What a missed opportunity: the Polarsirkelsenteret, beside the E6 and surrounded by the bleak moors that roll in from Saltfjellet-Svartisen National Park, is a tourist trap and little more. The only redeeming feature is an audiovisual presentation on the Arctic regions. Outside, and altogether more sober and serious, are the memorials to Slav forced labourers who, during WWII, constructed the Arctic Highway for the occupying Nazi forces and died far from home.
Otherwise, the place exists mostly to stamp postcards with a special Arctic Circle postmark and sell certificates (Nkr99) for visitors to authenticate their crossing the line. Boreal kitsch is flogged here by the basketload. On the plus side, as its website chooses to highlight, it has 'very good lavatory facilities'.
