Vardø is the easternmost town in Norway, on a small island in the Barents Sea, and it is reached by an undersea tunnel, the Vardø tunnel, built in the 1980s. The town has about two thousand people, wooden houses painted in soft colours, a harbour and a fortress. The Vardøhus Fortress, finished in 1738, is the northernmost fortress in the world, and it stands guard over the entrance to the Arctic. The town has been a fishing port for centuries, and in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it was the site of a terrible witch hunt, in which about ninety people, mostly women, were burned at the stake. A memorial by the artist Louise Bourgeois and the architect Peter Zumthor, called the Steilneset Memorial, stands on the shore, with a long wooden hall lit by one bulb for each victim.
Vardø was also a centre of the Pomor trade with northern Russia, and old trading links with Arkhangelsk shaped the culture. The town was largely destroyed in the Second World War, and rebuilt in the plain style of the time. In the last decades, the fishing industry has shrunk, but the town still feels like a working harbour. Seabirds are abundant, and the nearby Hornøya island is home to thousands of nesting puffins, kittiwakes and guillemots, which you can visit by boat in summer. The air here is salty and clean, with a smell of kelp.
The road to Vardø crosses the tundra along the coast, and the last section passes through the tunnel. The surface is excellent, with long, open views over the sea. Wind is a regular factor, and fog is common in summer, as cold sea meets warm air. Winter is harsh, with snow and storms, and the polar night. In summer, the midnight sun lights the town in gold, and it is a magical time to visit.
Fuel and food are available in Vardø, though choices are limited, and it is a good idea to fill up in Vadsø or Varangerbotn. A few cafes and restaurants serve fresh fish, and king crab is a local delicacy. Staying overnight in the town, in a guesthouse by the harbour, gives you the best sense of the place. This is the end of the road in the east, and a very good one.