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# How to Watch Finnmarksløpet, Europe's Longest Sled Dog Race
- URL: https://rochsociety.com/finnmarkslopet-2027/
- Published: 2026-11-05T16:15:29.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-05T16:15:29.000Z
- Description: Finnmarksløpet is Europe's longest sled dog race, run from Alta across Norway's far north, and in 2027 it hosts the world long distance championship. The 1,200 km teams leave Alta at noon on 5 March. The programme, where to stand, how to follow the teams, and Norway's rules for your dog.
- Author: Jennifer Nuttall
- Tags: Travel

At 04:17 one morning last March, Petter Karlsson brought his team down into the middle of Alta and stopped. He had left the same spot six days, 15 hours and 41 minutes earlier, and in between his dogs had pulled him across the plateau of Finnmark, out to [Kirkenes](https://www.lifeinnorway.net/finnmarkslopet-sled-dog-race?ref=rochsociety.com) near the Russian border and back. That was the [winning run](https://finnmarkslopet.no/?p=6024&ref=rochsociety.com) in the 1,200 km class of Finnmarksløpet, and it is the kind of finish the town turns out for at any hour.

[Finnmarksløpet](https://finnmarkslopet.no/?ref=rochsociety.com) is a long distance sled dog race in Norway's northernmost county, and the organisers call it [the longest sled dog race in Europe](https://finnmarkslopet.no/finnmarkslopet-en/about/?ref=rochsociety.com). It began in 1981 with three teams on the start line. Today there are four classes, all starting and finishing in central Alta: a junior race of 200 km for mushers aged 14 to 18 with six dogs, new 300 km and established 600 km classes with eight dogs, and the 1,200 km race, run with teams of 14\. In 2027 the junior, 600 and 1,200 km classes carry an extra prize, because Finnmarksløpet is hosting the [IFSS World Championship](https://finnmarkslopet.no/?p=6253&ref=rochsociety.com) in long distance racing.

![A sled dog team in harness running along a snowy forest trail](https://rochsociety.com/content/images/2026/11/finnmarkslopet-sled-team-forest.jpg)

Photo by [Fridi Antrack](https://unsplash.com/@fr1d1?ref=rochsociety.com) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?ref=rochsociety.com)

## Where the Dogs Go

The route changes a little every year, but its shape holds. Last season's [stage list](https://finnmarkslopet.no/?p=5460&ref=rochsociety.com) for the long class ran from Alta to Jergul, Levajok and Bonakas, then to Neiden and the turn at Kirkenes, back through Varangerbotn, Sirbma, Karasjok and Jotka, and home to the finish, about 1,120 km in all. The 600 km teams go out by Masi and Jergul to Levajok and come back through Karasjok and Jotka. The organisers say the 2027 trails for both will largely stay as they were.

Even the new 300 km class, its [route page](https://finnmarkslopet.no/?p=6253&ref=rochsociety.com) says, takes in forest, river valleys, open plains and exposed mountain in five stages, with a compulsory rest of at least four hours at Jergul and handlers allowed to help there and at Karasjok. The long class goes on far beyond that, east to Kirkenes and back across the plateau.

## The Programme in Alta

The organisers' [programme page](https://finnmarkslopet.no/for-contestants/contestant-info/program-contestants/?ref=rochsociety.com) is still marked as being updated, so check it again in February, but the shape of the week is set. On Friday 5 March the race opens at 11.45 in the start and finish area in Alta city centre, with Norway's culture minister, Lubna Jaffery, [doing the honours](https://finnmarkslopet.no/2026/10/22/lubna-jaffery-apner-vm-2027/?ref=rochsociety.com). The 1,200 km teams leave from noon at two minute intervals, which puts the whole field away in under an hour. The 300 km class follows at 6pm, one team a minute. On Saturday 6 March the juniors go first from 1pm, and the 600 km teams after them.

The finishes run through the following week. The first 300 km teams are expected from 6pm on the Saturday, the juniors on the Sunday, the 600 km teams from 5am on Tuesday 9 March, and the 1,200 km teams from 6pm on Thursday 11 March through to Saturday 13 March, when the long class gets its prize giving at noon. More than a hundred mushers had entered the championship classes by late October, and the 300 km start list already held 42 names.

## Where to Stand

The start is the moment to plan a trip around: a [street party](https://finnmarkslopet.no/hva-er-finnmarkslopet/?ref=rochsociety.com), the race says, with a speaker, music and thousands of people lining the course. [Visit Alta](https://visitalta.no/en/article/events-and-festivals-in-alta/?ref=rochsociety.com) recommends the pedestrian street in the centre for both the start and the finish, and the race's own [checkpoint page for Alta](https://checkpoints.finnmarkslopet.no/alta/?ref=rochsociety.com) puts the arena in the middle of town. In the same days the Borealis winter festival fills the centre with snow and ice sculpture, so there is plenty to do between the Friday noon start and the Saturday afternoon one.

The finishes are harder to catch, because nobody knows when a team will appear. That is where the race's GPS tracking comes in. The organisers follow the teams live by GPS, and the [results portal](https://portal.finnmarkslopet.no/results?ref=rochsociety.com) shows the stages, the checkpoints and the map, so you can watch a musher come off the plateau and walk down to the line in time. If you cannot be in Alta at all, NRK, the Norwegian broadcaster, has shown the race every day since 2009, to an average audience of 400,000.

## Bringing Your Own Dog

Norway sits outside the EU, and it has rules of its own at the border. From an EU country, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, [Mattilsynet](https://www.mattilsynet.no/en/animals/travelling-with-dogs-cats-and-ferrets-from-eu-countries-to-norway?ref=rochsociety.com), wants the dog microchipped, vaccinated against rabies at 12 weeks or older with the 21 day wait served, and travelling on its EU pet passport. On top of that comes the rule that catches visitors: every dog must be [treated for the fox tapeworm](https://mattilsynet.no/en/animals/mandatory-treatment-for-echinococcosis-for-dogs-imported-to-norway?ref=rochsociety.com) by a vet between 24 and 120 hours before it enters Norway, with the treatment written into the passport by that vet. You cannot give it yourself, and dogs coming straight from Finland, Ireland, Northern Ireland or Malta are the only exceptions.

Dogs from Great Britain and the United States travel under Mattilsynet's [third country rules](https://www.mattilsynet.no/en/animals/travelling-with-dogs-cats-and-ferrets-from-third-countries-and-territories-to-norway?ref=rochsociety.com), on an animal health certificate, with the same microchip, rabies and tapeworm requirements and a rabies blood test unless the country is on the EU's approved list. Read that page well before you book, because the blood test, where it applies, has to be taken at least three months before you arrive.

The race itself publishes nothing about spectators bringing dogs to the start area, so [ask the organisers](https://finnmarkslopet.no/kontakt-oss/?ref=rochsociety.com) before you plan a morning on the street with one. A start line full of racing teams pulling to be away is a lot for a pet dog to take in.

## Getting There and Staying Over

Alta has its own airport, and the [Scandic Alta](https://www.scandichotels.com/en/hotels/scandic-alta?ref=rochsociety.com), which hosts the race's start banquet and closing dinner, is about 4 km from it in the centre of town and lists rooms for guests travelling with pets. Ask the hotel what it charges for a dog when you book, as its page does not say.

The day after Finnmarksløpet leaves Alta, the [Iditarod](https://rochsociety.com/iditarod-2027/) sets off from Anchorage, so the first weekend of March 2027 belongs to the two great races of the north. If it has to be one, choose Alta for its noon start in the town centre, the teams leaving two minutes apart, and the chance that a week later, in the small hours, you will be standing in the same street when the winner comes home.