Since I have seen the advertisement for the Tromsø Midnight Sun Marathon, somewhere in 2017, I knew that I need to see the wonderful Nordic city. Truth being said, it is not an easy path from Bucharest, considering from our airports it is hard to reach too many destinations. Thinking about all the time, I have given up the idea to run the marathon, for now, but picked up a plan to visit it, Tromsø, in the wintertime. I know there is one of the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights and it is something I need to mark on my wish list. The plan is for New Year’s Eve 2022-2023, but the plane tickets went far too expensive, so my beautiful girlfriend has a brilliant idea: let’s postpone it by two weeks. Great tip! And I strongly recommend you, for the time being, to consider visiting Tromsø outside the holiday season, but into the deep winter to have the best experience you can get. Now, from many European countries it should be far easier to arrive there, but if you want to travel from Romania, this is the flight you need to take:
- flight operated by LOT (Polish Airlines) from Bucharest, with two connections, at Warsaw and Oslo –> departure at 05:30 AM Romanian time and arrival at 13:20 PM Tromsø time. For return, departure at 13:50 PM Tromsø time and arrival at 01:40 AM Bucharest time. The fare is here, and it is selected for 14-18 December 2023, as we stayed only four nights. Still, the prices are quite high 625 EUR, whilst, for travelling between 12 and 16th of January 2023, we have paid only 360 EUR each. You can get it for this price!
What bus to take from the Tromsø airport
OK, now the trip is set… what next? Well, first advice is to take a line bus, not necessary the shuttle. Why? Well, you’ll learn that Norway and in particular Tromsø are fucking expensive. I mean the shuttle was exactly at the exit, so we took it when we arrived, but it cost 125 kr., which means somewhere 12-13 EUR, which is huge. Especially that the trip is very short and especially that the regular bus is only 38 kr. a trip. Preferred lines are 42 and 40, but it is true, you need to walk somewhere between 200 and 300 meters to grab one. The conditions of travel are the same, you will learn later why, but a bit of effort might save you some valuable money. Of course, if you are not short of cash, you can leverage a bit of comfort, but from my experience, at 13:20 PM, it is not worth it to pay 9 EUR more for 200 meters. 🙂 Your choice! Install their both applications, for bus ticketing and for bus schedule and you will be safe for the stay.
Tromsø, the fairytale winter town
First impression? When we get down the bus, for our accommodation, in Smart Hotel Tromsø, the idea, when next to the northernmost Hard Rock Cafe in the world, is simultaneous: “Wow, this place looks exactly like those quite small winter fairytale towns”. Indeed it does! Tromsø seems wonderful from the start, in a permanent twilight, present in January. Actually, during our stay here we experience fully the polar night, with the exception of the last day, when the sun shone a bit. On 15th of January is the first sunrise of the year. Well, sunrise… Of about… 35 minutes! This is something. Still, until that sunrise, let us concentrate on the marvelous present and start our soft ascent to the hotel. Located around 150 meters from the bus station, our temporary home seems nice. Quite expensive, but still cheaper than it could have been. For 130 euro / night in a 9m2 room you don’t get too much, but it is a cozy place.
Smart Hotel Tromsø can be a good idea
To get the 130 EUR / night around, we have reserved a four night stay through Booking.com. But being here and checking the similar room can get at 200 EUR / night so… Now you might understand better why the advise to keep some EUROS, whenever you can, was brought to light. You have most facilities in the room, but it is very narrow and doesn’t have too much place to store your clothes and also the window doesn’t open. One more minus is that there are no room slippers, which you would expect for this amount of money. Oh, and there is no cleaning! I mean not every day, OK, got it, but not even on Saturday, when they claim they should have clean the room. Overall, though, for people that are staying very little inside while in a vacation, it should do. In the city center, close to everything – LOL, as if Tromsø is very big – and that is enough or…
Expensive breakfast still, but free coffee! Anytime!
Or! One big plus is the free every time coffee and tea, but especially coffee! As learned, Norway is the biggest coffee consumer in the world, after Finland, and they sure know what is important in life! The breakfast at Smart Hotel is not very cheap either, around 20 EUR / person, which means almost three times more comparing to what we have paid to a B&B in Paris! But you can have free coffee at any moment of the day and the coffee is really, reaaaaally good!!! They have also tea, milk, soy milk, almond milk, everything. Also, for 9 EUR you can get some lunch packed. We don’t try it, but it looks fairly good, as an option. But if you are into coffee, like us, then this place is a blessing – even though I am positive many, if not all Tromsø hotels offer this black facility. It is just here we encounter the Norwegian pure hospitality.
