Once North Cape and back. From the Cape to Vardö.

Vardö will you say now, where is that? Well, Vardö is a community already quite far out on the North Atlantic coast of Norway. Nothing special. The Hurtigruten ship hangs here for about 15 minutes and then continues to Kirkenes.

Way from the North Cape. Off to the south.
Way from the North Cape. Off to the south.

There is a lousy hotel in Vardö, but above all there is the witch's memorial of the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor and the French-American sculptor Louise Bourgeois, The memorial was also the destination of my long drive to Vardö. Very impressive what is shown there, a long, simple corridor, sparsely lit, equipped with 91 plaques, for the 91 victim of witchcraft. Dark and almost a little scary, you can hardly describe it, you have seen and experienced. In addition a glassy, ​​smoke-black cube with the burning witch's chair. And all settled in a rugged, rough coastal landscape.

Memorial of Peter Zumthor and the French-American sculptor Louise Bourgeois
Memorial of Peter Zumthor and the French-American sculptor Louise Bourgeois.

And that the road to Vardö is also incredibly beautiful to ride, yes, that's not wrong. It always leads along the sea. Very easy to drive and fleet-footed. Roof open, CD and cruise control in and then cruise cruising. Great relaxation. You only have to watch out for the trucks, which do not know any mercy and just set off.
Yes, and then you have seen and experienced everything. A look at the daily kilometer shows me around 5800 km driven to Vardö! Actually crazy. But the craziest thing is, now you have to go back, bah ... ..

Next stop on the way back: Kalix.

4 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline feedback
View all comments
hansmichael ortlepp
hansmichael ortlepp
4 years earlier

Great “old man”! The envy factor on my part increases with every report!

Ebasli
Ebasli
4 years earlier

Another very interesting report about the next section. You always learn something new, in the literal sense of the word “horizon broadening”!

The report on the Witches' Memorial was very impressive - an important memorial that I had unfortunately never heard of before. How do you get such information? Intensive travel preparation with searching for places of interest near the route via the internet or a travel guide? Sounds like a very complex trip planning! Hopefully, when I retire, I will have the time, health and resources for such tours. The report makes you want to see it, many thanks to the author! And my admiration that he made this detour for the memorial!

Hans S.
Hans S.
4 years earlier
Reply to  Ebasli

Of course you get information about such trips mainly in the network today. I booked all hotels again and again via booking.com on a daily basis. Has worked wonderfully.

Witch memorial in Vardö, of which I heard for the first time on our Hurtigruten trip 2014. The time in Vardö is too short to visit the site.

Zumthor is a well-known architect in Switzerland, and since I have been involved in construction throughout my working life, good architecture and well-built structures are well known to me.

The detour was quite big. You drive the same way back and forth. You will be compensated by the really easy to drive road. Always along the sea and virtually no traffic.

James Elsener
James Elsener
4 years earlier

Wonderful descriptions of landscape and experiences. Thank you for that.