Real Arctic Circle Expedition. Kirkenes, Norway, Polar Night. Dangerous?..

Let’s go to the Arctic Circle in Norway together! Polar night, polar bears, freezing cold and no daylight! So romantic ☺️ it’s time to run a Real Arctic Circle Expedition! From warm Oslo to cold and wild Kirkenes! Norwegian - Finnish - Russian Border!
⏱⏱⏱TIME CODES:
00:00 - WE ARE GOING TO ARCTIC CIRCLE, KIRKENES, NORWAY 🇳🇴 Norwegian - Finnish - Russian Border!
00:43 - Gardermoen - Oslo Lufthavn - OSLO AIRPORT ✈️
01:30 - Kirkenes, Norway - Arctic Circle - basic information and basic travel plan. Which will be changed entirely
02:58 - Flight from Warm Oslo to Cold and Wild Arctic Circle - Kirkenes
04:33 - Welcome to Kirkenes - Real Arctic Circle
05:26 - Bus: from Kirkenes Airport to Kirkenes Town center - 15 mins
06:41 - Thon Hotel, Kirkenes, Norway
08:40 - Polar Night. Is it really that dark?
09:03 - let’s take a walk around Kirkenes!
09:41 - Kirkenes Church. Does this look like Russian church?
10:29 - Soviet Liberation Monument in Kirkenes. Russian influence in Norway
10:59 - Andersgrotten Bomb Shelter in Kirkenes. Strong reminder how tough the Second World War was. Pain to remember, Lessons to learn
The 2.14-square-kilometre the town Kirkenes has a population of 3,529, which gives the town a population density of 1,649 inhabitants per square kilometre (4,270/sq mi). When the neighbouring suburban villages of Hesseng, Sandnes, and Bjørnevatn are all included with Kirkenes, the urban area reaches a total population of almost 8,000 people
The area around Kirkenes was a common Norwegian-Russian district until 1826, when the present border was settled. The original name of the peninsula was Piselvnes ("Pis River headland"), but this was changed to Kirkenes (meaning "church headland") after the Kirkenes Church was built here in 1862. Kirkenes was a village until 1998 when it received town status.
Kirkenes is located in the extreme northeastern part of Norway on the Bøkfjorden, a branch of the Varangerfjorden, which is a vast bay connected to the Barents Sea near the Russian-Norwegian border. The town is situated about 400 kilometres (250 mi) north of the Arctic Circle, resulting in midnight sun and polar night both lasting for sustained lengths of time depending on season.
The majority of the inhabitants of Kirkenes are of a Norwegian background, and a minority are Sami. Others are originally from Finland, either members of the Kven population or of a newer influx of more or less recent Finnish immigrants. Also, about 500 people are relatively recent Russian immigrants.
In this video: Arctic Circle Norway, Arctic Circle Latitude, Arctic Circle raceway, Arctic Circle data center, Arctic Circle Norway map, Arctic Circle assembly, Arctic Circle center
How to get to Arctic Circle?
Arctic Circle facts
Arctic Circle: Where is it and what to do in Arctic Circle?
What is there to explore in the Arctic Circle?
How to safely travel to Arctic Circle?
📸 My Filming Gear:
SONY ZV1 - BEST Vlogging Camera - amzn.to/2V0eVAS
SONY GRIP TRIPOD - amzn.to/3zMalVr
RØDE Vlogging Mic - amzn.to/2WxY48Z
GoPro HERO 9 amzn.to/3hZlay7
GoPro Remote Control amzn.to/3f9Ctu9
GoPro Selfie Stick with Tripod Stand amzn.to/3oE9eTH
AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE:
This video and description may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. I won't put anything here that I haven't verified and/or personally used myself.
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
🆓 DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION ABOUT TRAVEL TO NORWAY, living in Norway or travel in general?
Send me a message, I’ll be happy to help 🤗
Stay in touch! Stay safe! Be happy!
#norway #livinginnorway #norwaytravel

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

⁉️🙋🏼‍♀️ HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO THE ARCTIC CIRCLE? Where about? Would you like to go? What would you like to see there? ❤️

[@kalamvalleyvlog]

I'm watching from Kalam valley...

[@jackjacobson3893]

You got this :D ❤️❤️❤️

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

@@jackjacobson3893 aww thank you so much ☺️🤗❤️

[@jackjacobson3893]

@@AnnaGoldmanTravel your welcome :D

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

@@jackjacobson3893 thank you Jack 🤗

[@michaelarrowood4315]

"Free coffee...!" I love that. Anna is adorable.

