Hammerfest attractions include Hammerfest Church, Hammerfest Polar Bear Club, Seiland park walking tour, cruise to Nordkapp, and the annual migration of Finnmark’s reindeer.
Hammerfest Church is an exceptionally modern building, built in 1961, in a city that is otherwise known for its traditional style residences.
In addition to the architecture, the church has other unique features, including the fact that it does not have an altarpiece, but rather, a glass mosaic.
During the summer period, you can also participate in a mass held at the church, which are offered (during main summer months) in several languages.
The church also hosts a variety of concerts.
Hammerfest Polar Bear Club (www.isbjornklubben.no), meanwhile, is a museum exhibiting the history of Hammerfest as an Arctic center for hunting and fishing.
Within the museum, you’ll find, for example, mounted polar bears, seals, lynxes, wolves, and many other Arctic animals.
When you visit the museum, you will also get Hammerfest Polar Bear Club membership, which includes a diploma, a membership card, labels, and the famous silver & enamel polar bear lapel pin.
Seiland park walking tour, on the other hand, offers magnificent natural sights, from oceanic nature to the high mountains and vast glaciers.
The island of Seiland, in fact, is one of the few unspoiled nature areas left in the Norwegian province of Finnmark, and it is also the second largest island in Finnmark, after Sørøya.
The island is very mountainous, and many of its highest points reach to the height of over 800 m (2,624 ft).
The main attraction of the island are, however, its two large glaciers, Nordmannsjøkulen and Seilandsjøkulen, the northernmost glaciers in Norway.
Tours to the island of Seiland is available from, for example,Hammerfest Tourist AS (www.hammerfest-turist.no), the region’s official tourism board.
Day cruises to Nordkapp, which are available using Hurtigruten ferries and bus transportation, offer some of the most spectacular panoramas of Finnmark, with Nordkapp being over 307 meters above sea level, surrounded by the Barents Sea.
Nordkapp is the northernmost point in Europe, with Hammerfest, on the other hand, also being the northernmost city in the world.
The name “Nordkapp” was given by English explorer Richard Chancellor, in 1553, when he came across the place in his search of the northern route.
For tours to the Nordkapp, you can, again turn to the official tourism office, Hammerfest Tourist AS, which arranges them.
Of the Hammerfest attractions, Finnmark’s annual reindeer migration is one of the most impressive sights in Hammerfest during the summer period…
…as around 2,500-3,000 Finnmark reindeers migrate from their winter pastures towards the coastal areas for the summer.
One of the main summer pastures for the reindeers is Kvaløya, where the city of Hammerfest is also located.
For more information on the reindeer migration, and on the best ways to see it, the primary place to get instructions is Hammerfest Tourist AS.