• Login For travel professionals • Content Licensing        

 

Tromsø Travel Guide

Print our full travel guide to Norway

Set in a magnificent landscape of dramatic snow-capped mountains with a rocky shoreline, Tromsø is a lively town characterised by unusual old wooden houses, street music, cultural events and the most pubs per capita in Norway. It is the capital of the north and a bustling metropolis in comparison to the surrounding fishing communities along the northern coast of Norway; it is also a vibrant university town.

Known as the ‘Gateway to the Arctic’ and situated within the Arctic Circle, the town is an excellent base from which to explore the surrounding area and has the greatest amount of Northern Light activity on earth, making it a sought-after tourist destination from which to experience the spectacular show of the Aurora Borealis. The Midnight Sun during summer is another strange phenomenon, when continuous daylight makes people forget to go to bed, and the winters experience a few hours of bleak twilight during midday. It is these extreme light conditions that hold the greatest fascination for tourists, regardless of the season, and make it such an intriguing place to visit.

There are several museums and other places of interest, a cable car to the top of one of the surrounding hills providing fantastic views, and boat trips into the fascinating landscape of the arctic fjords.