Vardø – Witches, Puffins And A Very Scenic Drive

In the remote region of Finnmark, in the Northeast of Norway, lies the bleak town of Vardø, also know as the “Witchcraft Capital of Norway”. We are not here to investigate spells and the magic powers of the evil North. But since we are here, we may as well learn a little about these extraordinary 16th Century events that took place in this sparsely populated little town.

Vardø is well off the beaten track, founded in 1789 it is connected to the mainland by a 2.9km long Arctic Ocean tunnel, the Ishavstunnel. Vardø is Norway’s Easternmost town and announces itself as the only one in the Arctic climate zone. It was once a major port of call for trade with Russian Pomors (Russian settlers), many of whom are still living in this town.

Arctic Ocean tunnel into Vardo

To get here we drove along the shoreline for much of the way, spotting eagles (we spotted 4 sitting on the rocks) by the Barents sea and enjoying the almost deserted designated Varanger National Tourist Route.

Our route in pink crossing the Tana Bru bridge, past  Vadsø and continuing onto Vardø and later on onto Hamninberg

Brian and I are on a motorhome trip touring Norway and on a mission to get to Nordkapp on Magerøya Island, the furthest point North your can drive to on mainland Europe. But we thought we would start by heading first to the far Northeast to see the most we can of this huge and beautiful country.

So what is here to see and do?

Steilneset Memorial

Looking at the history of this area we learned that between 1600 and 1692 there were more witch trials here than in the rest of Scandinavia. During the trials 135 people (111 women and 24 men) were prosecuted. Ninety-one people were found guilty of the black magic and pacts with the devil. They were tortured until they confessed and then burned at the stake. One of the most common ways of establishing guilt was to tie hands and legs and throw the suspect in the sea – if they floated it was because the water, a cleansing element, was rejecting the evil and hence they were guilty. Almost everyone failed this test, because people float. A memorial has been built in Vardø to pay tribute to those who were executed during the witchcraft trials in Finnmark.

The Steilneset memorial was inaugurated by Norway’s Royalty, Queen Sonja on June 23rd 2011. Designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor and French-American artist Louise Borgeois.

Lying on the top of a windswept, rugged coastline, overlooked by the town’s cemetery it is believed to be the very site where many of the executions took place. The memorial comprises of two separate buildings:

Steilneset Memorial, looks odd until you realise it is to be experienced from the inside.

The Memory Hall is a 410-foot-long wooden structure framing a white textile cocoon, pulled taut by steel cables. The structure resembles the drying fish racks that we have been seen along the coastal areas. We walked over a timber walkway to get inside the long dark corridor, illuminated by small windows and 91 lamps. Each lamp illuminates a window and a plaque next to it with the name one of the dead and a simple description about when they were brought before the court and why. There are 14 men and 77 women depicted in this memorial.

Inside the installation a long dark corridor, illuminated by small windows and a single light bulb, one for each of the 91 victims of the executions.

The tinted glass building next to the Memory Hall instalation is totally different, and here the artist Louise Borgeois designed a perpetual flame. A metal chair has flames projected through its seat. Above there are seven oval mirrors that reflect the flames representing the Damned, the Possessed and the Beloved. Borgeois died in 2010, this installation was her last major project.

A metal chair has flames projected through its seat

The oval mirrors reflect the flames, a mesmerising spot

Both installations are hauntingly beautiful and a powerful reminder of a very dark period of history, that has happened not just in Norway but in many other European countries and also worldwide.

The Bird Island of Hornøya

This intriguing cliff island is populated entirely by birds, and nether Brian nor I had ever seen anything like this before. There are about 100,000 birds that come here to breed and raise their chicks.

Situated on the Barents Sea just a few minutes boat ride from Vardø, it is a wild place. Landing on this island felt like arriving in some sort of Jurassic World film set. The blue sky was peppered with flying birds above our heads, the screeching noise they made was incredible and the stench of bird poo almost made me gag. Brian quickly reminded me about keeping my coat hood up to avoid bird poo landing on my head. With literally thousands of birds overhead, there’s no avoiding it! Any open mouth expressions were also not recommended.

The noise and smell is incredible. Look up, but remember to close your mouth.

The main reason for our visit to the island was to see the cute Atlantic Puffin and indeed we saw many from very close range. Watching them take a leap towards the frigid Barents sea waters as they leave their burrows for the first time was simply awesome.

How cute is this little Puffin?

