270 km to North Cape makes a rental car almost mandatory
Alta Airport’s rental car desks sit inside terminal T arrivals, so you walk maybe 50–80 meters from baggage claim and sign the contract on the spot. Several agencies operate here (think the usual big names plus a couple of Norwegian outfits), and cars park just outside the terminal, so there’s no shuttle bus or taxi hop before you start driving toward Hammerfest, Skaidi, or Kåfjord.
For Finnmark distances like Alta–Tromsø at roughly 380 km and Alta–Hammerfest at around 140 km, a rental quickly undercuts taxis that locals quote at 570–700 USD for a single long leg. Figure on picking up around your flight time and driving 3–4 hours for the shorter routes in summer; in winter, double your mental buffer because snow, ice, and wind slow everything down well beyond what Google Maps suggests.
Advance booking matters here: guides call it “especially” important in peak seasons, which in practice means September–March for aurora hunters and June–August for road trips. Regulars report that walk‑up stock during February and July can be close to zero, and last‑minute prices on compact cars can jump by 30–50% versus what they paid online a few weeks earlier.
Return is simple: you follow rental‑car signs back to Alta Airport, drop the vehicle in the marked area beside the terminal, and walk 2–3 minutes into T for check‑in and security. Agencies usually set return cut‑offs in 24‑hour blocks, so a 10:00 pick‑up one day and a 10:00 drop‑off the next keeps you within one rental day instead of spilling into a second and paying an extra full day rate.
Regulars use Alta as a hub: they rent a car for loops like Alta–Hammerfest–Olderfjord–Alta over 2–3 days (roughly 500–600 km total), then sometimes fly one‑way from Alta or Tromsø instead of driving the full 380 km back. They stick to buses or short taxis just inside Alta town, where a 10–15 minute cab ride is sensible, and save the rental for anything that crosses a fjord or touches the E6 or E69.
Tip: Lock in a car as soon as your Alta flights are ticketed, then plan your Northern Lights nights or North Cape run around a clear 24–48 hour weather window rather than trying to scramble for a vehicle after you land.