The Northern Lights Cathedral in Alta

The Northern Lights Cathedral (Nordlyskatedralen), Alta’s parish church, stands at Markedsgata 30 at the end of the town’s pedestrian street. It was consecrated on 10 February 2013, is built of concrete clad in titanium sheets, and seats 350. From October to April it opens on weekdays from 11:00 to 13:00. It is also where the evening begins: the campfire aurora tour picks up at Løkkeveien 55, a 0.2 km walk away.

The calendar above is Amazing Aurora’s campfire tour, from US$128 a person (checked November 2026), which picks up at Løkkeveien 55 beside the cathedral and at Havneveien 32 near the harbour.

Opening hours

Visit Alta, the town’s tourist office, read November 2026. Visit Alta’s page did not give an entry price.

The winter window is short and falls in the twilight hours, so plan the visit for a weekday around midday and keep the evening for the aurora.

The building

The Alta congregation’s own presentation describes a concrete building with external cladding of titanium sheets. The architect behind the design was Kolbjørn Jenssen of Link Arkitektur in Stavanger, working with Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects in Aarhus. The name goes back to 1999, when Alta was declared a town and called itself the northern lights town; the foundation stone was laid on New Year’s Eve that year, and the Nord-Hålogaland Diocesan Council approved the name Northern Lights Cathedral Alta Church in April 2012.

Check dates for the campfire tour

Inside

The interior is concrete with oak floors and chairs, and 800 metres of vertical strips with LED lighting behind them line the walls. The decorations are by the Danish artist Peter Brandes. A bronze figure of Christ about 4.3 metres high stands in front of a blue-glazed altar wall, and 12 gold-plated reliefs, one for each disciple, line the tower wall facing the altar. In the tower room a gilded Jacob’s Ladder rises 7.5 metres, and there is a place to sit in silence and light a candle. The organ, by Grönlund, has 29 stops and about 1,800 pipes.

Getting there

The cathedral is in the town centre. From Alta Airport it is 4.5 km by road to Løkkeveien 55, and from there 0.2 km on foot to the cathedral at Markedsgata 30. If you are on the campfire tour, the Løkkeveien 55 pickup makes the cathedral the natural place to start the evening.

Pick your night

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.