The Hardangerjøkulen glacier near Finse served as the icy world Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back; scenes were filmed during severe snowstorms.

Perched high in Norway's Vestland region, Finse - Snow Field sits atop a vast plate of snow and ice near the Hardangerjøkulen glacier, offering a stark, wind-swept panorama that has welcomed explorers and filmmakers for decades. The site is famous for standing in for the icy world Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back, a mantle earned during brutal snowstorms that forged a cinematic atmosphere of isolation and resilience. Accessible only by train, this remote high-mountain landscape carries a quiet, almost otherworldly stillness, where glacier-blue light and the creak of frozen wind create a sense that the scene is always about to shift. Visitors feel the hush of endless snow, the crunch of frost underfoot, and the feeling that the landscape itself is a character in the story.

Perched beside the vast Hardangerjøkulen glacier, Finse’s Snowy Plains captures the austere beauty of Norway’s high alpine landscape. This remote outpost became forever linked with cinema when the glacier and surrounding ridges stood in for the ice world Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back, shot during punishing snowstorms that etched a sense of isolation into its terrain. The atmosphere here is a hush of wind and powdery snow, with trains from Oslo or Bergen rumbling into the small station and travelers feeling miles from anywhere. Today, the site draws hikers, photographers, and Star Wars fans who seek the same stark terrain that helped shape a galaxy far, far away.