City guide · 3 walks · 36 stops

Tromsø

The wooden town, the Arctic Cathedral and the cable car, with the walk over a bridge that is shut to cars until November.

Tromsø sits on an island 350 kilometres inside the Arctic Circle and is far more of a town than that suggests — a university, a working harbour, painted timber houses and more bars per head than anywhere else in Norway. The centre is small and flat, the two things everyone photographs are on the mainland across the bridge, and the light is the real subject: for two months there is none, and for two there is nothing else.

Going ashore

Two berths, and which one you get changes the day. Quay 8 at Prostneset is in the town — the cathedral on Storgata is eight level minutes from the gangway — but it is 300 metres long, so bigger ships go to Breivika, quays 24 and 25, three kilometres north and not a walk anyone enjoys. From Breivika it is the ship's shuttle, about ten minutes and usually kr 150 return, set by the ship; the city bus is the fallback, kr 50 single or kr 30 off-peak, which on weekdays means 09:00 to 14:00 — most of a shore call. Tromsøbrua is closed to cars until November 2026 but the walkway has stayed open through the works, so the cathedral and the cable car are still on foot from the centre.

The walks

01
The wooden town on the island
2.4 km · 2 hours · 25 m up
The centre on foot: the wooden cathedral, Storgata, the library, the warehouses at Vervet and the rampart at Skansen. Seven stops, all outdoors, no queues, no hills.
02
Across the bridge, up the mountain
6.8 km · 4 hours · 80 m up
Route A with the Polar Museum inside, then the walk over Tromsøbrua, the Arctic Cathedral, and the cable car to Storsteinen at 421 m. Ten stops and the view the town is famous for.
03
The whole island
9.8 km · 6 hours · 90 m up
Route B, then south past the Mack brewery to Polaria — and, if your ship stays until 16:00, the Arctic university museum and the beach at Telegrafbukta, with the bus back.

What's inside

01Three timed walking routes2, 4 and 6 hours — built around cruise arrival times.

0236 numbered stopsWhat to look at, what it costs, how long to stay.

03Printable route mapsEvery stop plotted at its real coordinates, with the joins marked indicative.

04Eat & coffee shortlistFive places on or beside the route, chosen for being open when a ship is in.

Look inside

Tromsø guide, page 3: picking a route by how many hours you have ashore — p. 3 — choose your route

Tromsø guide, page 4: Route A — distance, climb, timings and a route map — p. 4 — Route A, with map

Tromsø guide, page 5: the numbered stops on Route A, with times and what each costs — p. 5 — the stops, in order

Pages 1–6 are in the free sample. 38 pages in the full guide.

What the guide covers

Prostneset
Storgata
Tromsø domkirke
Tromsø bibliotek
Verdensteatret
Perspektivet Museum
Polarmuseet
Skansen
Vervet
Tromsøbrua
Ishavskatedralen
Fjellheisen
Storsteinen
Sherpatrappa
Prestvannet
Macks ølbryggeri
Norges arktiske universitetsmuseum
Folkeparken
Telegrafbukta
Sydspissen
Polaria

3 routes · 36 numbered stops · 38 pages

When to go

The polar night runs from about 27 November to 15 January — the sun does not clear the horizon at all, the bridge is unpleasant, and the guide cuts every route to the centre: route A only, half again as long, with ice grips on your shoes. Midnight sun runs from about 18 May to 26 July, with snow on the Storsteinen ridge into June and no darkness and no northern lights for the whole of it, whatever is on sale at the quay. August is the guide's pick of the months — warmest water, fewest visitors, everything still open — and from September the evenings are dark and the aurora possible again, though wind and rain decide the day and every route should be shortened by a third.