Kirkenes is a city in the Finnmark region of Norway.

Travel to Kirkenes - Visa Requirements

Kirkenes is at the very end of the all-through-Norway (and half of Europe) highway E6. You can also enter by road from northern Finland, and northwestern Russia. If you want to come from southern Norway by car, cutting through Sweden and Finland is actually faster.

Kirkenes is also the turning point of the Coastal Express [1], arguably the most beautiful sea voyage of the planet, covering most of the Norwegian coast from Bergen in 5-6 days.

Due to its distance from the rest of the civilized world, most people choose to arrive and depart by plane, at Hoybuktmoen airport (IATA: KKN) some 15 km outside town. Daily flights by Norwegian [2], SAS Braathens [3] and Wideroe [4]. Also flights to Russia and Germany (summer only).

Tours and Getting around Kirkenes

Local buses [5], including to the airport. Long distance [6], with connections to most of Norway.

Kirkenes tourist attractions and sightseeing

  • The midnight sun in summer
  • The Aurora Borealis
  • The Russian border, including the three-borders-mark, where also Finland joins in.
  • The Grenselandmuseet, a museum that includes a fine exhibition of woodcuts by the Sami artist Jon Savio as well as much on the history and lifestyle of the far north of Norway.

Kirkenes city tours

Fishing, both salt and fresh water, including salmon. Hiking.

Kirkenes souvenirs and shopping

Kirkenes Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

Vin og Vilt. First class. Moderately priced.

Kirkenes nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

Try Ritz or Ofelas.

Kirkenes cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels and lodging

Budget

There is a camping site between the airport and town, up the hill after the bridge as you drive towards town. Tel (+47) 78 99 80 28.

Mid-range

  • Rica Arctic Hotel, Kongens gate 1, ☎ +47 78995900(fax: +47 78991159).  
  • Rica Hotel Kirkenes, Pasvikveien 63, ☎ +47 78991491(fax: +47 78991356).  
  • Wessel Hotell, Dr Wessels gate 3, ☎ -47 78998600(post@hotellwessel.no, fax: +47 78998601), [7].  

Get out

Go up the Pasvik valley for quite a change of fauna. Here you find the last bit of the enormous Russian Taiga, a pine forest that stretches all the way to Siberia. At Grense Jakobselv, the open Barents Sea washes a beautiful sandy shore. Never gets above 8 celsius, though!


This page was last edited by Wikitravel user ViMy. Based on work by Stefan Ertmann, Aine Hickey, David Cross, Marius Mollersen and Todd VerBeek and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license

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