Norway
Northern lights in Kirkenes
4 viewing spots around Kirkenes, chosen for a dark sky and an open view. For each one: how dark it is, which way it looks, where to park and how to get there. Under the auroral oval: aurora can be overhead even on quiet nights.
- Viewing spots
- 4
- Dark or very dark
- 4
- Magnetic latitude
- 67.0°
- Clearest dark month
- March 31 % of hours clear or partly clear
Which of these spots is clear tonight, and when? Aurora Atlas scores every spot hour by hour from the cloud forecast, darkness, the moon and live aurora activity, with road notices.
See tonight's live scores for Kirkenes in Aurora AtlasViewing spots
- Øvre Pasvik National Park · Dark Sky Place Norway’s first certified International Dark Sky Place, in old pine forest where Norway, Finland and Russia meet, about…
- Pasvikdalen · Svanvik The broad, forested Pasvik valley south of Kirkenes, where local tours head to escape the town lights; the river and…
- Gjøken · Øvre Pasvik Dark Sky Place Free 24/7 car park at Gjøken, the Dark Sky Place visitor point near Øvre Pasvik National Park and the trailhead to the…
- Buholmen rest area · E6 Rest area for about ten cars on the E6 west of Kirkenes, outside the town lights on the road to Neiden; Visit Kirkenes…
Drive times are estimates from Kirkenes by straight-line distance, as the app estimates them before it knows your route; ferries and winter closures are not counted.
Good to know in Kirkenes
- Drier and clearer than the western coast Kirkenes has drier, more stable winter weather than coastal towns further west, which raises the odds of a clear night. Tours head east, west or south into the Pasvik valley depending on the forecast. Source
- Respect the Russian border Pasvik and the country east of Kirkenes run along the Norway–Russia border. Crossing it outside the official checkpoint is illegal, and there are strict rules about behaviour at the border, so stay on the Norwegian side and follow the signs. Source