A road trip in the far north of Norway

Chances are you think of Norway as being in western Europe, since that’s where the bulk of it lies. But in its far north, it arcs eastwards over the top of Sweden and Finland, says Kat Hill in The Observer, until it teeters high above Russia, at the same longitude as St Petersburg and Kyiv. There, at the country’s furthest tip, lies the Varanger Peninsula, much of which falls in the Varangerhalvøya National Park. A single road curls around this low-lying Arctic wilderness, following its southern shore along the vast Varangerfjord, out to the Barents Sea, and back over the peninsula to Hamningberg, on the roof of Europe. It’s a magnificent 100-mile drive, worth doing over several days.

Promoted as the Norwegian Scenic Route Varanger, the road around the peninsula is particularly popular with bird lovers. The Varangerfjord’s shallow waters, kept ice-free by the Gulf Stream, are rich in fish, supporting an “astounding” diversity of avian life. Seabirds rarely seen elsewhere in Europe come here in sometimes “staggering” numbers, with stars including the Steller’s eider, and there are several beautiful bird hides, built by the nature-architect firm Biotope, from which to watch the show. But birds are not Varanger’s only draw. There are also ancient sites such as Mortensnes, a large neolithic settlement set on a “narrow” clifftop, with rock circles, spirals and enclosures that are thousands of years old. And perched along the coast are fishing villages and small towns of “colourful” wooden houses.

There are some lovely places to stay, such as the Varangertunet guesthouse and the self-catering cabins of the Ekker Island Arctic Lodge. Visitors can take part in cultural experiences with the indigenous Sámi people, including dogsledding and cooking reindeer stew in lavvu tents. From October to March, the northern lights often appear. And there’s fabulous hiking and skiing on offer in the national park, a huge expanse of tundra and boulder fields laced with silver rivers over which sea eagles can often be seen, swooping low.