Alta
Alta Museum offers both exhibitions indoors and rock carvings outdoors. The museum you can visit all year, while the rock carvings can be seen in the snow- and ice-free part of the year.
The rock art in Alta is one of the eight Norwegian inscriptions on UNESCO's World Heritage List. Alta's world heritage consists of both rock carvings and rock paintings, the oldest over 7000 years old. In this time Alta was an important meeting place, both for people from the coast and the inland.
In the snow-free period of the year a walkway system leads you through the world heritage area outside, and you can choose between different ways to have the story of the world heritage in Alta told; guide booklet, audio guide or personal guide. Short route is 1.2 km and long route 3 km.
In the permanent exhibition indoors one finds among other things several loose stone blocks with rock carvings and rock paintings. This allows one to get a small taste of the real thing, even when the beautiful rock carvings outside lie safely preserved under the snow.
In the exhibition is also conveyed Alta's long history, from the Stone Age and onward to today's society. Alta's rich resources have attracted people at all times. Here are exhibitions among other things about rock art and world heritage, Sami and Kven culture, trade, mining, the Alta case, northern lights research, traditional industries and salmon fishing in Altaelva.
The museum has through the year several temporary exhibitions that are shown for shorter periods.
Alta Museum is the only museum on the Norwegian mainland that has won «European Museum of the year award».
The museum has a cafe with Alta's most beautiful view and an exciting museum shop.
Source: Visit Alta