MUSEUMS AND SIGHTS
Varanger Museum
Varanger Museum consists of three departments, located along the Varanger Fjord, in Vardø, South Varanger and Vadsø. The museum documents and presents the multicultural history of Norway’s North border area. Each department has its own specific area of responsibility: Vardø, Pomor history, South Varanger, borderland history and Vadsø the history of the Kvens.
Partisan Museum
Kiberg was a main centre of partisan activity during the Second World War. As a result of the longstanding contact with Russia, and the close relations that developed between people across the border, the sense of a so-called Russian threat during the cold war was weak in the Vardø area.
Steilneset Memorial
Steilneset Memorial is part of the National Tourist Routes; the memorial commemorates the victims of the witchcraft processes in Finnmark in the 17th century, in which 91 persons were executed. The history is conveyed through excerpts from the original judicial protocols, and art and architecture on an international scale, the result of a unique collaboration between the artist Louise Bourgeouis and the architect Peter Zumthor.
Savio Museum
The Borderland Museum is located together with the Savio Museum, dedicated to the art of the Sami artist John Savio (1902-1938). The Borderland museum has a café and a museum store with a wide selection of literature on local history.
The Borderland Museums library is open by appointment for searches in the photo archive or for the study of local historical subjects.
Borderland Museum
At the Borderland Museum one can explore theme exhibitions connected to local history. We present the history of the settlement and development of the region, from its origin as a common territory between Russia, Finland and Norway, to a Norwegian border municipality with a complex culture.
The Museum’s war exhibition contains, among other things, the Russian fighter plane Ilyushin; and presents the war history of Kirkenes and the border regions.
Vardø Museum
Vardø Museum was established as a museum of natural history in 1894, and is the oldest museum in Finnmark. The museum was founded to undertake research into the fisheries of the Barents Sea, and still contains a sizeable natural history collection from those first years.
Today, the museum depicts the wide-ranging history of the city of Vardø: Vardø as the Pomor capital of Norway; Vardø as a border station to the east; Vardø as a fishing village; partisan activity during the Second World War; the witchcraft persecutions that took place in Finnmark; and the natural geology of the area.
Mortensnes
Ceavccageaðge/Mortensnes Cultural Heritage Area is one of the richest and most distinctive areas of ancient monuments in Scandinavia. Within a limited area central aspects of Sámi prehistory and history are visible as cultural remains in the landscape. The site is particularly distinguished for the considerable length of time it has been inhabited and used, and the large number and variety of ancient monuments. There is a continuous line of settlement through 10.000 years
Várjjat Sámi Musea
Ceavccageaðge/Mortensnes Cultural Heritage Area is one of the richest and most distinctive areas of ancient monuments in Scandinavia. Within a limited area central aspects of Sámi prehistory and history are visible as cultural remains in the landscape. The site is particularly distinguished for the considerable length of time it has been inhabited and used, and the large number and variety of ancient monuments. There is a continuous line of settlement through 10.000 years
Oscar II Chapel
Oscar II chapel marks the border between Norway and Russia. In the far north-east of the country, where the Norwegian-Russian border meets the Arctic Sea, a little stone chapel with 70 seats marks the start of Norway. The border between Russia and Norway was drawn in 1826, but it took the peoples of the two countries a long time to adapt to the new border.
Hamningberg
Hamningberg is situated on the far northern side of the peninsula between the fjord Syltefjord and Vardø. The village sits on the south facing gently sloping land between the beach and the low mountain Harbakken that shelters it from harsh northern winds.
There are findings confirming that there has been a year round settlement here since the 16th century, and exceptionally Hamningberg did not suffer the scorched earth treatment when the occupying forces retreated from Finnmark in the autumn of 1944.
ENQUIRY FOR #VARANGERMOMENT
Winter
- Northernlights safari
- King crab fishing
- Birdwatching
- Snowmobile trips
- Dogledding
- Sauna experience
- Visit Sami camp
- Cross-country skiing
- Guided tours Varanger
- Transport
- Accommodation
- + much more…
Spring
- King crab fishing
- Whale Safari
- Birdwatching
- Fjord fishing
- Sauna experience
- Visit Sami camp
- Golf in Varanger
- Guided tours
- Transport
- Accommodation
- + much more…
Summer
- Whale Safari
- Fly fishing in Varanger
- King crab fishing
- Birdwatching
- Hike Varanger
- Pick berry hike
- Sauna experience
- SUP Arctic Riviera
- Bike Varanger
- Guided tours
- Transport
- Accommodation
- + much more…
Autumn
- Northernlights safari
- King crab fishing
- Birdwatching
- Sauna experience
- Visit Sami camp
- Bike Varanger
- Guided tours
- Transport
- Accommodation
- + much more…
Feel free to fill out our enquiry box and one of our advisers will get back to you at your earliest convenience.
VADSØ , VARANGER ARCTIC NORWAY
BOOK A NIGHT OR THREE IN THE ICEHOUSE
Probably one of the coolest accommodation in Varanger with warmest atmosphere