I’ve longed to visit Tromso since childhood. The strange name, the striking triangle shaped cathedral and the remote arctic location may have had something to do with it. Previous trips to Norway have been a blast. Tromso is also one of the best places in the world to see the northern lights, so it seemed inevitable I would eventually make it to Tromso.
When I checked out flight prices and found I could get to Tromso for around £80 return from the UK, I booked. I expected to go on my own, but my husband Martin and eldest son, James wanted to join me. So this post details the four night trip, the 3 of us made, in November 2022. There would have been plenty to do, if we had stayed longer, but Norway is expensive and we couldn’t be away for too long. I think we made the most of the time we had.
Fjellheisen Cable Car
The view from the top platform of the Fjellheisen Cable Car is spectacular., I expected Tromso to be grey and dark in the winter, I had not prepared myself for the beauty of the pink tinged skies set above the stunning arctic scenery.
It was 415NOK (around £32) return. Not cheap, but definitely something you can’t miss if you visit Tromso. The base of the cable car is a short walk from the centre of Tromso and you can hike up or down, the mountain to enjoy the view, if you prefer!
Here’s a video of some of the trip down.
Northern Lights
It’s possible to look up in the winter night sky and see the northern lights when you are in Tromso city centre. Even so, it’s still worth taking a trip away from the city into the arctic wilderness. Going with an expert in chasing the lights is recommended, to get the full experience. The season for the aurora in Tromso runs from September into April with peak activity in the depths of winter (January – March), While you can increase your chances of seeing them by going in peak aurora season, there is still no guarantee. It’s definitely worth keeping an option to go on multiple nights if you can, in case you are initially unlucky.
With night time temperatures set to go well below freezing, I was out of my comfort zone. I didn’t have specialist arctic clothing and had arrived on a budget flight with a 20L bag.. That said, I do understand the virtues of merino wool layers and a down puffy jacket, to fit over those layers. I also had good boots. I wore the entire contents of my bag that night! I may have looked ridiculous, but I was warm and cosy! My super warm ‘Made in Yorkshire’ woolly hat also came in handy.
The Big Bus Tour
If you look on Viator or GetYourGuide there are a lot of tours. It’s hard to decide which one to choose. I picked a trip on a big bus rather than a little minibus because it was considerably cheaper! Once on the bus, I soon saw the benefits of a comfortable warm coach with a toilet. The minibuses gathered in the same places, to see the lights, as the bigger bus. I was very happy with my ‘big bus’ choice.
The pickup point was in the harbour area in central Tromso for our Chasing Lights Big Bus Chase. Our tour guides came prepared with professional cameras and equipment. We were offered guidance on how to take the best shots with our own phone cameras, but the best advice we received was to put our phones and cameras away and enjoy the show.
We headed west to the island of Sommarøy where there were clear skies. This was a stunning backdrop for the lights. While our trip went west, some trips may go east and over the border into Finland. It all depends on where the guides think the lights will be on that particular night, avoiding areas of significant cloud cover..
On this video, you can see the lights dancing above us.
At the end of the trip
We arrived back in Tromso just before 3am in the morning. This was early enough for us, to get some sleep and make the most of the following day, albeit with a much later start in the morning. Our trip was 1200NOK (around £91) per person.
Pictures and videos were sent by the guides, the morning after the trip. This is just a small selection of what they sent. The guides also included a trip report which detailed our route. I would definitely recommend Chasing Lights if you plan to see the aurora in Tromso.
Ishavskatedralen (Arctic Cathedral)
The Arctic Cathedral, and Tromso bridge are the most striking structures in Tromso., especially with the backdrop of the Tromsdalstinden mountain, The cathedral is normally open to visitors in the afternoon and we took the opportunity to see the impressive triangular stained glass window from the inside. There was a 70NOK (around £5) entry fee per person.
We also walked across the bridge spanning the Tromsøysundet strait which joins the city of Tromso on the island of Tromsøya with the Norwegian mainland.
Whale Watching
So with limited time and budget, I asked my Norwegian friend which activity I should do in Tromso. He said ‘whale watching’ without hesitating, so that’s what we did. After a previous failed experience to see whales in New Zealand. I was initially sceptical. However, the silent hybrid catamaran operated by Brim Explorer. looked like it was warm and comfortable and I hoped it would not be too sick inducing!
We boarded the catamaran and sailed further north to the islands where the waters are rich with herring. These are the feeding grounds of the humpbacks and orcas. We saw whales in large numbers. The orcas were aggressive feeders and we watched them work in teams to surround the much larger humpbacks and chase them away. I struggled to take decent photos or videos as I was worried the phone would fall out of my freezing fingers. Next time I’ll bring a selfie stick, or similar!
The catamaran had a large viewing platform with room for everybody. It could get close to the whales as it was so quiet. The catamaran didn’t seem to bother the whales. It was in full electric mode while we were whale watching and reverted to using a regular motor for the journey between Tromso and the feeding grounds.
