Our last stop in Norway was the northern city of Tromsø which is still one of my favorite places we’ve ever been. North of the arctic circle, Tromsø is the 12^th largest city in Norway, so it is still an urban area but with a much more small-town feel than Oslo. We visited Norway in December of 2019, so we were there during their polar night, and a few weeks before Christmas. The snowy landscape was the perfect setting to kick start the festive season, and we had so many incredible experiences in Tromsø!

Check out my post on Oslo here, and my post on Svalbard here!

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Polar night in Tromsø

The period of polar night is about a 2 month period between November and mid-January when the sun never peaks over the horizon. During polar night, Tromsø gets about 1 hour of “sunlight” at most, but because the sun never rises over the horizon, it’s not true daylight like you might expect. Instead, you get this beautiful blue glow between 1-2pm on clear days. In Tromsø, you won’t experience 24 hours of true darkness, but you will experience about 20 hours of true darkness, and the remainder will be some of the most beautiful coloring you’ve seen in the sky.

Getting to Tromsø

We were arriving in Tromsø after spending a few days in Svalbard. Our flight landed in Tromsø at 9:30pm, so we got to our hotel, checked in, grabbed some food, then turned in for the night ready for our upcoming few days of adventure. We stayed at the Clarion Hotel The Edge which was so clean and comfortable with such friendly and helpful staff (plus great breakfast!). Tromsø is called the Paris of the North because of their fashion, food, and culture. There is no shortage of great experiences to be had in Tromsø! If we make it back to Norway, Tromsø will absolutely be on our itinerary again—there are so many things I would do again given the chance.

Since Tromsø is a larger city, there are tons of options for getting around the area.

Airport Express: The airport express departs every 20 minutes and drops off at the Scandic Grand Tromsø, Prostneset, and Scandic Ishavshotel hotels. Many other hotels are within walking distance of these hotels. It is about a 15-minute drive from the airport to the city center. A one-way adult ticket costs 125 NOK, and a round trip ticket costs 200 NOK. You can book your airport express ticket in advance here.

City Buses, Speedboats, and Ferries: The city buses run around the city at most hours of the day and night. The Troms Billett app will provide route maps and schedules. You can purchase tickets directly through the app as well. You can find a route planner here which will let you know which bus lines you’ll need to take based on your departure and arrival locations, and will tell you which tickets to purchase. Single route tickets are available, as are 24-hour or 7-day tickets. Tickets can be purchased on buses but must be paid for in cash. City bus routes 24, 40, and 42 run between the airport and the city center.

Taxis: There are several taxi companies in Tromsø with multiple taxi stands located throughout the city, including at the airport. The front desk staff at your hotel can help you call for a taxi and ensure you get the best rate.

Private Transfer: It’s also very easy to hire a private transfer in advance. Plus, this company will wait in the baggage claim area of the airport holding a sign with your name on it, which is such a fun experience!

Day 1: Fjords and Northern Lights

We started our first full day in Tromsø with the Kvaløya Fjord Tour. We were picked up from our hotel and were driven around the island of Kvaløya, the largest island in mainland Norway, to see the beautiful landscape of the fjords set against the dazzling blue glow of daylight. This tour lasted about 5 hours and included a stop for lunch at Stornaustet Restaurant for some delicious goulash. The tour guides gave us great information on the Norwegian history and culture throughout the drive. Fun fact: houses in Norway are traditionally painted red because it was a very inexpensive option made out of ochre and oil so low-income residents were able to paint their homes. It has become custom over the years to continue painting houses red, thus we have the tradition of red houses.

That evening, we took a Northern Lights Catamaran Cruise. Unfortunately, it was too cloudy so we weren’t able to see the northern lights, but we were still able to enjoy the views of Tromsø from the water.

Pro tip: practice taking dark sky photos with the camera you’ll be using to take photos of the northern lights before you travel so you can easily turn on the correct settings when you see the aurora! There are plenty of resources online, including this online workshop specifically geared toward photographing the northern lights.

Day 2: Dog Sledding

The majority of our second day was spent dog sledding with Arctic Adventure Tours. This dog sledding experience was a self-drive tour, so we were driving our own dog sled! We started the day by meeting all the dogs and gearing up, with a briefing of how to drive the sleds. We were paired up two to a sled—one to drive, one to ride—and were off. There were guides driving sleds at the very front and very back of the line of the whole group and we were guided through a snowy, hilly, forested path. There were many places where we all stopped and had the ability to take photos and swap driver and rider. At the end of the ride, we were given some snacks and warm drinks to enjoy by a fire and warm up after the cold sledding day. It’s always important to my husband and me to make sure when we are traveling and having animal encounters that it’s being done in a humane way, and this company ensures that is the case. The guides introduce the group to all of the dogs at the beginning of the tour and teach the group about how the dogs live day-to-day and how much they love to run. These dogs were SO energetic and once they were all harnessed into the sled, they could not wait to go. The guides check in with the dogs and teach the group the dogs’ cues so we can make sure we’re not working them too hard, and so that the dogs are enjoying themselves as much as the visitors are.