[@nguyenrodriguez]

❄️❄️❄️☃️

[@andeeharry]

10:02 Nice to see the place carrying on as usual, even with heavy snow. A little dusting sends Britain into a panic...even mentioning the word and people go nuts over bread and milk lol.

[@polishnorwegianandspanish9145]

Looks amazing. I have never been in Kirkenes but I can recommend Tromso.

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Ive been to Tromsø in February last year 😉 3 videos about it already published 😁

[@ziadgaser2012]

Hello, Tromso is one of the places that I have my eyes on besides from Trondheim, so if u don't mind, can you tell me about the weather in tromso?

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

@@ziadgaser2012 in Tromsø? I’ve got 3 videos about Tromsø and what to do there winter time 🙂 check them out for some inspiration 😉🤗

[@isidoriansimon6047]

So beautiful! Thanks, Anna!

[@mariapatap]

Very nice Anna! I loved the place!

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Aww thank you so much Maria 🤗🤗🤗

[@patriciarios9037]

I love your videos about Norway 🇳🇴

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Thank you very much Patricia 🤗❤️

[@exentr]

Wooaa! You went to Kirkenes! I may have recommended Kirkenes for you in one or two of your previous videos. Kirkenes is far North. Still approximately as far North as Tromsø which mean there are places further North in the county in which it's even less daylight. The arctic daylight is called the blue hour. It is a characteristic blue light for a little more than an hour. Looking forward to your next vlog.

[@TomVestvik]

Once again you teach me something about my home country. Great work, Anna! :)

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Aww thank you so much Tom 🤗 I’m really happy I did 🙂 I’m so fascinated with your country .. gosh Norway is absolutely amazing!

[@ottaviomarangoni7808]

Un bel video gelato:)))))

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

☺️ thank you 🤗

[@frankfoodie3474]

I love 💖 background 💕 music

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Aww thank you so much Frank 🤗

[@frankfoodie3474]

@@AnnaGoldmanTravel ❤️❤️🎉🎉

[@arcticblue248]

Anna, Anna, Anna.... thats not the only thing, the library (wich you did film) in the centrum you can visit, they have even a russian librarian working there, and they do have quite abit of russian litterature ... in russian ofcourse. Also there are a Museum you could visit, its at the entrance of the city where you can see alot of artifacts and ofcourse learn alot about the history... that is a war museum and there is a huge plane inside even (A Russian bomber). There are ofcourse quite abit of shops there, so we who live outside and along the coast (Yes I live over 300 km further north along the coast) can come and do some shopping at the stores :-P You also showed abit of the iceskating track where their local icehockey team use to play at.... and ofcourse they have been on norwegian TV, they use to have a arctic championship there where russian and finnish teams visit and vice versa. Near the library you have a wonderful pizzeria where they used to atleast serve a lovely pizza, its called Ritz. But all in all... cool video :-) happy you went there. EDIT: Also ... served 9 months at the GSV the military camp next to the airport... 9 months at the borderguards there :-)

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Aww thank you so very much indeed! Your comment makes me want to go back summer time 😉 I definitely need to visit that library.. I’ve seen it, but 26-27-28 of December everything was closed 😉

[@Dan-fo9dk]

@@AnnaGoldmanTravel Maybe you are expert at timing.... -))) P

[@andeeharry]

-32 not that cold? burrrr....your brave going out there without layers.

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

-32?? Ohh I didn’t have that 😁 the maximum I experienced was -27 😉 but of course I layered up 😉😁

[@andeeharry]

Yes...the Artic Circle would make some good Vampiric creature setting.. it is ominous, it is creepy...it has that vibes. It would work well.

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Exactly 😉🤗 thank you!

[@UAuaUAuaUA]

I did't know Kirkenes was such a nice town and even had an airport. This could be a place to visit once travelling becomes normal again. However, I will go during summer. I made it once as far as Narvik, but now the very top of Norway is on my list 😎

[@kalamvalleyvlog]

I'm watching from Kalam valley...

