ALTA – THE TOWN – Peter's Travel Blog

Having arrived late afternoon yesterday, today was our first full day in Alta. It was also the first day since leaving Bergen that we had the luxury of not having to bound out of bed at the crack of dawn to set up for art classes.

Needless to say, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before heading for the gangway, and the quayside, where we caught the shuttle bus into Alta.

The journey took no more than about 10 or 15 minutes, and once we’d climbed off the bus, we started walking towards the Northern Lights Cathedral.

Entrance fee to the modern-looking cathedral, which was built in 2013, is 50 Norwegian Krona, which works out at about £4 each. It’s a £4 well spent, though, and we always enjoy visiting it. Prior to 2013, the main church in the region was the old Alta Church, which is where we walked to next. Alta Church was first built in 1858, heavily damaged by the retreating German army in 1944 and restored in 1948.

Unlike the Northern Lights Cathedral, Alta Church is very traditional in its wooden design and is surrounded by a very picturesque, tree-lined cemetery; these days, it is protected as a cultural monument.

We spent some time wandering amongst the snow-covered gravestones and photographing the church itself (from the outside, since it wasn’t open to the public). After this, we followed a road that led us down the hill to the edge of the fjord; again, we spent some time pottering around taking photographs before heading back up the hill again, to the town.

In the town centre, we Walked through the shopping centre looking for an art shop, with no luck. We also suddenly realised that we were hungry, so we bought some sandwiches from a supermarket ate them on a bench, watching the world go by. It briefly occurred to us that no-one else seemed to be sitting on benches and eating, and wondered if it might be culturally unacceptable. The sandwich police didn’t pounce on us and drag us away, however, so we figured we weren’t offending anyone.

It was still relatively early, and we didn’t fancy catching the shuttle back to the ship yet, so we decided to walk it all the way back to the port, which took us about 45 minutes.