A Genuine Tromsø Travel Guide
Hey everyone! in February 2022, we spent 1-week in Northern Norway, in the Troms og Finnmark county.
We arrived by plane in Tromsø, the main city in this region and after renting a car, we went 2h30 away in the Lyngen Alps. There we spent 4 days in a small cabin located in Kåfjord Municipality where we enjoyed the landscape of the Norwegian Fjord and snowshoed the amazing mountains surrounding them.
Next, we drove back to Tromsø, but we didn’t stay in town. We opted for a small house located on Håkøya, a small island 25-min from Tromsø. While we were in Tromsø, we had the chance to see a reindeer race in the main street. Such event only happens once a year. What a luck!
While near Tromsø, we also did a self-drive husky sledding tour which was a unique experience. We then discovered a super cozy coffee shop and store with a breath-taking view of the Ersfjord. Finally, on our last day, as it was raining, we did a road trip around Kvaløya island which is also next to Tromsø. There we went all the way to the open ocean.
Unfortunately, due to the bad weather, we couldn’t see the northern lights as the sky was fully covered the whole week. Yet we had an amazing time!
In this article, you will get our complete story as well as all the best things to do in Tromsø. If you are ready, let’s dive in this Tromsø Travel Guide.
Here is our complete video from this trip :
Table of Contents
Mapping the Tromsø Travel guide
Getting to Tromsø
The best and easiest way to get to Tromsø is to fly directly to its international airport. There are lots of direct flights from the main European cities as well as lots of national flights through Oslo.
For example, we flew from Frankfurt we had the option to do:
- Frankfurt – Oslo – Tromsø
- Frankfurt – Tromsø
From the airport, you can either rent a car which we did our use public transportation such as airport express, city buses and taxi.
The airport express runs between the airport and Tromsø city centre. It takes approximately 15 min.
City bus routes 24, 40 and 42 run between the airport and Tromsø city centre. Tickets can be purchased on the bus in cash.
Moving Around Tromsø
Depending on what you plan to do there is 2 answers to that. If you want to enjoy Tromsø city center and do mostly tours, then you won’t need to move from the city center, and everything can be done on foot. Most of the tours depart from the Radisson blue hotel.
If like us, you want to explore more around and get a more unique experience, you will have to rent a car. We used rentalcars for that. The car we got was lounge type with winter kit (nails on the tires). It was quite OK to drive around even under the snow. If you feel not too comfortable that a 4×4 is the best choice as this would go everywhere.
It is true that at first, we had some hard time as we weren’t used of ice on the road, especially to park on slopes were going slow is going slip and make you go on the side. Whereas you need to get faster and park in one shot. It happened to us. While parking the first night in Lyngen Alps, we were too slow and lost control ending on the side with the car stuck. Our host came to help us and told us how to do. It was also cool to meet him and surprisingly he was a Samy.
When to Visit Tromsø
You can visit this region of Norway all year round. Still the best time would be January/February for northern light and winter sports as the day start to get longer.
And June to September for hiking in summer.
Where to Stay
- (€): Smarthotel Tromsø
- (€€): Radisson Blu Hotel, Tromsø
- (€€€): Enter St. Elisabeth Suites
- Airbnb near Tromsø: Bente’s house
- Airbnb in Lyngen Alps: Cabine Jorbaorrit
What to Eat
Some of the most traditional dishes are:
- Reindeer meat
- Whale steak.
- Fish soups
- Brown cheese
- Potatoes pancake
We discover a great coffee shop called “Svermeri Kafé og Redesign” where you can get a lunch menu for 26€ per person (that’s a regular price there). For that you can have a fish soups or vegetarian soups, a slide of cake and a drink.
If you want to save money on food, avoid restaurant and cook at home 😊
Best things to do in Tromsø Travel Guide
Fjellheisen Cable Car & TROMSØ ViewPoint
To get one of the best views of Tromsø, you can take the Fjellheisen Cable Car or hike all the way up there. When we were there, the weather was dreadful, so we gave it up. But we heard the view if worth the hike.
The cable car is a nice alternative, but it is quite pricy.
Arctic Cathedral
Famous for its unusual shape, Tromsdalen Church or the Arctic Cathedral used modern architecture. Built in 1965 inspired by Artic nature.
Tromsø Bridge
While you are at the artic cathedral, you can see one of the main bridges reaching Tromsø. As Tromso, is on an island, 2 bridges connect it to the land and islands around.
Tromsø City Library and Archive
If like us, you have a rental car and parking on the tunnels. You will exit the parking lot at the Tromsø City Library and Archive. It is a nice place to see the local community, as well as using the free public toilet in it 😊
Tromsø City Center
The city center of Tromsø consist of a couple of streets regrouped around one main one. The city center is super cute with the old wooden houses and is the perfect place to shop for souvenir.
While we were there, we were lucky and got to see a bit of the reindeer race, a one in a year event.
The Polar Museum
As the weather wasn’t the best, we escaped to one museum. We opted for the Polar Museum where we learn about the local expeditions and life in the past in the region. It was quite interesting.
If you like museum, you can also consider perspective Museum, Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum
Tromsø Cathedral
In the middle of town there is a super cute Cathedral with local architecture.
