City guide · 3 walks · 30 stops

Trondheim

Name: Trondheim guide
Brand: Nordwalk Guides
SKU: trondheim
Price: 69 NOK
Availability: InStock

Nidaros, the wooden wharves and Bakklandet, the fortress climb on the four-hour route, and the fjord path out to Lade.

Trondheim was Norway's first capital and is still the country's pilgrimage city — the medieval routes north all end at Nidaros, and the cathedral built over Saint Olav's grave is the largest medieval building in the country. What surrounds it is a low, wide, wooden town in a bend of the Nidelva, laid out on avenues broad enough to stop a fire spreading and now broad enough to make the centre unusually easy walking. Forty thousand students keep it from being a museum.

Going ashore

Ships come alongside at Brattøra, on the harbour front north of the centre, and the walk in crosses the rail yard on a footbridge and lands you at the top of the old town in about ten minutes. Nidaros is fifteen minutes further down Munkegata, straight and flat the whole way. The one climb in the guide, up to Kristiansten, is deliberately saved for route B, the four-hour walk.

The walks

01
The cathedral loop
4.2 km · 2 hours · 20 m up
Down through the centre to Nidarosdomen and the Archbishop's Palace from outside, over the Old Town Bridge into wooden Bakklandet, and back along the wharves. Eight stops, no ticket, never more than 20 minutes from the ship.
02
Cathedral, fortress and the wooden town
6.5 km · 4 hours · 70 m up
Route A with the doors open and the hill climbed: Rockheim on the way in, 45 minutes inside the cathedral, the fortress above Bakklandet for the view, and Solsiden for lunch. Twelve stops.
03
The fjord path to Lade
11 km · 6 hours · 60 m up
The centre in the morning, then east along the river to the fjord shore and Ladestien — a coast path of coves, a swimming bay and the Ringve music museum in a manor with a garden — and the bus back. Eight stops.

What's inside

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

0230 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

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

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

Trondheim 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

Nidaros Cathedral
Archbishop's Palace
Stiftsgården
Gamle Bybro
Bakklandet
Kristiansten Fortress
Trampe bicycle lift
Solsiden
Munkholmen
Rockheim
Ringve
Ladestien

3 routes · 30 numbered stops · 38 pages

When to go

May to August is the long-light half of the year, and late May to early September is the only time the Munkholmen boat runs; the island monastery-turned-prison is listed as the add-on it is. Ships call from April to October, and in the shoulder months the fortress lane can be icy and the coast path mud, so the snow variant keeps to route A and the interiors. Saint Olav's Wake at the end of July fills the cathedral precinct with a festival and the town with people — good to be in, bad to be in a hurry through.