Tromsø, worth knowing.

Fun facts about Tromsø

1. 1From late November to mid-January, the sun stays below the horizon in Tromsø. It's not pitch black, though: around midday the city glows in a soft blue Arctic light.Source: Visit Tromsø; Visit Norway
2. 2Tromsø sits right beneath the auroral oval, the ring around the pole where the northern lights appear most often. Clear, dark nights give you a real chance to see them.Source: Visit Tromsø; Tromsø Geophysical Observatory, UiT The Arctic University of Norway
3. 3The flip side of the dark winter: from late May to late July, the sun never sets in Tromsø. That's the midnight sun, with 24-hour daylight.Source: Visit Tromsø; Wikipedia
4. 4Tromsø's nickname is the 'Paris of the North'. In the 1800s it was a busy trading town, and visitors were surprised to find locals wearing the latest fashions straight from Paris.Source: Visit Tromsø; Wikipedia
5. 5Every 21 January, Tromsø celebrates 'Soldagen', Sun Day, to welcome the sun back after the polar night, with sun buns and hot chocolate.Source: Visit Tromsø; Arctic Norway
6. 6Tromsø has been a home base for northern lights science for nearly a century, and researchers here are still studying the aurora today.Source: Visit Tromsø; Store norske leksikon

Things to do in Tromsø

• ◦Ride the Fjellheisen cable car about four minutes up to Storsteinen, 421 metres above sea level. The whole city spreads out below, and on clear winter nights it's a popular spot to watch for the northern lights.Source: Fjellheisen; Arctic Norway
• ◦The Arctic Cathedral, opened in 1965, is a bold piece of modern architecture inspired by Arctic nature. It's lit up after dark, and you can catch a concert inside.Source: Visit Norway; Arctic Norway
• ◦Polaria is an Arctic aquarium and experience centre in a building shaped like ice floes pushed ashore by the Arctic Ocean. Say hi to the seals!Source: Visit Tromsø; Nordic Visitor
• ◦Step into the Polar Museum, an old wooden building on the harbourfront, for stories of Arctic expeditions and explorers like Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen.Source: Visit Tromsø; Visit Nordic
• ◦Wander past the old wooden houses in Tromsø's centre. The oldest documented one, at Skansen, was built around 1790, before Tromsø even became a town in 1794.Source: Visit Tromsø; Wikipedia
• ◦Head out of the city lights on a northern lights trip. You need clear, dark skies, so there are no promises, but the chase is half the fun.Source: Visit Norway; Visit Tromsø

Questions to bring to Tromsø

From Sojourn's journeys. Ask one over a long dinner or on a slow walk, and let the place do some of the work.

Going together

• When do you feel most like yourself?
• What does rest actually look like for you?
• What is one thing you wish we did more of?

Going solo

• What is the first thing this place is showing you that you didn't expect?
• What does this version of you know that the home version tends to forget?

More destinations

Algarve · Amalfi Coast · Aruba · Azores · Barcelona · Basel · Budapest · Cinque Terre · Copenhagen · Curaçao · Dolomites · Évora · Florence · Hiroshima · Hokkaido · Kanazawa · Kobe · Kyoto · Lake Como · Lisbon · London · Madeira · Mount Fuji · Nara · Nassau · New York · Okinawa · Osaka · Paris · Porto · Prague · Punta Cana · Rome · San Juan · Santorini · Sicily · Sintra · Strasbourg · Tokyo · Tuscany · Umbria · Venice · Vienna