Varanger offers you good opportunities to move outdoors. We encourage you to take a trip outdoors, no matter what the weather is like. Rough weather may often make your hike the most memorable one.The terrain is generally easy to hike in and quite a lot of it is untouched and beautiful wilderness for miles and miles. As a hiker, the flat and open landscape gives you a wonderful view of the wide horizon, including the large Varanger Fjord. Here you will find everything from flat plains to deep gorges – wet fenland to rivers abundant with fish. A hike in the Varanger peninsula is a great experience where you can enjoy the beautiful scenery while actively enjoying outdoor activities.During the summer you can fish and swim in rivers and lakes in the light of the midnight sun. During the autumn you can pick berries or mushrooms, or go hunting in the vividly autumn-colored landscape

The River Jakobselv trail

Finnmark county has a lot of good salmon rivers and VestreJakobselv is one of them. The source of the river is in the mountain area and a 40 kilometer stretch of the river carries salmon. The water is crystal clear and relatively cold, even during the summer. Walking along the river is a very nice experience. The landscape is lush,with everything from dense forests to open places where you can watch the enthusiastic salmon anglers. The river has four waterfalls and four salmon ladders. Apart from salmon, you may also catch steacher, sea trout, trout, and char in the river.Walk along the gravel road from the parking lot to the signpost marking the start of the trail. Hike the trail along the river up to the first waterfall, a hike of approx. 3 km return. You can also hike up to the Solvarden cairn, where there is a lovely view of the sea and the landscape. The trail has a bit of an ascent and is some 6–7 km return

The Pavel trail

The Pavel trail has been named after a local enthusiast who took the initiative to establish and adopt this hiking trail in collaboration with the municipality of Vadsø and the local skiing club. The Pavel trail is a trail on which you can walk, jog, ride a bicycle, or wheel a pram. The starting point of the trail is at the Vadsø ski stadium and it takes you to the gravel pit by the Thomaselv valley. The trail goes along a floodlit cross-country ski track for the first 1.2 km and the signposts are rather few and far between, but the path is clear and the ground is mainly gravel. When you get to Thomaselv, you can choose whether to walk back along the same trail or to go down to the main road in order to walk a foot- and bicycle path back to town. The trail is about 6 km long, return

The Nattfjelldalen hiking trail

The Nattfjelldalen hiking trail If you feel like a longer hike, the Nattfjelldalen valley is an excellent choice. From the Nattfjelldalen valley, you have a spectacular view of the Varanger Fjord and the Varanger peninsula. Moreover, on clear days you can even see the Russian side of the border and the Fiskerhalvøya peninsula located some 55 km south-east of Vardø and to the east of the Grense Jakobselv border river.The trail is marked all the way to the boundary of the National Park,but you can continue and choose whether to go down the valley where there are a beautiful river and interesting animal life,or walk along the northern edge of the valley and see the spectacular waterfall at the end of the valley.To get there, you go from Vadsø city centre towards the airport,turn left at the route E75 motocross track junction and drive4.8 km up past the shooting range, the motocross track and the Lake Byvannet, to the pump housing where the trail starts. The junctions are marked so that you can find the pump housing. The trail takes you along a slightly hilly, open landscape. The area is popular among Vadsø people for hiking, picking berries and walking dogs. About half-way along the trail, there is also a group of cabins.

The Skallelv trail

Skallelv is a Kven or Finnish rural community in Varanger, approx. 30 km east ofVadsø. Kvens are descendants of Finnish immigrants to North Norway in the 18th and 19th centuries and are classed as an ethnic minority in Norway. Skallelv is an agricultural community and is village-like, with houses in two rows along the river. A nice, flat valley leads from the northwest side of the community into the inland grazing areas, the fenlands and the plains. A signposted culture trail takes you from the community into the valley. Skallelv is distinguished by its clusters of multi-function houses – Varanger houses, with the small fields for haymaking situated behind the houses. The rough grazing areas inland towards the VarangerhalvøyaNational Park were used in many ways – for making hay, for peat extraction, for harvesting berries and other plants, and for lake and river fishing. The hiking trail starts at the main road, goes through the community and continues along the Bærelv road to the rough grazing areas. The trail has 12 posts and is about 6 km long, but obviously just walking part of it is fine as well. The posts along the culture trail describe various parts of the area’s cultural history, as well as botany and Kven-language designations for flowers, berries, and plants. The trail is situated in an attractive hiking area and is accessible to all. On a pole by the road, there is a post box with a map and information about all the trail post

Hiking Nesseby