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Ahh brilliant 🤩 thank you 🤗

[@mrc1500]

Great video, Anna. Looking forward to the next instalment. Is there much Russian spoken around Kirkenes? I am learning Norwegian, but my wife is learning Russian. This could be a great place for us both to visit to see Nordlys :-)

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Awww thank you so much 🤗🤗 Well… you need to find some people there first 😉😁 it wasn’t the easiest task at the end of December ☺️ Summer might be much better 😉

[@mrc1500]

@@AnnaGoldmanTravel ha ha, right you are. Might have to settle for the midnight sun, then ;-)

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

@@mrc1500 midnight sun 😌 that’s amazing! I love hiking at 2am 😁

[@pitcheraim_gameplays5564]

Never seen so many cars in a parking lot 😳

[@TrymYoutubeMainChannel]

I haven't been on Gardemoen on something 5 years + I miss travelling

[@jonathanrascol]

✨✨✨ 🧚🏻🧚🏻🧚🏻 ✨✨✨

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Aww thank you ☺️🤗❤️

[@hectornavarrotrillos17]

I have been Iiving in kirkenes for 2 months! Beautiful place and charming people.

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

WoW 🤩🤩 what a place! Lucky you! Was it winter time or summer time?

[@monikah4964]

Can you tell more: how do people earn for living there? What are their jobs?

[@hectornavarrotrillos17]

@@AnnaGoldmanTravel I arrived in December. I've been living here for two months and in those two months I've seen the Northern Lights 4 times. in winter there are two months of night. However, in summer, the sun never goes down for two months.

[@hectornavarrotrillos17]

@@monikah4964 the people of kirkeness are mainly engaged in mining and fishing.

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

@@monikah4964 good question 😉 it was a tourist trip so I didn’t research a lot about their salaries. But considering that Hammerfest is nearby - and this is a very famous oil and gas place

[@Dan-fo9dk]

Very good video Anna. Now I have watched your video two times .....and I was so so surprised that you - in both cases - travelled to Kirkenes...!!!! You showed the bomb shelter.... but that had no capacity for the population of Kirkenes. Kirkenes, was heavily bombed as you said, .....actually over a period of 3 year there were on average an air raid every 3 days. Kirkenes was bombed to ruins due to the fact that the nazi Germans had chosen that place as a base for 160000 soldiers in order to attack Soviet and try to take control of Murmansk. The only and all important (year around) Soviet port with access to the Atlantic. As people lost their homes due to bombing ...and for their own safety they established a "home" in the maze of tunnels in the nearby(10 km away) iron ore mine at Bjørnevatn. They even had a little hospital down in those tunnels. Several people who still live in Kirkenes was born down in those tunnels. Kirkenes has highly competent mechanic industry and deliver services specially to maritime sector. Specially to the repair for the fishing fleet and for supply/oil/gas sector. KIMEK is a ship yard and has a lot of Russian customer from their trawler fleet. On a maritime website I could count something like 15 Russian ships docked at the port in Kirkenes - most of them were fishing trawlers. Now you can make a video about when the rocket launching site at Andenes (on the island Andøya) nearly triggered a nuclear world war 3 on 25. January 1995. They have launched rockets for scientific study of the upper atmosphere / magnetic field / aurora for decades since 1962. Since it is the northernmost site for doing these kinds of studies and measurements they have a lot of international customers. Before every launch of a rocket a number of countries were notified, including Soviet / Russia. On that January day in 1995 the launch went perfect and the rocket went in a ballistic track up to 1500 km above ground before it came down and landed in the sea north of Svalbard. Little did they know that a low level clerk in the Russian foreign department had messed things up by not forwarding the notification to the Russian military command. What happened was that the Russian military suddenly spotted on their radar that at ballistic missile came up from the sea outside the coast of Norway ....probably a nuclear missile from an american submarine. What they didn't see was that rocket went north ...away from Russia. This triggered full alarm. All Russian nuclear rockets were activated. That was the first and only time it has happened. The defence minister and generals advised the Russian president Boris Jeltsin to immediately give the order and push the nuclear rocket launch button. They had 10 minutes to decide, but after 8 minutes said Boris Jeltsin .....NJET. He could not believe that USA had launched nuclear rockets against Russia ....there were no reason for it. One can say different things about Jeltsin, but that day he saved the world from disaster...... Soon after did the rocket signal on the Russian radars disappeared and everything was quiet. So they realised it was false alarm. In front of the international community Russia downplayed it to some bagatelle..... but I don't think that the clerk in their foreign department kept his job. After that the protocol for international notification was changed/improved in order to make sure that the message had reached it's target and got confirmed. Also a so called hotline was established. Let's hope that we never again see the world on the edge again.... By the way Andenes is the place to go to if you want go on whale safari. In summer you can see the really big whales and in the autumn you can see the killer whale / orca.