First visit in Tromsø, the bridge and Arctic Cathedral
So much for the accommodation, but before pointing out effectively what to do in the white heaven near the Polar Circle, I should warn you that the infrastructure here is crazy! Underwater tunnels and also tunnels beneath the whole Tromsøya island – the main part of the city – tunnels that are so big, they have connections and even roundabouts, something that is unimaginable in many parts of the world, like Romania, for example. Also, the bridge that connects the island to the suburb of Tromsdalen with its magnificent Arctic Cathedral – which is actually a church, but became very popular because its special shape – is a landmark and it was built in two years. Between 1958 and 1960 (!!!). This is just an appetizer, so for you to know where are you going to travel from the airport – I actually didn’t notice initially, because it was dark outside, so I couldn’t figure it out there is a tunnel, especially considering the roundabouts.
Hard Rock Cafe Tromsø in the purest Christmas location you can imagine
As pointed above, use the city bus with faith, as they are very good and frequent. A 24 hours ticket is around 10 EUR, which is fairly good for such a place. But where to go to? Our first intention is to cross the bridge, see the cathedral and go for a city center tour. The city is between events, an important winter running event and a film festival, very popular, and so it acts accordingly. The Christmas lights are not shut down, even though it is mid-January, so therefore the Christmas spirit is well implemented yet. After this tour we stop for a first dinner at Hard Rock Cafe and make the plan for the next visit here and for the souvenir shop. We have some time to spend in the city in the first day, but since we didn’t sleep at all before flying, our energy is quite low so afte a few more strides we go into the room for a proper preparation of the next 36 hours and some well deserved rest.
Well-deserved rest before two important adventures
We sleep very well, the bed is comfortable and the window, exactly on top of it, even if it doesn’t open, offers a marvelous view of the snowy houses from the back of the hotel, that are aligned on a random uphill charming street. Of course, the polar night persists, but unfortunately we encounter windy rain and snow and we get quite soaked in our initial walk. It is not that pleasant, but we prepare for the best that is, for sure, yet to come. Because of the high prices, we reserved only two trips in Tromsø and one is consumed in this very Friday 13th January evening. Hmmm… The purpose is to visit a Alaskan Husky farm – which is not actually a real breed, but a crossed one for best results as sledge running dogs purpose, so they are not particularly great looking, but still remain very cute! 🙂 – and after we see and pet the dogs, a dinner awaits us, some stories about the northern lights and, of course, the hope that this unique phenomenon will appear in front of our eyes.
Petting the huskies and eating good soup!
Actually, the northern lights view was one of the key reasons for which we chose Tromsø by winter and our hopes are real. Just when we arrive, at 18:00 – everything froze, because of the earlier rain – we are informed that there are chances to see the light. Furthermore, the guide, a German big young guy from… Berlin (!!!) tells us that a night before there was a beautiful one and even the pink version, which is particular rare. No worries, we didn’t caught that, but while petting the huskies, we hope for the best. The food is good, I mean the bacalao soup tastes great, we have boots and warm clothes already provided so now we wait, at a marshmallow, some coffee and biscuits to see it and… yet, the northern lights appear! The trip cost more than 100 EUR / each, but it was well deserved. Everything went perfect and, since it is 22:30, we area heading back to Tromsø, because actually the trip was somewhere 30 minutes from the town.
Friday 13th, the Northern Lights in Tromsø!
Where is this happening? Check it out on Get Your Guide. Now, being back in the city, we are experiencing something read before our trip, from a Norwegian guy that said the northern lights can be seen also very good from Tromsø directly, if the sky is clear, so no need to go far away. It is a northern lights evening so we go to the port, when arriving people are already gathered and we identify very easily the Aurora Borealis! Especially one very, very green episode, that prove the guy right. It is a full northern light night for sure and our experience is magic. In the first evening and in the next two we didn’t experience anymore, but to catch one out of four nights, at this intensity, it really is impressive! What next? Reindeer! A trademark here and also another trademark, the Sami culture which, at some point, coincides with reindeer. The next trip is in the morning at 10:00, same departure place, only a bit north, at a reindeer Sami farm.
Reindeer, Sami and… freezing temperatures!
Another experience with cookies, hot drinks and lunch – reindeer stew! – but this isn’t all! We get the chance to feed the reindeer – always keep the bucket in your hands, don’t try to feed them directly because, even they look like warm friendly creatures, they are quite strong and when they are hungry can hit you, as we were close! Anyway, you are getting a bucket with whateveristhatgreenstuff to feed them as much as you please and, at the end, before the stew, there comes the chance for a 10 minutes sledge ride. Exactly like Santa Klaus – Sami, though, don’t like Santa in particular, it seems. Of course, we take tons of pictures of these apparently calm creatures, but we capture two that start fighting. Their horns are incredible strong so you don’t want to get hit so just be precocious! At the end, because outside is -11°C we gather in front of a fire for Sami stories and for eating! The Sami have a nice culture and because it doesn’t make to much sense to start spreading their word from our “meeting”, you can find some wonderful details on this link.
