This post is my entry in the second week of the five-week Local Guides challenge as introduced by @TsekoV . It’s about my experience at reaching the North Cape, or Nordkapp in Norwegian, a place often referred to as being the “northernmost point of continental Europe”, and a place that some call the top of the world.
While it’s not the most beautiful place in Norway and in reality it’s not the most northerly point of Europe either as in actual fact, Cape Nordkinn (Kinnarodden) is, North Cape is a beautiful place to visit. Located on the northern coast of the island of Magerøya in Northern Norway, it’s the perfect place to see the midnight sun (from 14 May to 31 July).
As you can see in the photo above, the cape includes a very high cliff, some 307-metre (1,007 feet) high and is the perfect place to watch the setting or midnight sun (see the feature photo above and the photo immediately below).
Atop the cliff there’s a large flat plateau and there’s a large globe sculpture there which is a popular photo spot for tourists (see photo below). You’ll see us posing at this spot in the second photo below.
While the views at the North Cape are breathtaking, it can get very, very cold here and the winds insane. Nonetheless it was an amazing experience to be “on top of the world” at a place where the sun disappears only for a brief moment in time and before you know it, it rises again.
You can see my review and photos of the North Cape on Google Maps with a brief explanation on how to get there. As I mentioned in my review, while you can get there by road from many parts of Europe and even by bicycle, we drove from Honningsvåg which was a trip of about 33 km (20.5 mi) through Lapland where, as you can see in the photos below, we saw beautiful landscape and lots of wild reindeer and herds of elk. @plavarda it’s about 4,000 kilometres (2,486 miles) from Trieste or 4,485 kilometres (2,787 miles) from Bari, Italy.
beautiful shots! I’m sure your trip there was for sure amazing seeing some great landscapes. I’ve never been so far in Norway, always lower around Oslo but I like the lands and wish to visit norther once.
When have you been there? And I suppose you were visiting somewhere else as well coming from so far, what have you visited in this trip?
Hi @LuigiZ and thank you for your lovely comment. I so wish that you visit this most northern and beautiful part of Europe. For you it is pretty easy, just take theEuropean route E69 highway only 4000 km but for me, well I was in Melbourne at the time which of course being the land down under is 15,000 km away However, having been to the most western part of Europe, I had to visit the most northern part lol.
I went there in 2017 while enroute to Iceland and Greenland, either my first or second trip there. The landscape is absoutely stunning. Of course I could only add a few photos in my challenge post and it was hard to pick which ones to add lol. However, I just wanted to show a sample. I have to say that one of the most exciting parts of the trip to the North Cape was driving in the undersea North Cape Tunnel which connects the island of Mageroya to the mainland. Truly amazing! Norway is amazing
My main problem is that I have just so many places like this that I have visited and yet to post on Google Maps, @TsekoV and his travel challenge motivated me to post this one on Google Maps today
You are more than welcome @AdamGT , yes it is indeed quite far for you while easier for me, I know very well travelling time to the Australian East Coast . I’ll for sure go up there once, have been several times in general and like Norway as well because of the amazing (cold) landscapes!
Nice trips you have done in Europe, and I do remember your post about Greenland, very special and nice travel experience as well.
Oh definitely not superman @plavarda . I needed medical attention along the way and even rest in a monastery and I went through 3 pairs of hiking boots
Oh I agree @Ewaade_3A and if it wasn’t for those nasty blisters I would have made that 4000 km. There’s a countless number of stories and travel experiences in that short trip
Those are not blisters! It almost ripped the skin off your feet!.so, you walk, take photos, camp,
Stop to sleep,
Continue.
Walk, climb, take photos, camp, stop to sleep, continue. And I can imagine how heavy your backpack would be! Because you have to travel light of course?!
I think I already wrote you in an other post (was it about Tromsö?) that I did live in North Norway many years ago, to avoid military service in Germany. I’m not sure if you are aware what Germany did in North Norway during the Second World War.