We were definitely glad we saw the whales. The Arctic coast was spectacular. The marine scientists leading the trip were friendly, attentive and extremely informative. and the whales definitely made an appearance!
The trip with Brim Explorer was 1690NOK (around £129) per person
City Centre and Harbour Area
Tromso is pretty. We arrived just as the Christmas lights were going up and space was being cleared ready for the Christmas market.
Food and Drink
Tromso is a city where you can eat well. We were particularly impressed by the craft ale scene. It was expensive, so we interspersed our ‘splurges’ with bread and cheese and some basic cooking in the apartment Here’s some of my highlights.
Olhalen Brew Pub
As lifetime CAMRA members, we were not going to pass up the opportunity to go to the most northerly brewery in the world run by MAC brewery. It also claimed to have one of the largest selection of taps in Europe. 72, to be precise, Olhalen was certainly characterful and the beers were excellent, but over £30 for 3 drinks!. We limited ourselves to one round, said goodbye to the arctic friends who had been watching us and left in search of something we hoped might be more reasonably priced
Blarock
In search of food, we found Blarock which describes itself as ‘Northern Norway’s only proper rock ‘n’ roll venue’. It was dark and pink. We had 3 exceptionally good burgers and 3 beers and left £80 lighter. This was definitely better value.
Cafe Sann
When you are confronted with a choice of beers and you don’t know which one to pick, then Cafe Sann comes to the rescue, offering flights. This was another characterful bar.
You could choose whether you want to sit in the light and bright section in the middle, or go ‘dark and moody’ around the edges. I naturally headed for the darkest corner! Here you get to see your’ three ‘Tromso testers’.
Skarven Kro
We visited Skarven Kro twice, The first time we found the incumbents drinking mulled wine and singing traditional Norwegian Christmas carols, It was very full. We moved on.
With its location near the harbour, we wandered in again after our whale watching trip. We had strict instructions from the marine biologists to leave the whale meat alone. We heeded their advice and enjoyed some exceptional (whale free) fish stew.(£20 per person).
Reindeer Hotdogs!
This cute little kiosk with a fire pit and reindeer skin covered benches, acted as a meeting point to discuss the activities of the day with fellow travellers and also fill us up with Rudolph in a bun! The best Rudolph in the world apparently!
Tromsø Mikrobryggeri
Our final craft brewery was Tromso Mikrobryggeri. It was the last night, and we picked the 16% Nordic noir! Possibly unwise, but these hardened travellers, managed it back to the apartment, won at following detailed rubbish sorting instructions and were ready at 5am to leave for the airport. Definitely a result!
Thanks go to my husband as I may have stolen from his beer blog while completing this section.
Troll Museum
Sadly we didn’t manage to make it to the Troll museum when it was open. It’s clear the Norwegian’s love their trolls and it certainly looked worth visiting.
Practicalities
What?
I recommend exploring the centre and harbour area, cable car, Arctic cathedral and Troll Museum, plus whale watching and catching the northern lights (both seasonal), The long list we didn’t have time to do was as follows:
- Polaria The Arctic Experience Centre. This is the world’s northernmost aquarium
- Visits to see the husky dogs and dog sledding
- Visits to see the reindeer and reindeer sledding
- Sami Culture Tour
- The Polar Museum
- Tromso city library and archives
- MS Polstjerna – a historic sealing ship
- Hiking, skiing and trips in nature
Where?
There’s no getting away from it, accommodation in Tromso is expensive. The main tours and activities all have pickups in the harbour area in the centre so choosing a central hotel is important. Expect to pay over £200 a night for some of the prominent hotels in the harbour and city centre. I can recommend Enter hotels who provide hotel rooms, hostel accommodation and apartments in the city. They are considerably cheaper, but still clean and smart. As there were 3 of us, we booked a 2 bedroom apartment which worked out at £620 total for all of us for four nights in November 2022.
When?
Snow arrives in early November in Tromso. If you want to do the full range of winter activities it would be best to arrive after that. Peak aurora activity is from January through to March., although you may see the lights from late September to early April. You are most likely to see whales from November through to February as the whales follow the herring who migrate to the islands just North of Tromso at this time of year..
Norway is an all year round holiday destination and there is plenty to see and do when it is warmer!
How?
We opted to use the budget airlines to take us to Tromso from the UK.. I set myself a challenge to find the lowest price flights from the UK. We caught a WizzAir flight from London, Luton to Gdansk, then Ryanair to Tromso. We returned on a direct Norwegian Air flight to London, Gatwick. It worked out at £86 per person return. That’s the basic price with no extras. There were regular public buses from the airport to the city centre.
There are also internal flights from Oslo to Tromso, for those arriving into Oslo. If you want to go overland to Tromso from Oslo, you can catch the train via Stockholm and go as far as Narvik station. There are buses North for the last 4-5 hours. In total you are looking at a 30 hour+ journey.
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