Kirkenes is about as far as Norway goes. Way up in the north-east corner, closer to Russia than to most of Norway, and further east than Istanbul. It's a small, practical town at the end of the coastal ship route, and that's exactly why it works. A short drive to proper darkness, far fewer visitors than Tromsø, and a winter menu that includes catching your own king crab through the ice.
Good. Kirkenes sits under the northern lights belt, and on an active night the lights can fill the whole sky. You don't need to go far either. The town is small, so the street lights are soon behind you.
Inland, towards the Pasvik valley, the weather can be different from the coast, which gives the guides a second option. Check the cloud forecast on Yr in the afternoon. The clouds decide your night, not the aurora apps.
The one rule
Do the crab in daylight. Keep the night for the sky.
The days are short up here, so plan one big thing per day while it's light, and leave the evenings open. The lights don't care about your dinner reservation.
Your darkness calendar
How long it's properly dark in Kirkenes, on the 15th of each month this season. Worked out from the sun's position, so it updates itself every year.
Sep
21:05–02:50
Oct
18:35–05:05
Nov
15:45–05:55
Dec
14:55–07:00
Jan
15:35–06:45
Feb
17:20–05:10
Mar
19:15–03:10
Apr
too light
"Dark" means the sun is more than 12 degrees below the horizon. Times are local, for a flat horizon. Mountains make it darker a bit earlier.
The dark season this year runs from 1 September to 10 April. The sun doesn't rise at all from about 27 November to 15 January. That's the polar night, and no, it isn't pitch black all day. You get a few hours of blue twilight around noon that photographers go weak at the knees for.
Darkest weeks: around the new moon
A bright moon washes out weak lights. Strong ones still show up fine, so don't cancel a trip over it. If you can pick your dates, aim for the week around one of these:
New moon 9 November
New moon 9 December
New moon 7 January
New moon 6 February
New moon 8 March
New moon 7 April
Only booking 3 things? Make it these.
1
Northern lights chase from Kirkenes
A guide who drives out of town to wherever the sky is clear, with warm clothes and a hot drink. You do the looking, they do the driving.
Out on the frozen fjord by snowmobile, pull up the crab pots through a hole in the ice, then eat what you caught. It's the trip people go home and talk about.
Rooms, a bar and sculptures made of snow and ice, with huskies just outside. Visit for an hour or stay the night if you can handle a sleeping bag at below zero.
On a strong night you can see the lights from town. Walk down towards the water, away from the brightest street lights, and look up. On an average night you'll want to get out.
Without a car, a tour is the easy answer. The guides know the roads and the weather. With a car and winter experience, the roads out of town lead to dark skies quickly, but find a proper parking spot and switch off the headlights before you look up.
Where to look
Kirkenes is small, so the dark starts close to town. Wear shoes with grip and something reflective, and never stand on the road to look up.
Easiest
Down by the harbour
Walk from the centreCity glow: moderate
The quickest check. Get to the water, turn your back on the town and give your eyes a few minutes. On a good night the lights hang over the fjord.
Around the Snowhotel
Taxi or tour, just outside townCity glow: low
Out by the snow hotel there's far less light, and you've got the frozen landscape around you. A nice place to end up after a visit, if you're staying out there or on a tour that goes past.
Darkest
The Pasvik valley
Tour, or a car with winter experienceCity glow: none
A long forested valley running south along the border, with Norway on one side of the river and Russia on the other. Pine forest, frozen lakes and almost no lights. This is where the chase tours often head when the coast is cloudy.
Northern lights tours
Northern lights chase from Kirkenes
Check where pickup is and what's included in the price, like warm clothes and something to eat.
Tours pick up in the centre, and the harbour is a short walk away for a quick look at the sky.
The tunnel under the town
During the Second World War, Kirkenes was bombed again and again, and it's often called Norway's most heavily bombed town. In the worst single raid, around 70 aircraft burned 170 houses. People sheltered in Andersgrotta, a tunnel blasted into the rock under the town, and up to 2,500 of them could fit inside.
Today you can visit with a guide. It's a couple of streets behind the main square, and the tour includes a short film of about ten minutes. A good thing to do on a grey afternoon.
Where the king crab comes from
The king crab isn't from here. The story goes that it was brought to the Russian side of the Barents Sea decades ago and simply walked west. Now it's caught all year in the fjords around Kirkenes, and it's a big, spiky thing with legs you can hold in both hands.
Getting there
Fly from Oslo or Tromsø to Kirkenes airport, which is about 15 to 20 minutes from town. Or arrive the slow way, on the coastal ship from Bergen, which ends its northbound trip here. Some hotels and the Snowhotel offer pickup from the airport. At the Snowhotel, that can mean a dog sled.
Christmas, Easter and other closed days
Shops close on Norwegian public holidays. Most tours still run, and so does the sky. These fall in this year's dark season:
Friday 25 December 2026: Christmas Day
Saturday 26 December 2026: Boxing Day
Friday 1 January 2027: New Year's Day
Thursday 25 March 2027: Maundy Thursday
Friday 26 March 2027: Good Friday
Sunday 28 March 2027: Easter Sunday
Monday 29 March 2027: Easter Monday
Practical tips
Check the cloud forecast on Yr in the afternoon and plan the night from that.
Give your eyes 15 minutes in the dark without your phone. You'll see twice as much.
Use your phone's night mode on something steady, 3 to 10 seconds, no flash.
Bring a power bank. Phones die fast in the cold.
Don't wander off towards the border. Crossing it outside the official checkpoint is illegal, and it's guarded.