Bryggejentene AS
Located on the island of Kvaløya, some 20-30min away from Tromsø, Bryggejentene AS is the best coffee shop around. Perfect to enjoy a teacup while admiring the Ersfjord. And if you cannot get a window table, inside is still super cozy. There is also an amazing store filled with beautiful cups and appliance. It was hard not to want to buy everything in it.
Sommarøy & Kvaløya
Kvaløya or Sállir is an island in Tromsø Municipality. At 737 square kilometers, it is the fifth largest island in mainland Norway, and it is the perfect place for a road trip. Follow the island coastal road to Sommarøy, an old fishing village where the open ocean really starts. There make a lunch break by one of the sand beach or have lunch at the Sommarøy Arctic Hotel Tromsø AS. Then head back to Tromso, using the road on the other side of the island.
Kattfjordeidet
Along the way, stop at a huge lake located on the side of the road. We are told that this is one of the best places to see the northern lights.
Tromso Wilderness Center - Dog sledding
The only experience we really wanted to have in Tromsø was the Dog Sledding. We opted for a self-driving tour from Tromsø Wilderness Center. We arrived on our own at 10h at the place which was not even 15min from where we stayed. There we check-in, received a pair of boots and polar clothes.
We then waited the bus from Tromsø. Once everyone there we got a small 5min course about sledding, how to break, safety measure and so on. We then went on our sledge. I started driving and Tina was inside. Beginning was a bit slow as we stopped a lot. Once we changed and Tina was driving it was better. But generally, it is a bit slow.
We then went back to the center where we learn some quick facts about the dogs. Those are Alaskan huskies and were bread by man a century ago to be able to do long distance sledge. There are a mix of Siberian huskies and other breads. There are super friendly and love men. They are super thin even though they eat a lot. The smarter one is in front, the stronger one in the rear. There isn’t an alpha dog. And so on…
We then went on cuddling them for 20min and saw the younger one as well. Lunch was reindeer stew or veggies couscous tabouleh, breads and chocolate cake with coffee, tea. It was yummy and you could take more than one portion.
After lunch we part ways. We talked a bit with our guide Noa which is actually a German season worker there.
STORHAUGEN (Hike)
One of the reasons we went to Tromsø was for nature and snow. That’s why we stayed some 2h30 from Tromsø, in the Lyngen Alps. There we went to a hike to Dalberget/STORHAUGEN.
The weather was open when we left, but soon after we started hiking, it covered and it started snowing. The beginning of the hike wasn’t easy as there were lots of water under the snow. We ultimately made it out the wet area and started going up. But the hiked are not well marked.
We then kept going up but off tracks making our own way up. Made a tea break as it was super steep. Every step our feet was going 30cm in the snow even with the snowshoes. At some point, we reached the tracks of 2 women with snowboard. We then followed them but then it again closed, and snow started heavily falling. So, we decided to head back down.
When we started, we noticed a small cabin, so we went to check it out. It was called the BBQ hut. There we met a Finnish woman that was waiting her friends that went snowboarding. We chatted a bit with here and eat something.
Those cabins can be used by everyone for free. You can set up a fire in them but need to bring your own wood. There is everything inside, a saw, things to clean or make a BBQ…
If you want to get the complete hiking guide of the Lyngen Alps, you can find it there.
Hike in Olderdalen or Kafjord
There are tons of hike to do around. Most of them are beautiful and going through Forrest up the mountains. When high enough, the view of the Fjord is breath-taking.
Northern light Road
This 620 km scenic road sweeps through Lapland beautiful nature. This is the road to take from Tromsø toward Finland to make your own northern light tour. (That’s the road tours are using). Follow it on a bright night or even a cloudy one. We heard that even with bad weather there is a chance to see the northern light by passing the border and enter Finland where the weather is generally less cloudy.
To check your change of northern lights, you can use the following apps:
- Forecast
- Windy
- Aurora Alerts
- My Aurora Forecast
While we were there, it was too cloudy, and we didn’t know about going to Finland so we missed them but in February they can be seen from 7pm to 5am.
While having lunch during our Dog Sledding experience, we sat with a French couple from Bordeaux. Super friendly, it was nice to chat with them. We learn that they saw northern light at the border with Finland. From that we understood what was the road taken by the tour. And it was near where we stayed. They also said that Northern lights are not green nor yellow but grey or white. The trick to see them is with your phone because it is easy to miss them.
If we knew that before!!! Seems like to see Northern lights you must go to Finland. The finish women we met hiking also told us that they saw them in Finland on their way to Norway.
More things to do in Tromsø Travel Guide
An amazing 6-day Tromsø Itinerary
Our itinerary was:
Day 0:
- Arrive in Tromsø
- Transfer to accommodation.
Day 1:
- Hike in the Lyngen Alps behind our cabin
- Enjoy the location.
Day 2:
- Hike in the Lyngen Alps, Dalberget
- Enjoy the location.
Day 3:
- Snowy day
- Enjoy the location.
Day 4:
- Road to Tromsø
- Explore Tromsø.
Day 5:
- Huskies Sledding
- Bryggejentene AS
Day 6:
- Road trip Sommarøy & Kvaløya
End Day:
- Return
Bedre en dårlig hest enn ingen hest i det hele tatt – Better a poor horse than no horse at all
