Vardo

Town is within walking distance from the dock.

Take a printable map along.

Although it shares the country's time zone, eastern Finnmark's daylight hours are more than an hour out of step with it. Vardø, Norway's easternmost town, lies east even of Saint Petersburg, Kiev and Istanbul.

Norway's first undersea tunnel links the island with the mainland. Opposite its entrance are Vardø Airport, Svartnes, and the settlement of Svartnes. Vardø also serves as a Cruise Port for Norway's Hurtigruten ferry service.

Among Vardø's attractions are Vardøhus Festning, a fortress from the late 13th century whose current structure dates to 1734; several sea bird colonies; two museums, one on Pomor trade and another on local history and bird life; and remaining German World War II fortifications. Vardø's Yukigassen competition is unique in Norway.

Norway uses the Norwegian crown, or norske krone, abbreviated kr. One 1/100th of a krone is an øre. 1.00 EUR = about 8 NOK.

In Norway, ATMs are known as Minibank.

Mastercard, Visa and nearly all other major credit cards are accepted by almost every store. Bring a passport/driver's license, as identification is required when using a credit card.

Norwegian is official in Norway and is very close to, and mutually intelligible with, the other two Scandinavian languages; English is widely spoken.

With most Norwegian households connected to the internet somehow, often by broadband, Cybercafés are difficult to find beyond major cities because the market is relatively small. Public libraries mostly offer free public internet access. WiFi is available in many places, though not free.

Norwegian opening hours have improved, but many smaller stores still shut early on Saturday, typically 1 PM or 3 PM, and nearly all are closed Sundays. Door signs often show "9-21 (9-18)", meaning 9 AM to 9 PM on weekdays and 9 AM to 6 PM on Saturday.