Alta and its rock carvings
Thousands of rock carvings and paintings made between 7,000 and 2,000 years ago, listed as UNESCO World Heritage in 1985. Wooden walkways at the Alta Museum, in summer. In town, the Northern Lights Cathedral (2013).
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Finnmark: what to see, where to go
The far north: the North Cape, the Alta rock carvings, Sápmi and the Russian border.
Information checked on 10 October 2026.
Worth seeing
North Cape (Nordkapp)
A cliff of about 307 m on the island of Magerøya, linked to the mainland by an undersea tunnel. The island's northernmost point is nearby Knivskjellodden, at 71°11′08″ N: about 18 km of walking there and back. On the mainland, it is Cape Nordkinn.
Sámi country: Karasjok and Kautokeino
The Sámi are the Indigenous people of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula; within the Sámi area, the law reserves reindeer herding for them. The Sámi Parliament (Sámediggi) has sat in Karasjok since 1989; Kautokeino hosts the Sámi Easter Festival.
Kirkenes and the Russian border
The end of the coastal express line, a few kilometres from Russia, a town flattened during the Second World War. King crab fishing and a snow hotel. The border may only be crossed at the Storskog checkpoint: photographing Russian military personnel or communicating with anyone on the other side is forbidden.
Photos
- Alta and its rock carvings — Andreas Haldorsen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
- North Cape (Nordkapp) — Frankemann, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sámi country: Karasjok and Kautokeino — Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Kirkenes and the Russian border — Norwegian Barents Secretariat, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons