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 Kjærlighetsstien trail

The Kjærlighetsstien trail (The Love trail )is a great trail situated practically in the centre of Vadsø. The trail is parallel to the sea. If it is summer and the weather is nice, you can enjoy the sea and the lush flora along the trail. In rough weather and especially during the autumn, you can experience the impressive and powerful Arctic Ocean at close range.The trail is signposted and the terrain is easily walked. You can either hike the trail both ways, approx. 5 km or 3 miles, or you can hike it oneway for about 2.5 km or a mile and a half, and return along a footpath.The start of the footpath is just before you get to Vadsø city centreright below route E7

The Pavel trail

23The Pavel trailThe Pavel trail has been named after a local enthusiastwho 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 Vadsøya culture park

The airship mast at Vadsøya was constructed by Umberto Nobile for Roald Amundsen’s expedition over the North Pole with the airship“Norge” (Norway) in 1926. The airship “Italia” captained by Nobile also made a stop here in 1928.Vadsøya is an easily accessible hiking area that is full of traces from various periods of Vadsø’s history, with ancient as well as recent cultural heritage relics. There are also wetland areas and nesting areas for rare polar and eastern bird species, especially ducks and waders.The various tourist attractions are signposted. On the island’s north-eastern shore you can see remains of homesteads after groups of peat houses – one of two well-preserved medieval villages in North Norway, with the remains of administration buildings and a church, based on fishing and trade. It was populated from approx. 1500–1600. After that, the population moved to the mainland. The cemetery was later used by Russian fishermen and was then called “the Russian cemetery”.Inside the culture park there also many war remains bunkers, firing positions and trenches from the German occupation during the Second World War.Right south of the airship mast, there is a lean-to with space for an open fire. Everybody is welcome to use it. Firewood and tidying up must be seen to by the visitors themselves

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 Ekkerøy trail

The Ekkerøy trail experience one of Europe’s largest bird cliffs with more than50 birds species and 40000 nesting kittiwakes. Ekkerøy is home to the only bird cliff in Finnmark county with a driveable road taking you all the way to the “doorstep”. The bird cliff and the natural reserve are only a five-minute walk from the parking lot.Ekkerøy is a traditional fish-processing community, 15 km east ofVadsø. Here, you will find a well-marked nature and culture trail in beautiful scenery, with flat and easily-walked terrain. If you feel like a shorter hike, there is a 1.5 km long signposted nature and culture trail with signposts en route, with interesting information on bird and animal life, local history, and cultural heritage. If you prefer a longer hike, you can just hike around the entire island.This trail takes you all the way along the island’s approx. 7 km long coast line

The Skallelv trail

The Skallelv trailSkallelv 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 18thand 19th centuries and are classed as an ethnic minority in Norway. Skallelv is an agri-cultural community and is village-like, with houses in two rows along the river. A nice,flat valley leads from the north-west 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