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Ohh wow 🤩🤩🤩 thank you very much! What a great information! Love it! I’ll think about that island Andøya, sounds very much like my sort of trip ☺️ Thank you very much indeed, Dan 🤗

[@batman192]

Mattina anche senza trucchi sei bellissima ❤️👈🔥👈 poco trucchi 🤣🤣

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

☺️🤗🤗🤗

[@batman192]

@@AnnaGoldmanTravel 🥳🥳🥳

[@pile333]

In the Artic Circle at the end of January: doesn't it seem a bit masochistic? 😄 Just joking. Such wonderful place to visit I guess.

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

It’s actually really cool.. I’m already calling it one of the best trips in my life ☺️ Tromso seems like resort after wild Kirkenes 😁

[@andeeharry]

6.50: Can't believe people want to live in this picturesque place.....you know, it comes in handy for vampire stories...

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

It will be way too cold for vampires 😁 yeah.. I agree, this place would be challenging to live even for me. I admire those people

[@torekristoffersen176]

The Oslo airport being crowded is part the holiday, and partly Norwegians loading up on duty free alcohol (for those that didn’t make it to Sweden lately for alcohol and candy)…. 😁

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

I see! 😁 that explains a lot 😉🤗

[@klauslunde]

this has been one of the worst winters so far it snows then it becomes a storm with rain then there,s flooding warning....

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Flooding warning?? Wow!! I didn’t see this one yet .. but you are right, it seems like it’s way too warm for January..

[@klauslunde]

@@AnnaGoldmanTravel ikr 9+ at 10 in the evening should be like -5 atleast

[@stefanelius5171]

Dear Ana, I have been following your channel from the beginning and I must tell you that you are doing this job extremely well and it is very rare today that you are a very charismatic person! Greetings from Serbia from Novi Sad from the country of Nikola Tesla! P.s. by the way, my city of Novi Sad is the official European Capital of Culture this year ♥ ️ well come to Serbia!

[@finboy701]

halo i think that road for grense jacobselv its closed during winter .kirkenes number one next summer i will be there

[@pataudi8025]

Sweet video! I went to Kirkenes during the summer, completely different atmosphere, and visited inside the bomb shelter as well. I like how I was completely unaware during the whole trip that we bordered Russia 😂. Your watch wants to go to Finland I guess😉

[@kalamvalleyvlog]

I'm watching from Kalam valley...

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Summer time?? Wow! That must be really cool 🤩🤩 ill try it too if I manage 😉 The watch is crazy 😂😂 even the woman on a background clearly speaks Norwegian 😁 When did you go to Kirkenes? Which month? Did you book your bombshell tour in advance?

[@pataudi8025]

@@AnnaGoldmanTravel I went to Kirkenes in May, peak summertime (after which I went to Svalbard) and I hadn't really booked the visit I just saw a bunch of people going in so I silently joined them, was illegal I guess😂. I did pay for the ticket thought later.

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

@@pataudi8025 that was really lucky! I didn’t see any bunches of people in town that time 😁 Svalbard 🤩🤩 WoW! That’s still my dream destination ☺️ but I feel like summer must be much more interesting, at least you can see what’s around you much better 😁

[@pataudi8025]

@@AnnaGoldmanTravel it's an amazing experience to see the midnight sun there. Must be very different in these days

[@Cambourn81]

Brilliant many thanks, I have been there quite a few time with Hurtigruten Cruises, the Russian border trip was ok but not really exciting, very small wooden hut as a tourist shop there to, also the iron ore mining is an interesting story, also was surprised to see also of streets names in Russian and also the amount of Russians live and work there, they have a schengen agreement there to, also the indigenous Sami people have a very interesting history there. Please please please if you get time a strongly recommend a visit to Tromso, from UK is very cheap by air using WIZZ air at around £80 return if you select the right time, lots to do there and lots of interesting things to do plus... great Northern lights show there

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

WoW! That’s interesting 🤩🤩 I’ve got 3 videos about Tromsø on my channel 😉 you can check them if you like 🙂

[@TrymYoutubeMainChannel]

not far from the Motherland :P Kirkenes

[@starguy2718]

Rodina

[@Knas12000]

💜💜💜🙏🔮

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Thank you so much ☺️🤗🤗

[@szymonziolkowski5967]

Must be very cold there 😊

[@arcticblue248]

it can be, usually what we call "inland" that is the part of Finnmark that is away from the coast and Krikenes area are the coldest part of this part... because they don't have the Gulfstream warming outside as the rest of the coastal of Finnmark so when we have like -5 degrees they can have -20 but on the other hand, we usually have more wind out at the coast than at the inland ... so there are the feeled temperature too.

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

About -20 😉 but some days were warmer, like -13 😁

[@connordaley]

What is the coldest temperature you have ever been in.

[@renax1337]

when are you going to Svalbard?

