Welcome to Kirkenes
This is it: you’re as far east as Cairo, further east than most of Finland, a mere 15km from the border with Russia – and at the end of the line for the Hurtigruten coastal ferry. This tiny, nondescript place, anticlimactic for many, has a distinct frontier feel. You’ll see street signs in Norwegian and Cyrillic script and hear Russian spoken by trans-border visitors and fishermen, who enjoy better prices for their catch here than in their home ports further to the east.
The town reels with over 100, 000 visitors per annum, most stepping off the Hurtigruten to spend a couple of hours in the town before travelling onward. But you should linger a while here, not primarily for the town’s sake but to take one of the many excursions and activities offered by the useful one-stop tourist office.
Kadmat Beach Resort (%0484-4011134; from €185 per person; a) has 28 modern cottages, administered by Mint Valley and can be reached by overnight boa...
The village located on this 2.7-sq-km island has several mosques, which you can visit if dressed modestly. There’s no alcohol on the island. Agat...
Comprising a string of 36 palm-covered, white sand-skirted coral islands 300km off the coast of Kerala, Lakshadweep is as stunning as it is isolated. ...
Under the Kolathiri rajas, Kannur was a major port bristling with international trade – explorer Marco Polo christened it a ‘great emporium of spi...
Ask any Keralan what the prettiest part of their state is and most will whisper: Wayanad. Encompassing part of a remote forest reserve that spills int...