Leaving his burrow and flying off towards the Barents Sea, he is closely followed by his brother or sister

The puffins were easily recognizable with their bright orange beaks and feet. They breed in burrows that they dig in between the vegetation and rocky terrain. I had never seen them in the wild before, so it was thrilling to see them in close-up.

There are also many other bird species such as the black legged Kittiwake, and the Common Guillemot which was easy to spot, since there are about 15,000 pairs in the island. There are about 500 pairs of Brünnich´s Guillemots, but I did not spot any. Some Razorbill and many Cormorants scattered everywhere, they would get a little aggressive if people got too close to their nests. But in general the birds were pretty chilled and very used to people walking around gawping at them.

Cormorant watching her nest

Cormorant’s nest with baby chicks

There were only a small number of tourists during our visit, with some very serious looking wild life photographers holding on to their tripods and huge camera lenses.

As we watched mesmerized, there was suddenly a huge commotion and thousands of birds scattering fast everywhere. So we look upwards towards the top of the cliff to see an Eagle flying low and trying to catch an easy meal. It was all over so quickly though, we were too slow to grab a picture of the majestic bird and the panic it created

Apparently birds are not the only attraction here since Hornøya is also a great place to spot Grey Seals, Orcas and there is also a small chance of seeing Belugas during the Summer season. Unfortunately we did not spot them.

Visiting this amazing bird island was the highlight of our time in Vardø. I don’t know of any other place in Norway where you can watch these birds from such a close proximity and in such huge numbers. I know there are places in the UK, such as in the North of Scotland where puffins are often called “sea parrots” and our son has seen them there back in April. But not from such close proximity. They can also be seen in Wales and England, but I have never had the chance to see them in the wild before.

This Island is a must visit for bird lovers or anyone who enjoys wildlife watching. Boats leave from the little harbour in Vardø regularly, it is just a 10 minutes ride. It cost us about £74 in July/19 (we bought our ticket at the harbour’s office), worth every penny in our opinion.

A Very Scenic Drive to remote Hamninberg

With the sun shining all day and all night long we took a road trip from Vardø to the semi-abandoned fishing village of Hamninberg. A place that felt like the last outpost of Northern Europe.The village lies along the northern coast of the large Varanger Peninsula. It was a bleak day on the way up with a rolling fog at the top of the hills adding to the air of mystery.

Sharp rock edges along narrow roads

The road is paved, but narrow. There are many passing places, but thankfully hardly any traffic on this road. The landscape is very dramatic with steep naked cliffs and sharp edges along dark, astonishing rock formations that bear witness to the erosive power of the wind, the sea and extreme weather conditions.There were small bays with sandy beaches in some more open areas.

The cold Barents Sea to our right and the jagged peaks to our left, there were patches of ice on the hills left over from the harsh winter months. There were close encounters with reindeer and sheep along the road, but we kept to a very low speed and were able to spot the animals in good time.

Reindeer along the road

Reindeer herding is a main activity in this area, since this area is inhabited by the Sami people.

The small population of Hamninberg left in 1964/5, as they were paid resettlement grants when the fishing industry collapsed in this area. Nevertheless, Hamninberg comes to life again for a few weeks every summer, when the road opens and the original residents and their descendants return. We stayed overnight at an off grid place (GPS N70.54151 E30.60306) near the village’s entrance. There were other four Norwegian motorhomes staying there alongside us.

The abandoned fishing village of Hamninberg

This little fishing village escaped being destroyed by the German troops in the razing of Finnmark during the 1944/45 World War II, when the withdrawing German forces were burning everything as they moved out to deny the advancing Russians. Therefore it is still possible to see typical notched-join timber houses which were prefabricated in Russia and re-assembled in Hamninberg.

There was not a lot to do here, but we enjoyed the peaceful location and got to drive our scenic route again next day in glorious sunny weather when we returned to Vardø along the deserted and beautiful road.

The view from our home on wheels, at an off grid location in Vardø

Back in Vardø we stayed off grid another night in a great location (GPS N70.37999 E31.11828) overlooking the bird Island of Hornøya. From our window we saw the Hurtigruten, Norwegian cruise liner passing by on its route North from Bergen towards Kirkenes.

Vardø is Norway’s easternmost town.

Coming to Vardø was a detour from our mission to get to Nordkapp and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay, feeling quite intrepid at venturing this far off the beaten track. It has paid off as we had an amazing time and we would recommend it to other adventurous travellers out there, who might want to experience a pristine, unique and very authentic place.