Alta

Alta is the largest town in the county of Finnmark, in Northern Norway. Alta is the regional hub and has some 21,000 inhabitants (2022). The town is found at the inner or eastern end of Altafjorden. The town is the centre for Alta municipality (Norwegian: Alta kommune, Sámi: Álttá suohkan), which includes Altafjorden and adjacent fjords, islands and valleys. Alta is an entry point to the great Finnmarksvidda.

Understand

Northern lights mirrored in lake at Alta

The town centre stretches over a relatively wide area. Elvebakken area near the river mouth is also home to the airport that is virtually in the centre. The second historical part of the centre is Bossekop (Sami: Bossugohppi). A new centre has emerged between the two.

The tourist information seems to move around on a daily basis, so the first thing you might do is wind up travelling all over Alta looking for it. As of 2012, the information centre was in the Nordlys hotel, on the left, just as you enter town from the south (information signs may point to centres that have closed).

Alta River (Sámi: Álttáeatnu; Kven: Alattionjoki) is regarded as the best salmon fishing river in Norway, ahead of the great rivers of Trøndelag. The upper part of Alta river was developed for hydro power in the early 1980s; a tall concrete dam was built in the canyon and the flow of the river changed. This hydro power project was highly controversial, one of the most important environmental conflicts in Norway and an important event in the Sámi empowerment as an indigenous people. Alta river with its canyon is still one of the finest rivers in Norway. The canyon begins some 30 km from the town of Alta.

During the second world war the German occupant used Alta as a base for the northern fleet. The warship Tirpitz, the largest in the German navy, was kept in Kåfjorden near the town. There were several allied attacks on the ship, the fatal one after the ship moved to Tromsø for repair. At the end of the war the German forces evacuated civilians from Finnmark and burned everything. In the town of Alta only the church remained, in Kåfjord, Talvik, Sopnes and Kviby churches also survived.

Fun facts

Jafet Lindeberg and others with experience from the copper mines in Kåfjord started gold digging in Alaska, and triggered the gold rush at Nome. Lindeberg emerged as one of the richest men in USA and was nicknamed "King of Alaska". Lindeberg and his associates originally came to Alaska as herdsmen for the live reindeer exported from Alta. The reindeer export was an attempt to create a new business for the Inuit. A number of emigrants of Sámi origin also travelled to Alaska along with several hundred reindeer. Among them Samuel Balto, who gave name to Balto the husky. Later the Lomen family of Minnesota (who had emigrated from Valdres) established a large reindeer industry and arranged "reindeer processions" in the streets of US cities as a marketing trick. These reindeer processions may have reinforced the image of St Clause traveling by reindeer.

Get in

Map of Alta

By plane

69.97611123.3716671 Alta Airport (ALF ^IATA). It is the busiest airport in Finnmark. Widerøe provides services from regional destinations including Kirkenes and Hammerfest, while Scandinavian Airlines and Norwegian have departures from Oslo and Tromsø.

By car

Alta sits on E6 (Norway's main road north–south)]] and E45 from Finland terminates in Alta centre. Because of Alta's northern location and long distance from continental Europe, driving from there is hardly a viable option, except as part of a road trip through Scandinavia. The shortest drive from Copenhagen is more than 2,000 km, and the full drive through Norway is also more than 2,000 km (about 36 hours drive).

The fastest route from southern Scandinavia is through Sweden, Finland and Kautokeino: E4 to Luleå, then E10 and 392 and 403 past Pajala to the border to Finland, then E8 and E45.
From Tromsø: E6 is the only option.
From Nordkapp: E6
From Kirkenes/East Finnmark: E6

By bus

See Snelandia for bus connections.

Get around

On foot

Alta is not a large city, but distances inside it are larger than might be expected. E6 is 12 km long inside the densely populated area.

See

69.946923.18781 Prehistoric rock carvings. A UNESCO World Heritage Site. Rock art is found in five separate areas in Alta, the largest and the one available to the public at Hjemmeluft/Jiepmaluokta, where Alta Museum is situated. In the summer season, groups are offered guided tours to the rock carvings. In the winter, the carvings are covered with snow, and not available to the public. They were made by hunters and fishers in the Late Stone Age/Early Metal Age, between 6200 and 2000 years ago.

Do

69.93861123.3602781 Raipas (see). A point on the world heritage listed Struve Geodetic Arc, around 250 m ASL, requires a few kilometres of hiking up the hill, at leat a few kilometres more along roads unless you drive to the parking.
GLØD, Klekkeriet – Kulturnæringshus, Vesterhaugveien 1, Bossekop, ☏ +47 99-79-42-56, post@glodalta.no. Local organizer of Aurora Borealis hunting expeditions. Also offers: cross country skiing, snowshoeing, canoeing and mountain biking guided tours.
Horisont Husky AS (in the Reisa Valley, Storslett), ☏ +47 97-71-61-75, roy@horisonthusky.no. Norwegian dog sledding company that offers dog sledding tours in northern Norway with Alaskan huskies. (updated May 2022)

Buy

Alta Museum Shop, Altaveien 19, ☏ +47 41-75-63-30, post@altamuseum.no. Daily 08:00-20:00. Giftshop for the Alta Museum. Great selection of books and homewares from the region, and a decent selection of Sami handicrafts. (updated Aug 2018)
Montana Alta, Sentrumsparken 4, ☏ +47 90-60-55-86. M-Sa 10:00-19:00. Unassuming luggage shop with a good selection of Sami knives and other Sami products inside, with prices slightly cheaper than the museum shop. Also stocks a wide selection of keyrings, magnets, trolls and other trinkets. (updated Aug 2018)

Eat

Det Lille Kjøkken, Altaveien 256, 9515 Alta, ☏ +47 78-43-15-11. Pizza. (updated Mar 2023)

Drink

Sleep

Budget

Alta Hostel, Kvenvikmoen, ☏ +47 48-24-11-69, alta@hihostels.no. Summer only. This hostel is about 14 km from Alta, so it is hard to get to without a car. A public bus passes it once in the morning on the way to Alta, and there is one bus back in the afternoon.

Mid range

Best Western Nordlys Alta, Bekkefaret 3 (2 km west of city centre), ☏ +47 78-45-72-00, post@nordlyshotell.no.

High end

Rica Alta, Løkkeveien 61 (in city centre), ☏ +47 78-48-27-00, rica.hotel.alta@rica.no.
Thon Hotel Alta, Labyrinten 6, 9510 Alta (In city centre), ☏ +47 78-49-40-00, alta@thonhotels.no.

Go next

Routes through Alta

Narvik ← Lyngen ←	W NE	→ (for Nordkapp) → Lakselv → Kirkenes
END ←	N S	→ Kautokeino → Gällivare

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