Keep Updated
Don't miss our latest offers
Subscribe for special offers, news updates and articles on sailing the Norwegian coast.
We respect your email privacy
0333 405 0194
Enquiries & Reservations
Arctic Stays · Kirkenes
Kirkenes is the turning point of the Coastal Express and the far eastern end of the Norwegian coast. Stay a night and you can sleep in a hotel made of ice, or watch for the aurora through the window of a cabin.
The Far East of Norway
Kirkenes sits on the Barents Sea in the far northeast of Finnmark, a few kilometres from the Russian frontier and further east than Istanbul. Oslo is the better part of 2,000 kilometres away to the south, and the town looks and feels closer to its Finnish and Russian neighbours than to the capital. The signs are in two alphabets.
The last of the Gulf Stream reaches even here, which is why the deep fjord stays largely ice free through the winter and why the port exists at all. Iron ore built the place, it was bombed flat during the war and rebuilt afterwards, and the small museums in town tell that story well. Beyond the last houses the tundra begins straight away, and with it dog sledding, snowmobiling, king crab and some of the darkest skies in Europe.
Most passengers step off the ship and go straight to the airport. An extra night here is the difference between having reached the Arctic and having spent any time in it.
Hurtigruten Programmes
These are Hurtigruten's own pre and post voyage programmes at Kirkenes, booked alongside your voyage rather than arranged locally. Both are two day programmes covering one night, with dinner, breakfast and transfers included, and both run all year. Add one to either end of a Coastal Express voyage.
2 days · Year round · from £210 per person
A night in a hotel built entirely from snow and ice, rebuilt from scratch every winter and carved through with sculptures. You sleep in a Snow Suite on a bed of ice under thermal bedding and a proper sleeping bag, which is warmer than it sounds and holds a steady temperature whatever the Arctic is doing outside. There is a drink waiting at the ice bar, a three course dinner built on local produce, and reindeer and huskies to meet before turning in. Not many hotels are worth a photograph of the room itself.
2 days · Year round · from £218 per person
The warm alternative next door, and arguably the better bet for the aurora. The cabins follow the pattern of the gamme, the traditional hunting and fishing huts found across the Sámi Arctic, but built with large windows specifically for lying in bed and watching the sky, whether that means the Northern Lights from autumn to spring or the Midnight Sun in summer. Under deep snow they look like igloos from outside. Inside there is underfloor heating, twin beds, a kettle and a modern bathroom. Dinner and breakfast are served at the Låven restaurant fifty metres away, and winter excursions can be added.
Both programmes are graded easy and are available on the Original Coastal Express voyages. Prices are per person and are Hurtigruten's from prices at the time of writing; single supplements apply. King crab safaris, dog sledding, snowmobiling and the trip to the Norwegian border are all available at Kirkenes as shore excursions during your voyage rather than as pre or post programmes, and are listed on the northbound excursions page.
Where to Stay
If you would rather a conventional room in town, there are two, both central and both a short hop from the Hurtigruten quay. Tell us which you would like and how many nights and we will add it to your booking.
In the centre of town and the closest thing Kirkenes has to a full service hotel, with the Arctic Restaurant and Bar doing local and international dishes, and a pool, sauna and solarium for afterwards. Handy for the Snowhotel and the Varanger Museum, and a common choice for the night after disembarking.
On the quay in the town centre, opened in 2010, looking out over the fjord and a short walk from the Hurtigruten berth. Modern Scandinavian rooms, a restaurant and bar, and an outdoor terrace with a view over the Barents Sea. The breakfast has a reputation locally.
Rooms are subject to availability at the time of booking, and single rooms carry a supplement. Kirkenes is a small town with limited beds, so book early, particularly in the aurora season. For current prices on your dates, call 0333 405 0194.
Related
To add a Kirkenes stay to your voyage, call 0333 405 0194.
