How to spend 4 days in Tromsø
By Two World Backpackers
Tromsø is a beautiful city located in northern Norway that attracts thousands of people every year as it is one of the best places to see the Northern Lights in Norway.
Did you know that it is well-known by two nicknames? Do you know which ones they are?
Being located above the Arctic Circle, it is known as ‘The Capital of the Arctic’. However, it is also known as the ‘Paris of the North’, and it is also a university city as it has the northernmost university in Europe.
If you are planning your trip to Tromsø and you want to know what you should not miss, keep reading to see what we did in four days.
Table of Contents
How to arrive to the city centre from the airport
First of all, we are going to tell you how to get from Tromsø airport to the city centre so you won’t go as lost as we were when we got there.
Right at the main door, you can catch the Flybussen, which is the airport transfer, and it passes every 30 minutes to take you to the city centre. The ticket price is 90 NOK. You can buy it at the machine at the airport exit or on the bus itself.
If, on the other hand, you go out through the right door that is right next to the car rental area, you will find the parking lot, and at the end, there is a bus stop where you can take Bus No. 40 or No. 42 that will leave you right in the centre of the city, which is what we did. You have to pay directly to the driver in cash, and the ticket price is: adults 50 NOK and 25 NOK children.
That said, here it goes what we did in four days:
Day One: Tromsø City
On the first day, we explored the city, which has many places to see.
As we were staying nearby, the first thing we visited in the morning was the Tromsdalen Church, better known as the Cathedral of the Arctic. However, it is not a cathedral itself, but rather a parish church that was designed by Jan Inge Hovig and built-in 1965.
After the cathedral, we crossed the Tromsø Bridge on foot that connects the islands of Tromsøya and Kvaløya through the Sandnessundet Strait to reach the city center. It was opened in 1960 and offers beautiful views of the city.
Right at the end of the bridge and at the beginning of the port, you will find the Polar Museum, which is one of the most emblematic museums of the city. It talks about expeditions to the North Pole, tells how hunters lived in the polar areas, and a bit in general about the Arctic.
- Entrance fee:
Adults: 50 NOK
Children: 25 NOK
Students and Seniors: 25 NOK
Polar Museum + Tromsø Museum: 60 NOK
- Opening hours:
From June 16 to August 15: from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
FromAugust 16 to June 15: from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
As we left the museum, we walked through the beautiful port of Tromsø with its wooden houses painted in several colours and took the opportunity to take some beautiful photos with the Arctic cathedral and the mountains in the background.
We kept walking until we reached the Northern Norway Art Museum. It is a museum of modern and contemporary art in which the entrance is free and where they welcomed us with some cookies and free coffee. It didn’t catch our attention since we are not big fans of modern art, but if you like this type of art, you will surely like it.
- Opening hours:
From Monday to Friday: from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Saturdays and Sundays: from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
When you leave the art museum, and right in front, you will find the Tromsø Tourist Office, where we bought the tour to see the Northern Lights the next day.
Finally, before going to the Airbnb for lunch, we went to see the Tromsø Cathedral, which is just down the same street, as we left the tourist office. This Protestant cathedral was built in 1861 and is the only cathedral in Norway next to Tromsø’s other cathedral, which is made of wood.
As Norway is quite expensive, we decided to buy a few things and go to the Airbnb to eat and rest a bit since later we wanted to go to the cable car to enjoy the sunset.
In the afternoon, we visit the Fjellheisen Cable Car located approximately 10 minutes away from the Arctic Cathedral, where we enjoyed impressive panoramic views of the city of Tromsø and the fjord along with the sunset.
For us, this was undoubtedly the best place in the city and absolutely essential if you travel to Tromsø. There is also a path where you can walk through Mount Fløya and there are even some benches where you can sit and stay for a bit admiring the views as we did, until we freeze so much that we went straight inside to the cafeteria that is in the same cable car station, since it is about 420 meters from sea level and we went in the middle of February.
- Ticket price: (these prices are for the round trip ticket)
Adults: 230 NOK
Children from 3 to 5 years: 120 NOK
Students: 210 NOK
Families (2 adults + 4 children): 520 NOK
Groups of more than 20 people: 210 NOK
- Schedule:
Monday to Thursday: from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Friday to Sunday: from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
To return to the center you can walk or if you are very tired you can take the bus 42 near the main road, however you can only pay in cash. The ticket price is 5 NOK.
Day Two: City Walk and Northern Lights Tour
The second day in the morning, we decided to go down to the centre and walk along the main street Storgata.
In this street, you will find several hotels, bars, restaurants, souvenir shops, and the Polaria aquarium.
We didn’t enter to Polaria, but it is the northernmost aquarium in the world that places special emphasis on exhibits for children.
- Ticket entrance:
Adults: 175 NOK
Children 3-16 years old: 80 NOK
Students: 90 NOK
Retirees: 105 NOK
Families (2 adults + 3 children): 395 NOK
1 adult + 1 child: 200 NOK
- Opening hours:
Every day from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Continuing along the Storgata street, you will find the main square called Stortorget, where you will see the city hall, the wooden Catholic cathedral of Tromsø, a statue of King Haakon VII of Norway, and an old music band.
Finally, we visited the Tromsø Library, although we didn’t enter. It was built in 2005 on an old cinema, and highlights its modern glass facades. It also has the characteristic of being the northernmost library in the world.
After lunch, we went on the Northern Lights hunting tour, which was the most impressive experience we have ever had.
If you want to know more about the tour, we leave you here the link to the tour blog post.
Day Three: Day trip to Sommarøy Island
For the last two days, we rented a car to see the surroundings. So we went early to pick it up and went on a day trip to Sommarøy island.
As always, we recommend renting the car with full insurance and looking very carefully at the small letter of what the insurance includes. Also, keep in mind that if you are not used to driving with snow, we recommend that if you want to rent a car, it is better to do it in the summer season. They tend to keep the roads very well in winter, and we had no problems as Andrés is used to driving in snow, but it can suddenly snow or have ice on the road, which can make the drive a bit difficult.
The island of Sommarøy is about an hour and a bit away from Tromsø and is a very touristy area due to its beautiful landscapes and white sand beaches. On the way, we stopped at Ersfjordbotn, which it is a small town with only about 499 inhabitants located on the northwestern coast of the Scandinavian peninsula with beautiful landscapes like these and where we returned at night to see the northern lights on our own, although they were not as impressive as the day before in the tour.
The beautiful landscapes that exist on the way to Sommarøy and on the island itself are impressive and a delight for any photography lover! It is, without a doubt, one of the things we liked the most about our trip.
Also, right on the way back to Tromsø, we could enjoy a beautiful sunset by a lovely lake just off the road.
Day Four: Day Trip to Lyngen
On our last day, we decided to do another day trip, but this time to the mountains of Lyngen. It’s about a 2-hour drive from Tromsø, and just like when we drove to the island of Sommarøy the day before, the landscape to Lyngen is spectacular.
You will not stop taking photos of its 1833 meter high mountains, its glacial rivers, the deep ravines, and its blue glaciers! Also, in Lyngen, there are many activities or tours that you will enjoy, and if you like skiing, you will be in paradise.
In both winter and summer, you will fall in love with northern Norway. We have yet to return in summer to enjoy the Midnight Sun since, in summer, it doesn’t get to be completely dark at night.
Tromsø will always be special for us, not only for having fulfilled one of our dreams, such as seeing the northern lights, but also for having been the first trip we made together outside of Spain.
Let us know what you think about our itinerary, if you would add or change something, or recommend a place in northern Norway. We would love to read you and get ideas for the next time we go.
