Kirkenes: the last Arctic outpost toward Russia

Just a few kilometers from the Russian border, Kirkenes remains the northernmost outpost of Arctic Norway, the arrival point for Hurtigruten postal ships.

The center, the last outpost of the Arctic facing the Russian border, can be comfortably visited on foot.

The Kirkenes Border Museum tells the story of the city's liberation from Nazi occupation by the Red Army in 1944, an event still celebrated annually.

A few minutes away, the port of Kirkenes marks the northern terminus of the Hurtigruten ship route, which connects the city to the rest of the Norwegian coast.

Heading inland, expeditions are organised for king crab fishing, a species introduced by the Soviets in the sixties and now hunted as a local delicacy.

During winter nights, far from city lights, the northern lights remain visible with good frequency above the fjords surrounding Kirkenes.

Kirkenes was almost completely destroyed during the Second World War, suffering more aerial bombardments than any other Norwegian city before being liberated by the Soviet Red Army in October 1944.

The king crab, deliberately introduced to the Barents Sea by the Soviets for commercial purposes, has spread so extensively along Arctic coasts that it has become both an economic resource and a threat to the local marine ecosystem.