Top 10 Barents vacation destinations

Are you tired of spending the holiday at a beach in the Mediterranean or at a Black Sea resort? Or maybe the asphalt in yet another European big city does not fall into temptation this summer? The Barents Regions surly can give you both beaches and city-life, but also so much more.

The editorial staff of BarentsObserver has been traveling extensively throughout the Barents Region over the last 20 years. Here is our Top 10 list of recommended places within the region.

Most of the places in this ranking are best suitable for individual travelers, but you might also find organized tours to these destinations. However, forget about overcrowded airports or long queues at the spectacular sights the Barents Region can offer you. The region is still undiscovered by mass-tourism.

The region is for you to explore, alone or together with friends or family.

Stamsund in Lofoten.

No. 1 Lofoten Archipelago

The Lofoten Islands in northern Norway is known for its coastal peak mountains and excellent fishing opportunities. Small fishing villages, bird cliffs, whale safaris and coastal cultural sites are found as a row of pearls along the narrow roads.

The best way to explore Lofoten is by car, but you can also travel by bus, boats or fly to one of the several small airports. Biking is also a popular way to explore the Archipelago.

Accommodation in Lofoten is available at camp sites, guesthouses, hotels, but we recommend you to rent one of the old fishermen's cabins (rorbuer in Norwegian). It is hard to choose one destination in preference to another; there are so many small unique villages to choose from.

However, Stamsund, Henningsvær and Nyksund are all three villages providing the real Lofoten atmosphere.

The monastery at Solovki.

No. 2 Solovki - The secret pearl of Barents

The Solovetsky Archipelago in the White Sea is the secret pearl of the Barents Region. When you sail into the main island, the monastery meets you as a fairytale castle. At the same time, Solovki is the place where you still feel the history of the infamous Stalin's Gulag camp.

When visiting the Solovetsky Islands you get acquainted with legendary Monastery buildings with fortress walls and towers. Today, the monastery again belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church and the monks and pilgrims are all there.

On the main island you have to rent a small boat and row the lakes connected with artificial constructed system of canals. The canals were built by the monks from the 16th century. Rowing in the canal systems is the best way to explore the lovely flora and fauna on Solovki. Also, the small, but fascinating botanical garden is worth visiting. The Zayatsky Island has several tens of prehistoric labyrinths.

The easiest way to travel to Solovki is to fly from Arkhangelsk, but you can also take the boat from Kem on the Karelian White Sea coast. There are also several cruise-vessels visiting Solovki during the summer season. On the main island, you can stay at one of the smaller guesthouses and hotels, or you can bring your own tent.

No. 3 Oulu – the Riviera of the Barents Region

Although the Barents Region is Europe's northernmost corner, the beaches around Oulu in northern Finland are as good as those you will find around the Mediterranean or the Black Sea. Getting in touch with water couldn't be easier than in Oulu. There are 18 official beaches around the city on the sea front, lake and river.

The weather in the summer season is the best the Barents Region can offer with comfortable sea temperatures.

This is really the best place to travel with kids. Plenty of camp sites, hostels and hotels, with swimming pools, playgrounds and waterslides. You will find fun for the whole family, visiting the Traffic Park, the Formula Centre, Pony yard or the Science Centre Tietomaa. Or what about renting a kayak or small boat on the coast and enjoy the long sunny nights.

The city of Oulu has a population of 130.000 people and is Finland's sixth largest city. Traveling to Oulu is easy; the city is reachable for most people in the Barents Region within a day in the car. There are also plenty of flights, train or busses from all over.

Horse-back riding along Kungsleden.

No. 4 Kungsleden - Horse-back tour

The Vindelfjäll Nature Reserve in northern Sweden is the place to go if you are looking for a fantastic tour in one of the last remote wilderness in Europe. Here we recommend a horse-back tour along Kungsleden (The King of Trails). Kungsleden runs through four national parks and a nature reserve.

Hiking the entire Kungsleden from north to south will take you a month, but you can choose to start in the small village of Ämmarnes and go on the back of an Icelandic horse for a week towards the Tärnaby / Hemavan area. The trips are suitable for both experienced and inexperienced riders.

An experience of nature, culture and scenery in trackless terrain you never will forget. You make food together with your experienced guide at campfires and sleep under the midnight sun, or at the hostels in the villages.

You can get to Ämmarnäs by train, bus or private car via Umeå and Storuman. In Hemavan there is a small airport with direct flights to Stockholm.

No 5 Pinega - the old Russian countryside

Are looking for the real old Russia? A kayak tour along the Pinega River in the Arkhangelsk region will bring you through an area where the cultural roots of the old Russian countryside are preserved. The Pinega Land is that part of the Russian North where pilgrims that are not indifferent to the ancestors heritage still come to find out the answer to the questions; who are we? Where are we from? Is there any other place in the world where the villages themselves are open-air museums, where old songs are passed on from generation to generation, where granny's sarafans (Russian women's outfits) answer their purpose and are still worn , where the past and the present are so closely interwoven that become a single whole.

