Alta · Norway

Kvenvik rest area · E6 by the Altafjord

Large rest area on the E6 on the shore of the Altafjord west of Alta, with an open view north over the water.

See tonight's live score and best time to go for Kvenvik rest area in Aurora Atlas

“Coastline of Kvenvika of Altafjorden in Alta, Troms og Finnmark, Norway, 2022 August” by Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

Why it works for the aurora

View: North across the inner Altafjord; hills on the far shore are low..
Darkness: Dark sky, grade 1 on a scale from 0 (darkest) to 5. Little artificial light; a good place for faint aurora and the Milky Way.
Aurora: Under the auroral oval: aurora can be overhead even on quiet nights.

Getting there

Distance: About 10 km by road from Alta (estimate), roughly 11 min by car.
Parking: Rest area; room for about 15 cars and 3 lorries.
Coordinates: 69.9301, 23.0967 · Open in OpenStreetMap

Before you go

Busy E6 with trucks; park inside the rest area.

Dress for standing still in the cold, bring a head torch with a red light, and park only where parking is allowed. A forecast is guidance, not a promise: check the road and weather warnings for Norway before a night drive. See our winter safety note.

Spot information from openstreetmap.org.