Tromso, 200 miles deep into the Arctic Circle, is surrounded by mountains and is a glorious gateway for spotting the northern lights, which will be especially vibrant over the next year. Whale-watching, reindeer sledding and midnight sun escapades are also on tap in this city of extremes, cloaked by polar night for two months of the year, its charming wooden houses and shops festooned with fairy lights to pierce the darkness, and then bathed in 24-hour sunshine between the middle of May and July.
Once dubbed the Paris of the North, it feels more giddy frontier town, with a climate mercifully moderated by the Gulf Stream and plenty to fill a weekend. The large student population guarantees fun nightlife, there’s a fine selection of cafés, bars and restaurants, with more planned in the swish new Vervet district down by the waterfront, and excellent museums, galleries and shops are all within a ten-minute walk of the city centre.
Day 1
• Morning: Walking tour
• Lunch: Vervet Bakery
• Afternoon: Polar Museum
• Drink: Raketten Bar & Polse
• Evening: Fjellheisen cable car
• Dinner: Maskinverkstedet
Day 2
• Morning: Arctic Cathedral
• Lunch: Dragoy
• Afternoon: Storgata
• Drink: Olhallen
• Evening: Verdensteatret
• Dinner: Brim Explorer
What to do
• Get an insight into Tromso’s lively social scene on Oda Kvaal-Tanguay’s excellent Sweet Temptations walking tour of the city centre, which reveals residents’ favourite spots including Kaffebonna Stortorget, where politicians plot, and Spiseriet Konditori, home of the decadent northern lights cake. The fee includes plenty of tastings and discounts (£52pp; oktromso.no).
• The Polar Museum, in restored wooden customs buildings by the quayside, is unashamedly old-school and crammed with fascinating memorabilia (including pelts and, deep breath, stuffed wildlife) that tell the stories of Arctic trappers and late-19th-century polar explorers such as Nansen and Amundsen. Request an English-speaking guide from the ticket office (£8; polarmuseum.no).
• By far the best view of Tromso is from the Fjellheisen cable-car station on the Storsteinen ridge and it’s also a prime spot for hunting the northern lights — or for a spectacular hike under the midnight sun. The ride is quick and exhilarating but check on the website before setting out because it shuts if the weather closes in (£31 return; fjellheisen.no).
• On the eastern side of the fjord and so a bus ride or a brisk 15-minute walk across the arched (and fairly steep) Tromso Bridge, the white, Toblerone-shaped Arctic Cathedral, dramatically lit up at night, is now the symbol of northern Norway. More impressive outside than in? Possibly. But still a must-do (£6; ishavskatedralen.no).
• Storgata (the pedestrianised main drag) is full of restaurants, speciality shops and attractions such as the largest indoor 18-hole mini golf course in Norway (campingen.no). Try MIN + Vintage for beautiful hand-knitted sweaters and mid-century homeware, Sami Shop for authentic indigenous crafts and the sensibly named Tromso Gift & Souvenir Shop, which should be a tourist trap but isn’t and has a superb troll selection.
• Chances are you’ll want to escape from the weather at some point and Verdensteatret, an art nouveau cinema on Storgata, is beautiful. It shows indie films (often in English) and hosts frequent festivals, plus there’s a great little lobby bar/café on the ground floor that’s open even if there are no movies playing (verdensteatret.no).
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Where to eat and drink
Vervet Bakeri
Down by the waterfront, this artisan bakery and café serves possibly the best coffee in Tromso alongside the heavenly smell of freshly baked pastries. There’s excellent rye bread, generously topped open sandwiches and moreish raspberry scones. Take a bite of one of their fantastically light, vanilla custard-filled skoleboller (school buns) and you’ll really wish you’d grown up in Norway (vervetbakeri.no).
Raketten Bar & Polse
This tiny octagonal kiosk in the middle of Storgata is known as the Rocket and has been in operation since 1911. It’s famous for its mulled wine and delicious reindeer hot dogs (top with fried onions and honey mustard; £4.50) and there’s a pelt-covered outdoor seating area with a fire pit if you fancy getting cosy. Expect to queue (Storgata 94B).
Maskinverkstedet
The flagship restaurant of the smart new waterfront Vervet district, this cavernous space was once part of the city’s shipyard and is surprisingly cosy. Go local and try reindeer tartare with Brussels sprouts salad, halibut with oxtail ragu and lingonberry cake and marinated pears (mains from £26; maskinverkstedet.no).
Dragoy Kystens Hus
Browse the amazing fish counter (the king crab legs are extraordinary, with a price to match) at this waterfront seafood market and then order a smoked fish platter or exemplary fish and chips and tuck in while gawping at the brave souls hurling themselves into the harbour from the floating Pust sauna (mains from £15; kystensmathus.no).
Olhallen
The world’s northernmost brewery, Mack, has a downtown brewpub that’s the city’s oldest watering hole and conspiratorial spot to sample one of the 72 beers on tap. You’re unlikely to make a night of it, however, with a 330ml glass costing about £10, but if you want to take a bottle home there’s a shop next door. There are daily brewery tours too (mack.no).
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Brim Explorer
All sorts of northern lights tours depart from Tromso but the most comfortable is surely the Aurora dinner cruise along the fjord on one of Brim Explorer’s silent electric boats. A three-course locally sourced meal is punctuated — if you’re lucky — by calls to get out on deck and point your phone at the sky in search of those wondrous emerald streaks. Departures are daily from September to March (£125; brimexplorer.com).
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Where to stay
Thon Hotel Polar
No-fuss and a great breakfast
Tromso is strong on good value, no-nonsense, mid-range bolt holes with top-notch breakfast buffets. The compact rooms here have simple decor and toasty heated bathroom floors; it couldn’t be more central and the airport bus stops next door (B&B doubles from £73; thonhotels.com).
Hotel The Edge
Superb rooftop bar
The Clarion has a brilliant location on the harbour (next to where whale-watching tours depart) and is just a short walk from many of the city’s main attractions. Rooms are comfortable (some overlook the fjord) and guests can use one of the local gym chains. Top marks for the lavish buffet breakfast spread and the friendly rooftop Skybar, a must for northern-lights spotting with an Arctic Mule cocktail (£11) in hand (B&B doubles from £106; strawberryhotels.com).
Hotel With
In house sauna
On the quayside, this cosy hotel that’s styled like an old boathouse has cracking views of the mountains and the Arctic Cathedral. It’s just around the corner from the shops and cafés on Storgata and has a top-floor sauna and steam room. The price is includes lots to eat: as well as breakfast there’s a complimentary fika — Scandi afternoon tea — and evening meal (soup, salad and a main), as well as coffee all day (B&B doubles from £118; strawberryhotels.com).
Getting there
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Norwegian and Wizz Air fly nonstop from the UK but most flights are via Oslo. Hurtigruten operates ferries and cruises from Bergen and Oslo too.
Getting around
Tromso city centre is eminently walkable (although if you’re here in the winter bring spikes for your boots because many pavements are icy). Tickets for Flybussen, the airport express coach, cost £10 one way and the journey takes about 15 minutes (bussring.no). Many companies organise northern lights and whale-watching tours and trips to see Sami herders and their reindeer.
Julia Brookes was a guest of Visit Norway (visitnorway.com), Visit Tromso (visittromso.no) and Northern Norway Tourist Board (nordnorge.com)
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