In fact I did visit the North Cap several times in this periode, as it was one of the biggest attractions, if you are such far away in the North of Europe. It region has an unbelievable beauty. It is a very special form of silence and natural power.
I have to say, that you was very lucky with the weather conditions! I have had twice the chance to be there with good weather and the other time I was in fact happy being back in the car.
I did plan to go there this year as I have promised my son to do so before he is 18, but you know what is still happeing.
Hi @TorM and thanks for your lovely comment. Yes I do recall you mentioned that you lived in North Norway at some stage but I think you mentioned this on my Photos of a Different World post which was about my trip to Greenland. I don’t know what happened in North Norway during the Second World War but I did hear some stories while chatting with locals in Honningsvag about significant warship battles between the German and British navies in the Barents Sea, north of North Cape. You are so right about the unbelievable beauty of this far northern part of Europe. I have many photos and many stories as I am sure you will also have about this beautiful part of the world. Yes we were lucky as the weather was pretty good, the landscape with lots of snow in some parts was amazing but the chill factor of the cold wind was pretty bad, mind you not as bad as it was in Greenland but still it was very cold, especially later in the day. Yes the silence is amazing, indeed “a very special form of silence and natural power”. There’s no highway noise disturbance and of course the air is also much cleaner and the skies clearer with so much less pollution. I also noticed this in Greenland. I hope to visit again one day. Your son will love it.
I have been to the north of 3 countries, yet Cambodia my own country.
I have been to the top North of New Zealand, the top North of Thailand and the top North of America. It inspired me maybe to go to North of countries that I will visit in the future!
Yes indeed @Ewaade_3A , for long distance trips or those in inhospitable terrain, or where the climatic conditions are so bad, if possible you do have to travel as light as possible but sadly, on this particular ‘short’ 1750 km hike, there were no yaks as in the Himalaya and no camels as we had in the Sahara so your backpack is heavy and seems to get heavier with each step you take. However, in spite of the difficulties, good like Local Guides still manage to raise their cameras and click, don’t we?
ps: Ewaade, did you notice that in the second photo of my post, the one showing the profile of the ‘cliff at the top of the world’, had people on the plateau so you could have a much better appreciation of the scale. I thought for sure you would comment on this
Yes indeed @Sophia_Cambodia , like you I have a passion about going to the top of places, but for me it’s both in latitude and altitude, as well the most eastern, western, northern and southern points lol. So, as well as the North Cape (and the Arctic Ocean), although the actual westernmost point of continental Europs is Cape Roca in Portugal, I’ve been to Cape Finesterre (and the Atlantic Ocean to the west), which I believed the Romans so named as from Latin “Finis Terrae” means land’s end. I’ve also been to Punta de Tarifa in Spain (and the Mediterranean to the south) which is the southernmost point of Europe. However, I haven’t as yet been to the top of Ngodyayakha Mountain in the Polar Urals nature park which I’ve read is the easternmost point of Europe!
By the way, especially as a Local Guide, it’s also fun reaching the start and end of places of interest. On this, I recall visitng Mile Marker 0, marking the beginning/end of US Highway 1 in Key West. US 1, is the longest north–south road in the United States and runs 3,813 kilometres (2,369 miles) from the north in Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border to this point south, in Key West, Florida.
Maybe I wanted to surprise you. The beauty of the post got stuck in my throat when I saw your badly injured foot. You are an avid commenter like xxx and me.
You take your time to attend to each person and add more details, so, when I read your post, I not only read the post, but read through the Comments as well.
I saw your feet and my heart broke and I forgot that I was supposed to be at the “Top of the world in the most Northern part of Norway”.
What stole the show for me was the very rugged terrain up that plateau! I wondered how people made it so far up and wondered if there were special gear.
The second one was “Us posing under the Globus” . I just learnt a new pose! I love it! Now, I know not to pose like a piece of wood when taking a shot with someone
.
However, having been to the most western part of Europe, I had to visit the most northern part lol.
. I just learnt a new pose! I love it! Now, I know not to pose like a piece of wood when taking a shot with someone 