PONANT: Le Bellot

Enjoy the appealing frontier atmosphere at this ancient whaling capital and base for expeditions to the North Pole.

Enjoy the appealing frontier atmosphere at this ancient whaling capital and base for expeditions to the North Pole.

Narvik is an ice-free port in northern Norway. This city fell to the Germans in World War II when they invaded Norway on April 9, 1940. Intense fighting broke out in the city and when the tide is right, you can still see the bow of the Gerrman destroyer, the Georg Thiel portruding from the harbor. Main tourist attractions in Narvik include Killer-Whale safaris in late fall and winter and various outdoor activities, such as hiking, fishing, cmaping and mountain climbing. Many also come to the harbor to scuba dive to explore the ship graveyard leftover from the war.

The municipality´s centre of administration and trade, with about 1,600 inhabitants and well-developed services, including a hotel, cafes, restaurants, auto repair shops, specialty shops, a pharmacy, bakery, movie theatre, swimming pool, and other services. The newspaper "Lofot-Tidende" is published here.

Hammerfest, the world's northern-most city with a population of 7,000 residents, is located in the wide but calm bay of the Province of Finnmark. The North Atlantic Gulf Stream provides the city with an ice free port all year round. Hammerfest's short distance from the North Cape makes it an attractive destination to tourists. Like Tromso, Hammerfest became a major location for the start or end of arctic expeditions in the 19th century. In 1890, the town was one of the first in Europe to provide electric street lighting. Of course, the sun's disappearance from the sky during the arctic winter from November through February may have contributed to this distinction. Today the main street shops of this interesting trawler port offer a friendly welcome, and the drily -named 'Polar Bear Club' provides intriguing insights into Arctic history and tradition.

There are polar fox and polar bear on the island. Probably known to Norsemen in the 12th cent., it was rediscovered by Willem Barentz, the Dutch navigator, in 1596, and was formally annexed by Norway in 1915. It is also known as Bear Island.

Honningsvag/North Cape, Norway Welcome to the top of the world! The village
of Honningsvag is the northernmost community in Europe, set in a land of vast
forests, dramatic fjords and crashing waterfalls, bathed in the eerie light
of the Midnight Sun. Just up the coast is the North Cape, Europe's northernmost
point, with breathtaking views towards the Barents Sea and the polar north.

The Rock carvings at Alta, dating from circa 4200 BC to 500 BC, are on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. In additon, the Komsa culture was named after the Komsa mountain in Alta municipality, where the first archeological remains were discovered.

In World War II, the German battleship Tirpitz used Altafjord as a harbor, and was damaged here by attacking allied warplanes.

Altasaken in 1979 made headlines for weeks, as many people (especially environmentalists) demonstrated and used civil disobedience to prevent the building of a dam in order to produce hydropower. The dam was built, however, and the river still offers good salmon fishing.

The Rock carvings at Alta, dating from circa 4200 BC to 500 BC, are on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. In additon, the Komsa culture was named after the Komsa mountain in Alta municipality, where the first archeological remains were discovered.

In World War II, the German battleship Tirpitz used Altafjord as a harbor, and was damaged here by attacking allied warplanes.

Altasaken in 1979 made headlines for weeks, as many people (especially environmentalists) demonstrated and used civil disobedience to prevent the building of a dam in order to produce hydropower. The dam was built, however, and the river still offers good salmon fishing.

Enjoy the appealing frontier atmosphere at this ancient whaling capital and base for expeditions to the North Pole.