Unique, and absolutely worth a visit is the caves into the year-around frozen tundra. The caves of Pinega are not very deep and go horizontally forming tunnels, galleries, tubes and small halls. The temperatures inside the tundra-caves never get warmer than 0 degrees Celsius even in mid-summer.

It is not easy to get to the Pinega River. There are some tour-operators in Arkhangelsk that offers organized tours, or you can go by train or find a driver in the city of Arkhangelsk to take you there. You have to bring a tent and own food. Also, you will find the local hospitality among the mostly elderly) inhabitants in the small villages warm and welcoming. After a week on the Pinega River; coming back to the urban world makes you think: why ever go to an artificial museum to experience how life was a hundred years ago?

Hurtigruten sailing out from Tromsø.

No. 6 Hurtigruten – the coast of Northern Norway

The Coastal Express (Hurtigruten) is a spectacular way for you to experience the coast of Northern Norway. The large cruise-like vessels sails from Kirkenes in Finnmark every day on a six day tour towards Bergen in Southwestern Norway.

You will see the Arctic landscape along the coast to the Barents Sea, stay on deck watching the midnight sun, discover the peaky mountains around Troms and sail through two of Norway's most spectacular coastal landscapes; the Lofoten Archipelago and the coast of Helgeland.

However, we strongly recommend you to make a few stopovers at some of the many port-destinations. In most ports, the vessel normally just stop for an hour or two, and if you have the intention to experience more of the local north Norwegian coastal culture, you need to make such stopovers. Combine your tour with Hurtigruten with a visit to Lofoten or Helgeland, and your vacation will be more than just another cruise. Hurtigruten offers something you can't find on any other cruises; you can bring your car onboard, and by that combine the coastal cruise with a drive along the spectacular coast of Northern Norway.

No. 7 Lovund – spectacular Puffin bird cliff

The coast of Helgeland is the southernmost part of the Barents Region. If to choose one of the many thousands islands from Bodø in the north to Brønnøysund in the south it must be Lovund. The island is a beautiful and distinctive island far out to sea. It is known for its active fishing community and as one of the major nesting sites for the sea parrot, or puffin.

It is a spectacular sight when the puffins come in from the sea altogether in a huge flock to find their nesting sites in the scree. You can see puffins at close quarters from late April until August.

You can travel to Lovund with ferry from the main land, easiest to go from Bodø if you are coming from the north or Mo i Rana if you come from the east. Both towns have train, bus and flight connections. On Lovund you can stay at the small hotel or rent a fishermen's cabin (rorbu).

The wooden churches at Kizhi.

No. 8 Kizhi – Lake Onega

The wooden 18th-century churches on Kizhi in Lake Onega in the Republic of Karelia are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list for good reasons. These unusual churches perpetuate an ancient model of parish space and are in lovely harmony with the surrounding Russian countryside landscape.

The Kizhi Island churches are some of Russia's most famous architecture structures and are today part of the museum open to public. A reconstructed village on Kizhi demonstrates traditional crafts and tasks of peasant life in the Karelia. Villages original to the island also exist, and some houses are still inhabited by locals.

You can travel to Kizhi from Petrozavodsk with boats several times per day, and many Russian river cruise tour operators include a visit to Kizhi on their waterways cruises.

No. 9 Jarfjord - King Crab safari

Norway's easternmost fjord in the north is Jarfjord, just some few kilometers from the border to Russia. The Jarfjord King Crab Safari was recently voted as one of the 25 best new adventure trips by National Geographic.

The Arctic Adventure Resort in Jarfjord will take you out in the sea where you can watch the diver catch live King Crabs, which can grow to the size of 12 kilos. After the catch, you bring the King Crab onshore and eat the delicacy.

Or, if you hold your own diving license it is possible to join the dive into the clear Arctic water. In addition to the King Crab, divers from around the world come to Jarfjord because of the long visibility in water. Several ships and aircrafts sunken during WWII are famous dive-spots in the area.

It is also possible to join a speed boat for Deep Sea rafting in the fjord and on the coast by the Barents Sea, a real Arctic experience in the Barents Region.

Jarfjord is some 25 minutes drive from the Norwegian border town of Kirkenes, or some four hour drive from Murmansk.

No. 10 Piteå – Botnia Bay Archipelago

The town of Piteå in Northern Sweden is your destination if you are looking for the combination of beaches, ocean and a cheerful small Swedish town.

The town, with its 22.000 inhabitants is located at the mouth of the Pite River at the shore of the Bay of Bothnia. The relaxing town centre consists of cozy wooden houses. The beaches and camp sites are perfect for family vacations; children will love it!

The Piteå archipelago and the coast with thousands of islands north to the bigger city of Luleå is the most beautiful costal area in the whole of Sweden. The Piteå street festival in the end of July gathers more than 120.000 visitors with music of all kinds, exciting sport events, dance, market and fun fair.