25 July 2018:
Honningsvåg and Nordkapp, Norway:
The Top of Europe, Or So They Say

By Corey Sandler

Honningsvåg  is the northernmost city on the mainland of Norway.

There are a few gotchas in that description. Mainland, not on an island. And city, not a town or village or settlement.

That said, Honningsvag has only about 2,436 inhabitants which is below the Norwegian definition of a city as a place with at least 5,000 residents. But its status as a city was grandfathered in place.

All photos by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

It’s a rather small place, too, especially in the wide open spaces up north. The city consists of 1.2 square kilometers or 300 acres. Honningsvåg is within a bay on the southeastern side of the large island of Magerøya.

The ice-free ocean in the southwestern Barents Sea draws cruise ships in the summer and fishing vessels most of the year.

There are at least five large docks in the port, which makes it an almost irresistible lure for cruise ships.

Nordkapp. All photos by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

The famous Nordkapp or North Cape and its visitors center is on the northern side of the island.

Nordkapp has a road and a parking lot for buses and plumbing and electricity. But it is not mainland Europe’s northernmost point, even though that is exactly how it is advertised.

The steep cliff of North Cape at 71 degrees 10 minutes North Latitude is about 2,102 kilometers or 1,306 miles from the geographic North Pole.

But the neighboring Knivskjellodden Point, just to the west, extends about a mile further north. But that place is rather difficult to get to except by a somewhat arduous hiking path.

So North Cape gets the glory.

All photos and text Copyright 2018 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.