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Good question ☺️ hopefully one day! Have you ever been?

[@renax1337]

@@AnnaGoldmanTravel Yeah have been there 2 times. Pretty and "empty" place. If you have a lot of SAS points you can use it. Cost only 5000 SAS points for one way :)

[@rdldailylife670]

Im living in KIRKENES since feb 2022 and working as airport security officer and im originally from Pakistan.

[@thenorthboy]

watching from pakistan

[@jeffroussell]

Where is the Love button, not just the Thumbs Up button?

[@ANRO7524]

Hi Anna, I wonder if there are Moose (лось) or Polar Bears (iбелые медведи) in the Kirkenes area. 🥶🥶😀😀

[@audunaa1494]

Moose there is, but polar bears does not exist on the mainland Europe, the Norwegian polar bears live on Svalbard island

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Moose - plenty ! You can even hear then 🙂 polar bear - not really, they don’t come too close to people. They are nearby Svalbard 😉

[@Dan-fo9dk]

@@audunaa1494 Nope. No moose ....that's a North American species. It is named elk (elg in norwegian and alces alces in latin).

[@audunaa1494]

@@Dan-fo9dk elk is a north America species related to red deer but bigger, the Norwegian is called moose and/or nordic elk(why I don't know, bur probobly a misunderstanding caused it so similar to the nordic name Elg.) . But a moose it is!

[@kingzalut9639]

..its big (Large!) herds of reindeer’s;] What the Sami people up there make their money on👍🏼

[@wellingtonaraujo5418]

i really dive on this video =) amazing place =) ty for show us everything Anna. ^_^

[@batman192]

Anna puoi scrivermi italiano per quale motivo hai fatto questo viaggio.grazie. 🔥🔥❤️❤️

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Grazie mille caro 🤗🤗

[@batman192]

@@AnnaGoldmanTravel 🖤🤍

[@andeeharry]

1:55. So on the borders of everyone...so which jail will you be going to if you did something bad there?

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

I’m sure Norwegians worked this out 🙂 however, I can’t imagine anything bad happening in such a small place ..

[@mehdikarimi9199]

Show to us the green light in sky.

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Sure! I’ll switch them on 😉😁

[@mehdikarimi9199]

@@AnnaGoldmanTravel 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

@@mehdikarimi9199 😉🤗

[@mehdikarimi9199]

I mean "Aurora". The green lights in north sky. If you see that, please take a movie, and share!!! Thankssss😃😃😃

[@buddikawijesooriya8045]

Let's start a new life for you in Sri Lanka

[@davidbuffet2535]

Mc Donalds in Kirkenes ?

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

The nearest one in Russia 😂😂 I checked 😁

[@ambikagupta3147]

Are you Norwagian mistress, and I love so much Norway like as you

[@gunjupallysahithya8468]

Their free education in Norway?

[@AnnaGoldmanTravel]

Yes, education in Norway is free 🙂

[@randihelenehansen5741]

Du lurer folk med å si at Kirkenes ligger ved Artic cirkel. Det er ikke sant. Du får orientere deg på kartet. Artic cirkel ligger i Nordland fylke.

[@Dan-fo9dk]

Det Anna sa i videoen var fullstendig korrekt. Her er det nok du som må orientere deg litt bedre, både i det engelske språk og i geografien. I engelsk språk er det vanlig å omtale Arktis som Arctic Circle .... altså da mener man ikke polarsirkelen isolert, men hele arktis. Polarsirkelen går rundt hele nordkalotten ved 66 grader 33 minutter nord, altså ikke bare gjennom Nordland fylke. Finnmark og spesielt Kirkenes ligger (ikke bare nordfor), men først og fremst langt øst for alt i Nordland. Så Anna sier helt korrekt at Kirkenes ligger ca 400 km nord for polarsirkelen. Da er det snakk om nord-sør avstanden til polarsirkelen. Sett fra Kirkenes så havner man da i nordlige Finland. Nærmeste større by nær polarsirkelen blir da Rovaniemi. Håper dette kan være oppklarende for deg.

[@randihelenehansen5741]

@@Dan-fo9dk . Polar cirklen ligger på Saltfjellet.

[@NFSmatias96]

@@randihelenehansen5741 Grensen til polar sirkelen ligger på saltfjellet, Men IOM at det heter poler sirkeler, og ikke polar streken er teknisk sett alt innenfor denne sirkelen, polar sirkelen. Om du er i Tromsø, Kirkenes eller på saltfjellet har lite å si, fortsatt en ekspidisjon i polersirkelen