Drive it Yourself: Kirkenes to Vardø on the E6 and E75
Here’s my guide to the drive from Kirkenes to Vardø on the E75. Looking for a drive that will take you through the rugged Eastern Finnmark? To be honest, when I did this drive I had it planned as more of a “A to B” type of drive. I wasn’t expecting the scenery to be so incredible! The drive on the E6 from Kirkenes to Varangerbotn is so rocky and wild, while the E75 becomes flat and barren. This drive is incredible.
Part of this drive does make up the Varanger Tourist Road, but I have decided to write that as a separate article. For this article, I wanted to focus on this drive as though it were just a regular highway. Enjoy!
In this article...
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Online Guide
- Information about points of interest
- Images of each point of interest
- Historic overview of the neighbourhood
- Directions between points
- Historic photos
- Information about facilities along the way
Downloadable Guide
- Information about points of interest
- Images of each point of interest
- Historic overview of the region & towns
- Directions between points
- Historic photos
- Facilities including supermarkets, toilets, petrol, hotels, cafes, restaurants with addresses.
Watch on Youtube
All of our roadtrips are available on YouTube to watch. They include information about the area provided in text and voiceover form, plus they show the drive in full (sped up in some spots!) so you can get an idea what the drive is like.
Kirkenes to Vardø via the E6 and E75
Kirkenes
This drive begins in Kirkenes, which is one of the easternmost cities in Norway. It has a fascinating war and cultural history and is worth spending some time in.
Russian border
Border crossing/detour
It is possible to drive to the Russian border, but you cannot cross the border into Russia. You will see signs pointing to Murmansk, which is approximately 255km (158 miles), or a 3 hour drive, away. On the border is a souvenir shop, restrooms, and signs pointing to Russia that you can take photos of.
Bjørnevatn
Town
The community of Bjørnevatn, also known as ‘the mining town’, has been of strategic importance for the development of Kirkenes. The mine is Europe’s largest open-cast mine and opened in 1906. It has since closed down. The mine did reopen in 2009, but shut again in 2015 due to lower costs from other countries. Today around 2,500 people live in Bjørnevatn.
Garrison Sør-Varanger
Military Barracks
The garrison in Sør-Varanger is a military unit based at Høybuktmoen. The departments main task is to patrol and monitor the Norwegian-Russian border. The garrison consists mainly of conscripted soldiers, and there are 400 new conscripts every six months. They mostly tell tourists when they are wandering into Russia, but another goal is to monitor Russian activity on the border.
Kirkenes Airport
Airport
Kirkenes was originally built as a military air station by the Luftwaffe during World War II. The airport reopened for civilians in 1963 with a new terminal and extended runway.
The airport has direct flights to Oslo and Tromsø through SAS and Norwegian, as well as Widerøe flights to Vadsø and other small coastal communities.
Neiden
Village
Neiden is regarded as the centre of Eastern Sami culture in Norway and a large proportion of the population are of Finnish descent.
A large part of the population are Skolt Sami, which is the Orthodox Sami. In town is the Skolt Sami Museum from 2017, which is trying to preserve and present Skolt Sami culture. They also have an outdoor museum with preserved buildings from an old Skolt Sami settlement. It includes St. Georges Chapel, a Russian Orthodox chapel that was built in 1565.
The Skolt Sami are a unique Sami group. They are more closely related to the Russians compared to the Finns or Norwegians and are regarded as a minority group amongst the Sami. They have been more severely impacted by land borders and country regulations than other Sami groups and are marked by high unemployment and low literacy rates. The Skolt Sami language is considered highly endangered and was only written down in 1992.
There is a settlement called Neiden on the Norwegian and the Finnish side. The area used to be one settlement for the Skolt Sami, but when the borders were laid out in the 1850s they were separated. When the area was divided up, Neiden was forced to split across the countries.
Neiden also has Neiden Chapel – built in 1902 as a Norwegian ‘dragestil’ (dragon style) church to symbolise the Norwegian state sovereignty in the area. It is a Lutheran church and is well worth seeing. The Norwegian government invited Norwegian settlers to the area, building the Lutheran church to counterbalance the Orthodox chapel.
Skolt Sami Museum
Museum
The Skolt Sami museum is a cultural history museum dedicated to the Eastern Sami, or the Skolt Sami.
Visit their website here: https://dvmv.no/en/vv-skoltesamisk-muse/avv-skoltesami-museum/
Bugøyfjord
Village
Bugøyfjord is a small village along the Varangerfjord. It was a predominantly Sami community until the Kven people arrived in the 1860s. It was one of the first villages to be burned to the ground by Germans during the retreat in 1944.
In the village is a memorial marker for John Savio. He is the first Sami person to have his own exhibition in the National Gallery in Oslo. He didn’t achieve fame during his life, but since his death has been recognised as one of the greatest Sami artists. He is also the only Sami artist to make a name for himself before World War II. He worked primarily in wood cuts.
Nesseby Municipality
Nesseby is a small municipality located at the isthmus between the Varangerfjord and the Tana River at the entrance to the Varanger peninsula. The population lives in small settlements along the fjord and the Varangerhalvøya National Park is partly located in the park. The municipality is known for its interesting birdlife and also its tundra with areas of bog and marsh.
Today the municipality is known as Unjárga-Nesseby, reflecting the Sami community who live here. Nesseby was the second municipality in Norway to get a Sami name. Most of the inhabitants are Sami and Sami is being taught as the first language in schools. In historic times, reindeer used to cross this area as part of their annual migration.
