Winter in Tromsø: A Perfect 3 day Itinerary
It’s time for another familial guest appearance on the blog, and this time it’s from Travelling Mum. Travelling Mum (and Dad) were dreaming of some winter sun, and planning a break for January to escape the cold in England. They couldn’t find anything they liked, so whilst I’m not quite sure what logic was applied in between, they somehow ended up jetting off to the Arctic Circle to visit Tromsø, the largest city in northern Norway.
It proved to be so much colder than England, that actually returning to England felt like the warmth they needed so I suppose the logic worked somehow. Whilst in Tromsø, they had lots of adventures and I’ve used their photos and experience to pull together a perfect 3 day itinerary for a magical winter break to best enjoy the magic of the city.
Let’s go!
What you need to know about Tromsø
How to get to Tromsø
The easiest way to get to Tromsø is by air, with direct flights from London Gatwick, and lots of connecting options via Oslo and Bergen, two of Norways’ main travel hubs. You could also combine Tromsø with a longer Norway visit, and connect in via train or boat from other northern Norweigan towns and cities.
Language, Currency & Time Difference
The national language is Norweigan, but English is very widely spoken. Currency is the Norweigan Kroner (not the Euro), and the time difference to the UK is +1hr.
Temperature in Tromsø in winter
January is the coldest month of the year, and temperatures can dip to -14 °C (7 °F), however the daily average temperature in Tromsø during winter are relatively ‘mild’ for its location and ranges from -5°C up to 0°C. You will definitely need to pack warm clothes including base layers, thermal everything and very strong and sturdy gloves. Many tour companies provide the outer suits, but you need to make sure you’re well protected underneath.
Tromsø’s location is very favourable for snowfall, which is quite frequent during the winter months. The highest depth of snow is usually seen in April and in April 2019, the snow reached an impressive height of 150 cm (60 inches), while in April 1997 it reached a staggering 240 cm (95 inches).
Light in Tromsø in winter
During the winter in Tromsø, nights are long. Sunrise is around 9-10am, and sunset is around 2-3pm. It means there aren’t many hours of light in the day (and even during day time the sun never rises fully and properly), and you have to factor that in to your plans. That said, the permanently rising or setting sun during daylight hours creates gorgeous colours in the sky.
A Perfect 2 day Itinerary
Day 1: Polar Fjord Cruise, Cable Car
Polar Fjord Cruise
Start your time off in Tromsø with a cruise on the fjords. They are truly beautiful in winter with the sky lighting up all kinds of colours in the low morning and evening light. Mum and Dad sailed with Capella, who offer a variety of cruises, and chose the Polar Fjord & Fishing Cruise option (they didn’t catch anything!) which lasted from around 10am-3pm.
On the cruise they saw a sea eagle and a moose, and were served a home made salmon soup by chef Thomas, as well as having free coffee tea and biscuits all day. Also along the way they passed old tunnels in the mountains leading to hidden storage areas used during WW2!
It was so cold on the cruise that it was hard to take photos, and they had to really layer up – but the views were beautiful and they loved the experience, being one of their favourite things to have done in Tromsø.
Fjellheisen Cable Car
To finish off the day, head up the cable car for amazing views out across Tromsø. It’s so beautiful, especially with all the twinkly lights below. There is also a nice little restaurant at the top to stop and enjoy some food or drink.
Day 2: Dog Sledding, Polar Museum, Northern Lights Tour
Dog sledding
This morning, start the day with another unique experience – husky sledding. This was again one of Mum and Dad’s favourites of their stay, being picked up from their hotel and taken around 30 minutes outside of the city to Tromsø Villmarksenter, home of the Arctic huskies.
They went on a sleigh with Sarah (the drivers of the sleighs are known as ‘mushers’), pulled by 10 dogs. Each litter of dogs is named after a film or books and Mum and Dad’s were Game of Thrones themed and called things like Stark and Drogo! I love that the dogs even get little boots to protect their paws.