After our day of sledding, we explored the city, did some shopping on Storgata (Tromsø’s main shopping street), and ate some delicious authentic pizza (see my section below on where to eat in Tromsø)! We also took the Cable Car up to Fjellstua to enjoy the panoramic view of the city. The ride up is about 5 minutes and the view was so breathtaking I completely forgot to take any photos. It is my one regret about our time in Tromsø, but you’ll just have to go see it for yourself! There is a café and restaurant at the top if you’d like to stay for a while to enjoy a meal, or even just a cup of coffee or tea.

Day 3: Reindeer and Sami Culture

This was possibly my favorite day of our time in Tromsø. The Tromsø Arctic Reindeer tour is an absolute must-do if you visit Tromsø. This tour is operated by a Sami reindeer herding family who have been living and working with reindeer for several generations. The tour includes time spent feeding the 300 reindeer followed by reindeer sledding, then a traditional meal cooked over the fire, enjoyed in the lavvu (a Sami tent). During dinner, the guides talked to us about Sami culture and their family history working with reindeer. The Sami are believed to have lived in the northern areas of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula in Russia around the year Common Era (or the year 0). They have traditionally pursued coastal fishing, fur trapping, sheep herding, and of course reindeer herding. The Sami have historically been discriminated against, as they have their own language and cultural norms, and had been forced to integrate into Norwegian language and cultural practices. It wasn’t until 1990 that the protection of the Sami language and culture was written into the Norwegian constitution. It is so important to learn about the indigenous populations of the countries we travel to, so loved getting to hear from a traditional Sami family about their culture and family history.

We ended our day with a visit to the Polaria Arctic Aquarium. Polaria has several aquariums with only northern Norwegian species as well as bearded seals. There’s a panoramic cinema which shows movies every half hour about the arctic wilderness, the northern lights, and a behind the scenes of the Polaria Aquarium. My favorite part of the aquarium was getting to watch the seal training and feedings. They occur at 10:30am, 12:30pm, and 3:30pm daily. If you hang out after the training and feeding is done (particularly the last session of the day), the trainers may stay out with you and let you play with the seals! We got to play a little fetch with the seals there and got some extra information from the trainer about how they train and mentally stimulate their seals.

We ended our day with some food and drinks, and a toast to 3 incredible days in Tromsø before finishing our trip in Stockholm (keep an eye out for my post on our 2 days in Stockholm).

Where to Eat and Drink in Tromsø

Here were some of our favorite places in Tromsø to eat and drink:

Casa Inferno: Owned by an Italian family, this pizzeria was giving us Italy nostalgia in Norway. This was some of the best pizza we’ve ever had—including in Italy and Chicago. We got an extra pizza to go so we could snack on it in our hotel room periodically! If you’re a pizza person, this place needs to be on your list.

Burgr: Not surprisingly, this restaurant has great burgers. The place is decked out in classic Nintendo and 8-bit décor, so it was the perfect environment for us millennials who grew up on Nintendo video games. They even have a small TV straight out of the early 90s with a Super Nintendo set up where you can play a few rounds of whichever game they have on at the time.

Graffi Grill: This restaurant had great burgers and steaks. A little pricier than other options, but the food was worth it and the cost was on par for comparable quality other places in Tromsø.

Ølhallen Pub: Mack’s brewpub is the oldest pub in Tromsø, serving brews by Mack brewery, the northernmost brewery in the world. Ølhallen has 72 taps which rotate often. It’s a very cozy atmosphere and the beer was great. We also enjoyed taking some fun photos with the stuffed polar bear!

Kaffebonna: This café had great coffee! My husband isn’t a coffee drinker, but he told me his hot chocolate was also delicious. The pastries are wonderful also—don’t miss the kanelsnurren (cinnamon rolls)! I think I visited this café every day we were in Tromsø so I brought some of their Julekaffe coffee beans home for myself and as a gift for my family. My family loved the coffee so much it barely lasted a week!

Other Tips on Visiting Norway in the Winter

Language: Everyone we encountered spoke English fluently, so you won’t need to worry about a language barrier, but I like to learn a few phrases in the local language when I travel, so here are a few!

English Word/Phrase	Norwegian Word/Phrase	Pronunciation
Hello	Hei	Hi
Goodbye	Hadet	hah-deh
How are you?	Hvordan går det?	vor-dahn gor deh
I’m well, and you?	Bra, med deg?	brah, meh dye
Good, thanks	Bra, takk	brah, tahk
Please	Vær så snill	var soh snil
Thank you	Takk	tahk
You’re welcome	Vær så god	var soh gooh
Yes	Ja	yah
No	Nei	ny
Do you speak English?	Snakker du engelsk?	snah-kerh doo engelsk

Currency: Norway uses the krone (kroner, plural) which is equivalent to the US dollar. The krone is divided into 100 øre (equivalent to US cents). Foreign currency is not typically accepted; however, you can use electronic payments just about anywhere you go, and there are plenty of ATMs if you’d prefer to have some cash with you. Just be sure to check your bank and credit card’s foreign transaction fees and notify your bank of your travels before you go!

Tipping: Tipping is not necessarily expected in Norway, but always welcome! The standard we followed was 15-20% at bars and restaurants, and for tour guides.

Weather: Coming from Chicago, the weather in Norway in the winter wasn’t too much colder than what we can experience in the US in the winter. The average temperatures were about 25-30F (about -3 to -1C). Since Norway is situated so far north, however, daylight hours differ greatly depending where you are (the further north you go, the shorter the daylight hours in the winter).