Are you planning a trip to Tromsø and looking for the best tips for your daily itinerary?
Here’s a travel itinerary, based on our trip. We have included everything we can recommend in this beautiful part of northern Norway. Including addresses of good restaurants and cafés. The best spots to see the Northern Lights in the city of Tromsø itself, and nearby islands.
Hopefully, this daily schedule can help you create your own perfect itinerary!
Day 1
Depending on what time you arrive in Tromsø, all options are open. If you have rented a flat, it is smart to go shopping immediately. Supermarkets are normally open until 23:00, except on Sundays. Do you like chocolate? Then buy a Kvikk Lunsj, a delicious Norwegian chocolate bar, similar to KitKat.
The evening is the ideal time to stroll along the harbour and soak up the atmosphere of this port city. You might even see the Northern Lights here!
Want to increase your Northern Lights chances on a clear night? Then take the bus to Telegrafbukta beach.
Other fun things to do:
👉 A visit to the sauna ‘Pust’ (first photo) – will you dare to jump into the ice-cold water afterwards?
👉 Learn all about the Arctic you’re in at the Polar Museum
👉 Have a cocktail at The Magic Ice Bar
Tromsø accommodation tips
The Radisson Blu Hotel is located on Tromsø harbour, right in the centre, but without noise pollution. This is the ideal base as the meeting point of excursions is always in this area. Booking early can pay off!
Prefer a flat? Then check out Enter Viking, which rents out flats at a reasonable price.
Day 2
The next day is the ideal time to get to know the city. Stroll through the city centre which is full of colourful, historic, Empire-style wooden houses.
Do you like museums and old legends? Then the Troll Museum might be for you. Using augmented reality, you will be immersed in Norwegian folklore.
Your first taste of reindeer meat really shouldn’t be missed today. Rockets Bar & Pølse is ideal for that. For around €5, you’ll eat a reindeer hot dog in a cosy setting.
To guarantee seeing the Northern Lights on this trip, it’s handy to take an Aurora Chasing Tour today. Okay, it’s not a guarantee. But the chances are very high in winter.
Thanks to the large, local network the tour guides have, they will drive to where the Northern Lights are visible at that time. So you significantly increase your chances of ticking off your bucket list!
When we did the Aurora Chasing Tour, there was a snowstorm in the Tromsø region. They drove us to the border of Finland where the clouds cleared, and we saw the Lights for the first time.
When the Northern Lights do become visible in Tromsø itself, the tour will take you to a beautiful place where you can photograph them. The tour guides will also take a portrait of you with the Northern Lights in the background.
There is a choice between bus and boat tours. You can cancel them free of charge up to 24 hours in advance if your plans change.
Day 3
Time to meet the huskies at the dog kennel!
You will be picked up from the city centre and driven to the dog kennel in Kvaløya.
There you will get a warm thermos suit and boots. You can also put your valuables in a locker.
After a word of explanation, you get to drive your own dog sled. A super fun sledding adventure you really don’t want to miss. After sledding, it’s time for lunch and then you can play and cuddle with the huskies.
Want to eat in town in the evening? If you are hungry for a tasty burger, we can recommend Burgr. In this little restaurant, you will be completely immersed in the 80s/90s gaming world. You can even play old video games there.
Prefer something fancier and you’re a fan of seafood? Then Arctandria Sjømat Restaurant might be for you. We haven’t been here ourselves, but the restaurant is known for its excellent, local seafood.
Feel like looking for the Northern Lights yourself afterwards? Then Lake Prestvannet could be a good location. Accessible on foot or by bus from the city centre.
Another beautiful Aurora spot is Lake Rundvannet. This beautiful lake is definitely worth a visit and also easily accessible by bus.
Even if you don’t see the Northern Lights, these are fine spots for hiking.
Day 4
Sledding with huskies is a real must-do, but so is snowmobiling.
This tour will take you to the Lyngen Alps. A beautiful area for snowmobiling. First, you’ll get detailed information on how the snowmobile works in a cosy, wooden house. Then you get thermal clothing, a helmet, gloves and boots. The two of you get on the snowmobile and ride (or glide?) through the snowy landscape.
Sometimes you stop to admire the beautiful views and hear old stories about Norwegian trolls in the mountains, while enjoying hot chocolate. Once back at the cottage, you will be given soup and bread and can warm up a little more.
