Discover Hammerfest

34 photographs by Kåre Kivijärvi belong to the Hammerfest Library; today, they make up the majority of its art collection. The Kåre Kivijärvi Collection is on permanent display there and can be visited free of charge. Kivijärvi (1938–1991) was a Kven artist from Hammerfest and is considered Norway’s first fine-art photographer and a pioneer in his field.

Art and the History of Surveying

Another cultural and historical subject reaches far beyond Hammerfest: the Struve Geodetic Arc stretches from Hammerfest in Norway through ten countries to the Black Sea and is more than 2,820 kilometres long. The survey points were established between 1816 and 1855 under the direction of astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve. They made it possible to carry out the first accurate measurement of a long section of a meridian. The Struve Geodetic Arc thus connects the town with a history of surveying whose geographical scope extends far beyond the region.

Coastal Landscapes on Sørøya

Nordre Sørøya, in Hammerfest Municipality, features high-quality coastal landscapes, rich flora and fauna, cultural heritage sites and geological attractions. Tarhalsen is the outermost outpost on Sørøya within Hammerfest Municipality. A large colony of herring gulls and great black-backed gulls nests beside the beacon at Tarhalsen in summer. The nature experience therefore has a distinct seasonal focus.

Fyrvokterveien is the only access route to Tarhalsen and starts at Høgfjellet, which is 290 metres high, near Tarhalsen. When planning your trip, you can consider the gulls’ summer nesting season as a nature experience in its own right, alongside the photographs on permanent display.

Hiking Destinations and Nature Experiences

There are 40 Perletur hiking routes in Hammerfest Municipality. They are free and open to everyone; most destinations are signposted and marked. Akkarfjord offers hiking trails and nature experiences, as well as Storsand and Sandfjellet. These attractions give the municipality a clear landscape dimension alongside its art and cultural offerings.

Sámi Cooking Experience

At the Sámi cooking experience in Hammerfest, traditional gáhkku is baked over an open fire, reindeer meat is prepared and bålkaffe is brewed. After preparing the food, participants gather around the fire, eat together and listen to stories about Sámi food traditions, reindeer herding and everyday life in the Arctic. The cooking experience combines hands-on preparation with sharing a meal and storytelling. Availability may vary by season.

History in Kvalsund

Kvalsund Church is also a testament to the region’s history. It is the oldest building in Kvalsund Municipality. After the German scorched-earth campaign in Finnmark during the Second World War, it was the only building in Kvalsund Municipality to survive.

When deciding when to visit, you can weigh two distinct highlights: the photographs are on permanent display in the library, while the gull colony at Tarhalsen nests in summer. This brings cultural history and a seasonal nature experience together without implying that they require the same travel dates.

Discover more places: Hammerfest, Akkarfjord, Kårhamn, Nordre

Discover more destinations: Tana, Nordkapp, Hasvik, Gamvik

Back to the main travel overview: Finnmark.