Troll Museum from Tromsø, one of a kind in Norway
Sami people and reindeer have a very special relationship and one interesting thing I’ve learned is that when they kill an animal, to not bring bad luck, they need to consume as much as possible from its body, regardless if for food, clothing, weapons or anything else. Makes complete sense, but for them it is a rule. Reindeer cannot breed more than one cup so, in case the female has two, because of the very few milk, abandons one. Also, when a baby and his mother are attacked, seems like the mother runs for her life and leaves the “infant” behind. Some interesting stuff, with which, for sure, we are not accustomed when we here stories about any other animals. To have this wonderful experience, please check, also on Get Your Guide. We picked also this experience, it is only 14:00, so we have still more to explore in this wonderful city and the next stop is… the one and only, soul such museum in Norway: the Troll Museum! The entry is not that cheap, around 14 euros, but we decided to have a shot.
Polar Museum… well, not that great, but we went for the tunnels after!
Trolls are one of the cultural traditional flavors of Norway, so being here, couldn’t allow us to avoid this piece of contemporary art. In the end, I can say the experience worth the time so, go for it. You won’t have the occasion to visit this kind of museums too often. Visiting the Polar Museum, though, is not that of a great experience. I mean, we are trying this as well, we learn some interesting things about the local nordic life style, but this is for you more if you are into these kind of things. The ticket here is 10 EUR, not very cheap, but, considering the Norwegian lifestyle, it is fairly good. Where to next? Some picture sessions, in “strategic” places and, of course, we are contemplating to see the town from far above. Until then, though, I want to see the underwater tunnels entrances. We need to take a bus until the Tromsø university, the northernmost in the world, and there we can see something unimaginable for many places in the world.
- this is not in particular an objective to visit, but if you wish to see it and even to go through it – which I didn’t manage, because the dedicated buses that go through the tunnels from the University to Tromsdalen are circulating only in a certain time interval, because it is a school bus – you can consider:
Tromsø from high up Fjellheisen
Leaving behind this desire of mine personally, in which we are enjoying, though, some tall fresh snow, the preparation for the last full day in Tromsø is on the way. The epilogue cannot be anything else then a full view from the top of Fjellheisen, on the whole city. Initially, the plan is to go by foot, but the snow is very thick, our spikes are not that generous so since it would be a nightmare to travel this way we agree in tacking the cable car. It is not cheap, around 33 EUR / each for a round trip, but for sure, comparing to many parts of Europe, like Madeira for example, the price is fair. And the experience, itself, wonderful. Our dream to catch the northern lights once more, from the top is not happening, but we can catch some great pictures and we enjoy 60 minutes above Tromsø. The location is on Tromsdalen and, just for your information, in case you are not in the mood to cross the bridge by walking, then you can take bus 26.
No beer in Tromsø, no drinking!
Our journey is near to its end, but we fulfill one last thing: a second dinner at Hard Rock Cafe Tromsø, when we also buy some great souvenirs. In between these milestones, we ate nice sausages, chocolate or other specialties, and also missed in drinking beer. Why? Because the beverage is highly expensive, even in the markets – the cheapest is 3 EUR – twice as expensive comparing to a non-alcoholic beer in general! – which shows a purpose of discouraging people to drink. The purpose is reinforced that no supermarket sells alcoholic beverages after 20:00 in a weekday, after 18:00 on Saturdays and on Sundays… not at all, if I understood correct! So, if you want to silently enjoy a beer in your hotel room – we could not drink in the lobby anyway, you need to consider the schedule. In Norway, at least in Tromsø, is not like in Denmark, where you don’t have any problem in drinking a beer while walking. More to come about this subject.
What a great place to be in: Tromsø!
Bottom line, folks, Tromsø is a must do in your life time, especially in the winter season. You will find impressive cultural prints, stories and interact with great people, you can drink tones of coffee – for free! – you can experience an infrastructure that you cannot see anything in the world, can state that you have seen the northernmost University and Hard Rock Cafe, have the privilege in seeing the Norther Lights – some facts about, if you are not specifically familiar – and also interacting with wonderful creatures like huskies and reindeer! We will return there, for summer time at least and two other close locations are on the list. About those… well, let us see them first and maybe we can offer some good tips afterwards! For now, go to Tromsø! You can end the trip, as we did, in the last half of the day spent there, in the first sunrise of the year. A timid one, indeed, but… the first of 2023! 🙂
