Tromsø in winter – 24 hours in the city by the Arctic Ocean

I am writing these lines from the living room of a small, cute wooden house right on the shore of the Lyngenfjord. The third stop of our Lapland road trip is just as picturesque as log cabin holidays in Northern Norway are advertised in the travel catalogues. Far away from the light pollution, we wait here for the Northern Lights. The forecasts for this night are promising, but the thick cloud cover may throw a spanner in the works. I’ll use the waiting time to show you our highlights from Tromsø. The largest city in Northern Norway was a bit out of place in our travel plan and the drive there meant driving a distance of about 120 km twice. After Trondheim surprised us in a positive way two years ago, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity and integrated Tromsø into our itinerary. In the winter months, Tromsø is a popular starting point for hunting for the Northern Lights – the city is accordingly “filled” with thickly wrapped tourists who carry all their photo equipment around. Coming from Finnish Lapland, Tromsø welcomed us with an almost pleasant 0° Celsius.

Done in winter

Looking for
viewpoints

The first thing we did was to look for beautiful viewpoints and found what we were looking for on the snow-covered terrace of Tromsø Maritime Skole. To warm up and overlook the city at the same time, I recommend a trip to the top floor of the Tromsø Library (Grønnegata 94) – the building is one of the most exciting modern buildings in the city.

Walking through the historic center of Tromsø

The centre of Northern Norway’s largest city can be easily explored on foot. The pavements are free of snow thanks to heating – an extravagance that is afforded here in the far north. The historic buildings are located between the Storgata and the port area. Among other things, you can discover the northernmost Macks brewery, the cathedral church in the city centre and the old Bryggen quarter, where the Polar Museum is located. If you are interested in the history of polar expeditions, you should take a look at the museum.

Tromsø’s modern side photographed

Tromsø also has a modern side worth seeing. In addition to street art discoveries and brightly painted houses, the reinforced concrete construction of the Polaria Museum, designed by JAF Arkitektkontor AS, is worth seeing.

Trudging up the local mountain with snowshoes

Actually, you could easily climb the local mountain Storstein with the cable car (Fjellheisen). From up here, there is a postcard view of the city with its striking arched bridge and the Arctic Cathedral. If you’re lucky, you can also photograph the dancing Northern Lights above the illuminated city from up here in winter. But unfortunately, the cable car is under revision this winter and so your own muscle power is required.

Despite a thick snow flurry, we trudged off and followed one of the signposted hiking trails, which was visible as a trail in the snow (two other routes were closed). As visibility got worse, I returned to the car halfway. The friend mastered all the meters of altitude, but had to return at the top without a “trophy photo” due to heavy snow drifts and poor visibility. Well. Nevertheless, a nice snowshoe tour for those who like to spend a few hours in the fresh air (ascent via the 3.8 km route about 1.5 hours).

Keeping an eye out for the Northern Lights

Brochures promoting Northern Lights tours can be found on every corner in Tromsø. I briefly considered whether I should spontaneously book a tour (supposedly with success rates up to 82%). But the bad KP forecasts made me prefer to invest the 950 NOK that such a tour costs in a good dinner. Even without the Northern Lights, the illuminated skyline is worth a photo.

Eaten – Restaurant in Tromsø

Admittedly, the Tromsø trip was also culinarily motivated and we were not disappointed. There is no shortage of great cafés and varied restaurants in the city.

Coffee break No1 | Risø mat & kaffebar, Strandgata 32

A perfectly brewed latte, a fine piece of apple pie and a cosy seating area with a view of the street – that’s what you can find at Risø mat & kaffebar.

Coffee Break No2 | Kaffebonna, Strandtorget 1

Unfortunately, many cafés and restaurants are closed on Sundays or only open in the evening. The Kaffebonna is one of the few cafés that also provides guests with coffee on Sundays before 12 noon.

Bagel Strengthening | Lugar 34, Storgata 34

For NOK 85, Café Lugar prepares 34 salmon and egg mayo bagels fresh. The tastiest snack ever!

Lunch mit Stil | Bardus Bistro, Cora Sandels gate 4

I like restaurants with small menus. An indication that the dishes are fresh and seasonal. With just six dishes on the lunch menu, Bardus Bistrot lives up to this criterion. You can choose from a soup of the day, the catch of the day, fish cake, cod tongue (a fish specialty) and the bardus burger, among others. Be sure to include a residual appetite for dessert. The cheescake is great!

Sushi Night | Ra Sushi & Bar, Skippergata 16

Sushi lovers will get their money’s worth at Ra Sushi & Bar. We ordered the Rå Fangst combi (325 NOK for 16 pieces) and unexpectedly had the opportunity to try a piece of whale meat. I would never have ordered it, but I tried it and it actually tasted quite good.

Slept – Hotel in Tromsø

We stayed at Smarthotel Tromsø, which offers fair value for money due to its central location. For one night we paid 750 NOK in a double room, although you should know your travel partner well with a cozy bed size of 1.2 m. If this prerequisite is met, then you have come to the right place. There is free parking near the hotel, although it was all occupied when we arrived. We therefore parked in the underground car park in Grønnegata and paid NOK 270 for the 24-hour parking time. A practical side effect of the underground car park was that we didn’t have to dig our car out under a thick layer of snow.