You can recover from this amazing day in Tromsø’s oldest pub, Ølhallen. Here, you can sample one (or more) of Norway’s 72 draft beers. By the way, this brewpub belongs to Mack, the northernmost brewery in the world. An extra reason to have a pint (or two) there!
You have many more pubs in town, of course. In fact, Tromsø has an exceptional number of pubs when you consider the number of inhabitants. Tromsø is therefore a real university town. Like 16,000 students ensure that this city has a vibrant nightlife.
👉 You can book the snow scooter excursion here
👉 The website of brewpub Ølhallen
Day 5
Lapland and reindeer, it belongs together. During this excursion, I realised how little I knew about reindeer. For instance, I thought the ‘blood’ on a ‘broken off’ horn was pathetic. Turns out these horns just fall off and grow back by themselves. And so we found out lots of other interesting things. Especially about the Sami culture, how these people used to live in this snowy landscape.
When you arrive at the Sami camp, you stand on a huge piece of land with about 300 reindeer. You can feed as many as you like, just let the reindeer eat from your bucket. Then, if you want, you can take a short ride on the reindeer sleigh.
Then it’s time to have lunch yourself. You will eat in a typical, Sami lavvu tent and two Sami will tell you about their culture with accompanying ‘joik’, a traditional song.
In the afternoon, you’ll be dropped off back in the city centre, which is ideal for exploring the last few highlights of Tromsø.
For instance, it’s fun to see the Arctic Cathedral -its official name is Ishavskatedralen, up close for its unique architecture.
Afterwards, you can go up Mount Storsteinen by cable car Fjellheisen. Here you get a great view of Tromsø and other islands. You can take a long walk to Tromsdalstinden, or go to the various viewpoints.
If you are hungry or just want to warm up, you can visit the restaurant next to the cable car. Be sure to stay until the sun goes down, as the view of Tromsø becomes even more beautiful when the lights in the city come on.
If there is strong solar activity and a clear sky, this is a very nice place to see the Northern Lights.
👉 You can find the Sami & reindeer excursion here
👉 Check the Fjellheisen cable car website in advance, they don’t open in bad weather.
Day 6
Tromsø is a nice city to stay in and is ideal as a base for all excursions. But if you like nature, you really should also go to the surrounding islands for a few days.
Through Sunnycars you can rent a car without hassle and with full insurance. You then pick it up at the airport, you can easily get there by bus.
Kvaløya and Sommarøy are two beautiful islands to explore. In these places, there is no light pollution, so also perfect for spotting the Northern Lights on a clear night.
Tips and options in Kvaløya:
👉 Hiking the beautiful Ørnfløya trail
👉 Taking a beach walk on Sandviksletta
👉 Going for a drink at café Bryggejentene AS because of the beautiful view
Accommodation tip
Buvik Sea Lodge is an accommodation with great views! If you are looking for a place where you can really unwind, this is your place. You have your own little flat with views of the sea, the mountains and an idyllic jetty.
You can use the sauna and jacuzzi, and they offer an Aurora Wake-Up-Call.
Day 7
Sommarøy is a small island with many small beaches with clear water. Everywhere you will see cute, red, wooden houses. Like Kvaløya, Sommarøy is a place not yet discovered by mass tourism.
Tips and options in Sommarøy:
👉 Staying overnight or eating at Sommarøy Arctic Hotel Tromsø
👉 Want cheaper food? You can at the little restaurant ‘Anne-Grete Jensen Havfrua Kro‘
👉 Kajaking off the coast of Sommarøy
👉 Taking the ferry to the island of Senja
Alternative
Prefer to stay in the city? And are you here between mid-November and late January? Then you can go orca and humpback whale spotting! Check out the excursion here.
Day 8
This amazing trip is over, and it’s time to head home. Enjoy the scenic route to the airport and take enough time for this. We stopped a few times along the way because we saw a bald eagle, otter and moose. Thus, we almost missed our flight 😉
If you have extra days, we definitely recommend staying longer on one of the islands, or go further to the island of Senja. If you go to Senja, be sure to check out this hotel where you can see the Northern Lights at night from your own, glass bungalow.
Do you have more than a week left? Then it’s worth checking out the Lofoten Islands.
A last word…
We thought a trip to the north would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience because we feared the cold. But it wasn’t that cold, actually! We will go back to Lapland again, that’s for sure. We fell in love with the nature. And the Northern Lights…, we just want to see more of them!
Did you get anything out of these tips, or do you have any questions? Be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of this blog! We wish you lots of fun in this winter wonderland!
