoy the small transit on board the even smaller ferry.

Okay, I'm finally here, what now?

So you made it this far, you turned left at the right time, you managed to not drive into one of the countless fjords that cleaves through the shoreline and you are now here, at the very end of the world, or well, at the top of Europe. It'll cost you a bit to get in, just enough to keep the economy flowing for the continued well being of the area, monuments and visitor center. Three things you'll notice is the following: - The Barents Sea.. Holy cow that shit is neverending! Azure blue water it stretches out in front of you and it looks absolutely fabulous, glinting and sparkling in the sun, and just imagine, on the other side, just past the Northpole is Alaska (more or less, my globe aren't the best). - It's incredible cold compared to where you started your trip no matter when doing the day (oh yeah that's right, there is midnight sun here doing the summer so you cant' really be sure what part of the day you arrived in cause it's always bright!) - Hmm that rock formation over there on my left, isn't it a bit further north than here, can I get over there? (No you can't, don't try, neither the nature, your health or the local conservationist like that particular idea).

All those thoughts flow through you as you take in the majestic beauty and you can now cross of one more item on your travel bucket list before turning the car around for the ride back. There is not much else to see on the northern edge of the island unless you brought a offroad vehicle with you or are either a geologist or botanist. The rocky landscape is completely bare except for tiny plants and shrubs and on top of that it's most likely covered in snow unless you are here during the warmest period.

Nordkapp and the Barents Sea

Backtracking a little bit from Nordkapp you find the small village of Skarsvåg (also featured in this post where I present the reason why Norway will always suck at football). Here you can take a small hike through the local mountains until you reach a tiny fjord with a rock formation called Kirkeporten which roughly translates into "the church gate". It's a very photogenic site and more than one couple has gotten their wedding photos at this peculiar piece of natural sculpting.

Kirkeporten came complete with a couple on honeymoon when we stopped by..

Going back from Nordkapp we decided to go down through Sweden. That turned out to be a great decision when it came to our budget, seeing how much cheaper everything is in Sweden compared to Norway. There is not much to see however and after a sleep over in Umeå (compared to our three sleep overs in Norway going north) we decided to drive all the way back home in one go. I'm not I can recommend that though, but I'll leave that up to you my dear reader should you ever try to embark on this northern and chilly expedition.

I very much hope you enjoyed the read and that you made it all the way through. I realized already halfway that this was going to be quite lengthy and my sincere apologies for that, I understand if it's time for a little rest now. I could have posted a lot more pictures but this must be it for now, there has to be a little left to explored, either by yourself or in a later post.

Have a splendid first week of March and thanks for reading, it means a lot to me that anyone cares to read my random ramblings.


The Wandering Danish

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Love the reindeer

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