The rides are super fast as the dogs are used to racing and can easily run over 500km in competitions. The route was beautiful and scenic with a permanent sunrise on the horizon. You also get to go to the kennels and meet the huskies, as well as receiving hot drinks and some cake around a firepit. A truly magical winter experience.
Polar Museum
After arriving back in Tromsø for around 1pm, there is time to spend the afternoon exploring the Polar Museum, which is well worth it to learn more about the area. The museum covers so much history, including trapping seals, polar bears, Polar expeditions and so on (the favourite item was the ancient chess set). There is also a lovely little shop on site, and it was a nice place to warm up from the cold for an hour or two.
Northern Lights Tour
To finish off the day, it’s time to head to see what the area is most famous for – the Northern Lights! Now full disclosure, this is the text I received from Mum “Northern Lights what an anti climax and a con”.
To the naked eye for Mum and Dad, they looked like a pale long thin grey line, and only through the camera did they look green! Now, it was later learned that if there is an electromagnetic storm you can see the colours with the naked eye, but mostly they look like grey clouds.
Day 3: Tromsø Town, Reindeer Ride
Tromsø Town
Spend your final day exploring Tromsø itself. It has a beautiful old town area and lots to offer – make sure you see Tromsø harbour, the church, cathedral, alpine botanic garden and some of the museums (you can choose from the troll museum, art museum and various others).
It’s easy to spend a good few hours taking in the town and enjoying some tasty hot cocktails as you go – don’t miss Raketten, Tromsø’s smallest and most historic bar! You may also want to visit Polaria, the world’s most northerly aquarium where you can feed the bearded seals.
Reindeer Ride
Finish off your Tromsø trip with another special Arctic experience – a night reindeer ride! To be honest, the reindeer rides are a bit of a tourist trap, but are fun to do nevertheless. You get to feed the reindeer, ride around in the sleigh pulled by them for a short circle, and then have an evening meal in a hut whilst learning about the Norwegian Sami culture. The Sami information was really interesting, and learning about the history and modern life trying to preserve the culture was fascinating.
Have a little Longer?
There are so many activities to enjoy in Tromsø, so here are some more ideas if you have longer than 3 days. Please remember you can’t fit loads in to one day because of the daylight hours!
Snowmobiling
Again, full disclosure – Mum and Dad didn’t love snowmobiling because they were hard to steer and quite a few people did come off them, plus the travel distance was long to get there. However if you’re confident to give it a go, then it is a fun adventure. Mum and Dad went with Best Arctic to the Lyngen Alps and (sort of) enjoyed a day jetting around.
Other Boat Cruises: Whale Watching, Northern Lights Catamaran Cruise
It’s worth mentioning that my Mum and Dad had a few other activities booked in Tromsø which haven’t made this list because they were cancelled. They had a whale watching cruise planned, but the sea was too choppy to go out. They also had a Northern Lights Catamaran cruise planned but cancelled for the same reason. Looking at the reviews online, these look like amazing options of ways to spend a day in the city and see something a bit different.
Sommarøy
Sommarøy is so unbelievably beautiful and if you’re visiting Tromsø and have some time to spare, it’s worth a night or two to enjoy its hiking, beaches and views for a couple of days. It’s here you can also go sea kayaking.
All in all, Mum and Dad had such an experience visiting Tromsø, and learnt and enjoyed so much. Their highlights were the husky sledding and the boat cruise, and the northern lights were a disappointment. The hardest thing about the trip was the cold – having to be wrapped in so many layers for so long, and not being able to take photos or do things freely was difficult. The fact that taking gloves off even just for a few minutes led to frost bite, and that it was permanently freezing to the bone, made it less enjoyable though was an experience in itself.
What do you think of Tromsø and this Arctic adventure? Would you like to do it? Thanks so much to Mum and Dad for sharing their photos and opinions – stay safe and happy travelling everyone!
