My wife will like to spend a day anywhere North of the Artic Circle before turning 30 this summer. The way I see it on the map, that puts us either in Norway, Sweden or Finland. Will like advise from anyone who has visited this region in any of these countries. Why did you choose that place, how you got there, things to do in late spring, etc. Thanks a lot!
Posted by
Troy, Oh, USA
2776 posts
Look into Kirkenes, Norway it is a great area to visit. It's several hundred miles above the Artic Circle and it's on the border of Russia. My daughter and I really enjoyed our visit, while there we visit North Capp also. To get there you would have to fly into Oslo and change planes to Kirkenes.
Posted by
Oklahoma City, OK, USA
430 posts
I'm with Ed.
We started to do it by rail from Trondheim, getting off at Hell, Norway. That was somewhat short of the arctic circle, though I'm not sure how much.
That was the 1st week of December (dumb). It was pretty neat to see the snow-plow feature on the trains, though -- and.... I got to see "Hell frozen over" and bought some cool post-cards... before shivering back south.
There is one noteworthy church in Trondheim on the way up that we saw. We also found the McDonald's there quite hospitable... while waiting for our train departure. The train station in Trondheim may be heated by Norweigian standards, but I was freezing my tukus off....
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
1525 posts
My family (Parents in their early 40's, children then 12, 9, and 5) took the night train from Stockholm north, past the arctic circle, into Norway, to the coastal inlet town of Narvik, Norway. There we hoped to catch a bus to the Lofoten islands, but the train was very late and we missed the connection. Instead we stayed the night, then bussed to Bodo, where the Norway train line ends and took the night train back down to Trondheim, then farther south along the coast to experience the fjords of Norway.
We had to settle for seeing the Lofoten islands from a distance. They looked amazing (google them) and I hope to return some day. This was July, 2008 and the daytime temps were about 60F with the sun and about 50F without. I would highly recommend the Lofoten islands area as a great place above the arctic circle that is still mild, and with rugged, dramatic scenery and plenty of (but not too much) tourism.
It has about the same latitude as the north shore of Alaska, but a MUCH more mild climate (and the relatively lush landscape that goes along with that).
Others might recommend going several steps farther north to the northern tip of Norway. I don't know what that looks like, but I'm sure it is expensive to get to, is much cooler, and has less services to offer.
The part of N. Sweden we observed from the train was uninteresting scrub land. I have to assume that the equivalent area of Finland would be similar.
I would highly recommend a comprehensive trip to Scandinavia and would be glad to help when you are ready to get more specific. PM me.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
I've only done it once in Europe, by driving north from Trondheim.
It was the stupidist thing I've ever done. The scenery was great, but it robbed four days out of a vacation. It can be done by train from Oslo or Trondheim, but I was pig-headed.
Visitnorway.com probably has the answer to your questions.
Posted by
Kurikka, Finland
92 posts
The edge of Norway has a beautiful and well-known landscape of cliffs rising out of the sea. We drove a lot of the coast from Finnmark to Skibotn on our honeymoon 20 yrs ago. I would pick a country then take a flight from the main airport to a regional airport -you can see them on Google earth. Can't say much about Sweden but for something really different go see the fells of Finnish Lapland. Emptiness can be quite beautiful. You feel like you've seen the end of the earth. Excellent skiing weather lasts through mid-April and the days are already quite long.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9100 posts
Head to Tromso Norway; it's the world's most northerly city and is about 200 miles north to the AC. The easiest way to get there is by air from Oslo. It's famous for having lots the of most northerly sites. Like the most northerly cathedral, northerly marathon, northerly Aquarium, northerly laundromat, northerly Burger King...you get the idea:)
Posted by
OP
Burlington, KY, USA
47 posts
Wow, thank you all for the replies. This trip is starting to sound more adventurous than I anticipated. Looks like there is a budget airline out of Olso (Norwegian Airlines) that we can use to get up there. I'd like to go by train one way and fly the other. Airfare is not too bad, around $80. Midnight sun here we come...
Posted by
Tumwater, WA, United States
118 posts
My wife and I took the coastal steamer from Bergen to Kirkenes. The trip took 7 days and stpped in many towns along the way that we could visit while the ship was in port. It is one way to go far above the Arctic Circle. It's an easy flight from Kirkenes to Oslo. The company that runs the coastal ship is Hurtigruten and you can google them and buy tickets direct from them, which we found was a little cheaper than a travel agent.