Northern Lights trip to Kirkenes, Norway
We boarded an SAS flight to Kirkenes in mid-Jan to go see the Northern Lights. The weather did not look too good, but this is difficult to predict.
Anyway, when arriving Kirkenes airport our AVIS car was ready waiting for us. A nice touch was that the Avis staff had kept the car running for a little while so it was nice and warm!
The hotel
After a short drive we arrived our hotel, Scandic Kirkenes. The hotel itself was nice, the rooms were not much to brag about, very plain. The hotel had a nice sauna and steam room, and the receptionist were quick to turn both of them on when we ask to use them. Temperature in hotel saunas tend to be on the cool side – not here! The sauna was really warm – a pleasant surprise. Breakfast was very good, good quality of food items and a very good selection. But bartender, please do not serve gin and tonic with flat tonic ever again!! We had dinner at the hotel restaurant one night and the king crabs were very good. Wine selection was rather poor though.
Touring around the area
The weather was not that nice and it looked like the chance of any Northern Lights were slim, and we did not see any at all… Oh well, thats life! We drove to Neiden just to get some sightseeing of the area. Nice scenery. On our way we saw 2 foxes right next to the road, and they were posing for easy pictures! We also made a trip to the Pasvik Valley and to the Snow Hotel. Pictures to follow shortly.
Restaurants
We had dinner at the Surf&Turf restaurant a couple of times and it was generally OK food. It seemed like this was the place where most people would go for dinner, so we followed the crowds…