ArticleHonningsvåg, Finnmark, Norway6 min read
Chasing the Midnight Sun to the North Cape
Seventy-one degrees north, and still light at midnight
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Between mid-May and late July the sun never sets over the North Cape. How to time your visit, where to stand and what to do with all that daylight.
A sun that circles the sky
Above the Arctic Circle the sun stays up for longer the further north you go, and at the North Cape, on the island of Magerøya, it does not set at all from about 14 May to 30 July. Instead it swings low across the northern horizon around midnight, glowing orange over the Barents Sea, and then begins to climb again.
The Cape itself is a 307-metre cliff with a steel globe monument, a visitor centre and a car park that fills every summer evening with coaches from the cruise ships in Honningsvåg. Arrive by ten, walk to the edge of the plateau and wait. If the cloud lifts, and it often does around midnight, the whole crowd falls quiet.
The drive north through Finnmark is half the experience: reindeer on the road, Sámi summer camps and a coastline that grows barer and grander with every kilometre. Allow two days from Alta, with a night in Honningsvåg or Gjesvær.
Making the most of it
- Book the Cape's midnight entry or drive yourself; the road is open all night in summer
- Stay in Honningsvåg or the fishing village of Gjesvær, not on the plateau
- Take the bird-safari boat from Gjesvær to the puffin and gannet colonies
- Walk the 9 km trail to Knivskjellodden, the true northernmost point of the island
Sleep, somehow
At midnight the sun did not set but rolled along the edge of the sea like a coin.A Northwind traveller, July 2025
North Cape
About this story
Nora NorthwindAuthor
Northwind ToursPublisher
Reviews
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1 review- ICIsabela Costa4 out of 5 stars29 Aug
Very good guide. The weather forced us to swap two days around, so build in some slack.
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