This led the Sami to coming into the area. The area between Skippagurra and Varangerbotn is full of archaeological finds from different periods.
The coat-of-arms represents a cloudberry plant.
The municipality is the birthplace of Isak Saba, the first Sami to be elected to the Norwegian parliament.
Bugøynes
Village/Detour
Bugøynes was established by Finnish immigrants in the 19th century. They had left their own country due to political unrest and poor living conditions, and came to Norway with their experience in agriculture. They also quickly learned the knowledge of fjord fishing. The Finns also brought their religious traditions with them – a conservative Christian movement known as Læstadianism. It still holds a firm footing in the village.
The village was saved from the destruction of World War II, so the Finnish architecture has been preserved. The Finnish influence is still strong here, and most of the people living here are of Finnish descent and have Finnish names.
Bugøynes is around a 15-20 minute detour off the E6, but is well worth it.
Varangerbotn
Village
Varangerbotn is a small village that is the administrative centre of Nesseby. The population is around 341. In Varanger you can visit the Varanger Sami Museum, a museum for the history and culture of the Sami in Varangerbotn. The museum presents the Sea Sami history, Sami prehistory, and contemporary Sami culture.
E6 & E75 junction
Roundabout
This is where the E6 and the E75 separate. The E75 continues onto the Varanger peninsula towards Vardø, while the E6 goes towards Tana Bru and Lakselv. The roundabout in town marks the beginning the National Tourist Road for Varanger, one of Norway’s 18 national tourist roads. I cover the tourist road in a separate article.
Vadsø Municipality
Vadsø municipality is named after the town of Vadsø that we will soon be driving through. The coat-of-arms shows a reindeer as reindeer husbandry is common for the municipality and of great economic importance, especially for the Sami people.
The municipality spreads across the southern coast of the Varanger peninsula. There are trees here as this part of the peninsula is sheltered from the sea, but the tree line is at around 200 metres above sea level.
Vestre Jakobselv
Village
Vestre Jakobselv is a small village with around 500 people living here. It has a primary and secondary school. The village is popular for its salmon fishing as the Jakobselva river has its outlet here.
Vadsø
The only major town we drive through is Vadsø. There is a lot worth seeing here, so browse our separate travel guide page below.
Ekkerøy
Village
There has been settlement on Ekkerøy since at least the Middle Ages, and finds from the Viking Age have been found there. However, it is not known if Vikings settled there or if they traded there.
Ekkerøy was an island until 1750, but now there is a land connection to the mainland. Ekkerøy was built up as a fishing village and at its peak had several landing piers, shops, a school, shrimp factory, fish oil processing plant, and dried fish racks. There were 270 people living there; today there are less than 50.
Parts of Ekkerøy have been declared a nature reserve and the island also has a small bird cliff. In the breeding season, which is from May to September, the cliffs may be home to as many as 20,000 kittiwake pairs.
The settlement of Ekkerøy was not destroyed during World War II. The well-preserved fish factory is now a museum with warehouses, a cod liver oil steamer, an old shop and an authentically furnished traders residence.
Skallelv
Village
Skallelv was originally one of the several purely Finnish communities in the area, populated at the end of the 19th century. The local people were known as Kvens, the North-Norwegian name for people of Norwegian-Finnish descent. Skallelv is one of the few remaining areas with buildings that were constructed before World War II. The oldest wooden houses here are from before 1860.
Vardø Municipality
Vardø municipality is one of the first municipalities to be established in Northern Norway. The coat-of-arms is from 1898 and represents the sunshine, fishing boats, the ocean, and a large cod. In the chief is the year of the towns founding, 1789, along with the words “Vardöensis Insignia Urbis” which means “the seal of the town of Vardø”. In the lower part of the arms is the town motto “Cedant Tenebræ Soli”, meaning “Darkness shall give way to the sun”.
Several Stone Age sites as well as sites dating from the Sami Iron Age have been found here. Vardø became a Norwegian settlement in the medieval period, and the first church was built here in 1307.
Fishing and seafood processing are Vardø’s major sources of income. The municipality also has large seabird colonies on the islands of Hornøya and Reinøya.
Komagvær
Village
Komagvær is one of the main gateways to the Varanger National Park, with a gravel road leaving from the town into the park. In the valley are many types of birds, including the Arctic Skua.
Kiberg
Village
Kiberg was one of the largest fishing communities in the area during the 16th and 17th centuries, and was important during the Pomor Trade era. Kiberg is still important for fishing.
Kiberg was of strategic importance during World War II. The geographical proximity to the Soviet Union brought Russian and Norwegian people together. After the occupation of Norway, many locals went to the Soviet Union. Some returned and worked for the Soviet military intelligence services, with as many as 45 partisans in Kiberg.
Their most important task was to pass on radio communications about the German shipping fleet. It has been estimated that around 80 German merchant ships were sunk on their way to Kirkenes due to the partisans passing on information. Around half the partisans were killed or executed during the war.
Vardø Tunnel
Tunnel
The Vardø Tunnel is a subsea road tunnel stretching 2.8km (9,400 ft) under the Bussesundet strait that connects the island of Vardøya to the mainland. The tunnel reaches a depth of 88m (289ft) and was opened in 1983.
Vardø
This drive finishes in Vardø, Norway’s easternmost city. Vardø is an important historic city and a fantastic place to base yourself while in Eastern Finnmark.
Next Drive
Varanger Tourist Road
Follow the Varanger Tourist Road from Hamningberg to Varangerbotn via Vardø and Vadsø.
