Things to see and do Nordkapp

At the end of the cliff of the North Cape was once a place of Sami ritual sacrifices. Today, only a large parking lot remains, a compulsory passage to access the tourist center hidden in the cliff and inaugurated in 1988. No way to avoid paying, the road is surrounded by barriers. Otherwise, you should know that an entry is valid for 24 hours. Many clever people come to pitch their tent in the park. A good way to benefit from an amazing place, a radically different environment, and to save a night in a hotel with a breathtaking view of the sunrise and sunset on the cape! However, you will have to deal with the incessant humming of the coaches which undeniably detracts from the majesty of the place. Anyway, the place has that magic touch because you know you are at the northernmost point, at the end of Europe, and this thought is enough. The road that leads to the North Cape has a lot to do with this. A slow progression, the aridity of the landscapes, everything contributes to make the cape a place apart. If the end of the world is fascinating, the road that leads to it is no less so.

Apart from the view towards a blue horizon, the vast tourist structure carved into the cliffs houses a modern complex of shops, cafeterias and restaurants (where prices are correct). A small museum is dedicated to the first personalities who came to the North Cape. The Italian explorer-priest Pietro Negri, in search of the end of the world, was one of the first tourists to visit the North Cape in 1664. This was followed in 1873 by Oscar II, King of Sweden-Norway, and Louis-Philippe, who had been chased out of France in 1795 and disguised as an ordinary visitor. At the time, the only way to approach the cliffs of the North Cape was by boat, and then climb the 300 m to the top, as the carriage road across the plateau was not opened until 1956. This road will soon be opened again and the physical test will give access to a sumptuous view of this cape.
Inside the hall, a "champagne bar" has been set up facing a panoramic bay with a superb view of the midnight sun which lasts from 16 May to 28 July (when there is no fog). A small outdoor terrace is hung over a 300m precipice overlooking the icy Arctic Ocean. Fog often rises from the ocean, enveloping the tip of the North Cape, which then seems to float between sky and sea. This is the end of the world! Do it if you can.

"Hornet is a rocky, horn-shaped promontory on the northeastern side of the North Cape cliff, below and beside the sea. In pre-Christian times, Hornet was a sacred place for the Sámi people of Magerøya, who regarded it as the domain of the gods. "Hornet can only be seen from a distance. In Viking times, the area was subjected to Viking taxation and sometimes sacked. The chief of Håløy traded with the Sami as far as the White Sea in Russia. But Norwegian settlement of Finnmark probably did not begin until the 16th century. The abundance of fish attracted fishermen from northern Europe. To secure territory, the fortress of Vardø and several fortified churches were built. Hornvika, or Horn Bay, was the place where tourist boats docked before 1956 and the construction of the road to Nordkapp.

Finnmark was booming until the end of the 17th century, when fishing suffered a serious crisis. Several sites along the coast were abandoned by the Norwegians. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of immigrants from northern Finland and Sweden, as well as farmers from southern Norway. This led to many conflicts with the Saami who had occupied the land for centuries. A contemporary novel by a Saami author, Alio Gaup, The Magic Drum, was translated into French by Editions du Rocher in 1992. A place full of history that is worth a visit if you pass by.