norway

Of all the things I wanted to do in Tromso in winter, visiting the ice and snow hotel in Tromsø — the Tromso Ice Domes — was high up on my list.

I mean, a hotel that’s entirely constructed of ice and snow, rebuilt each year in the middle of a frozen-over valley above the Arctic Circle?

What’s not to love?

No, I’m asking seriously — I never found anything… except for maybe the high price, but hey, this is Norway — what do you expect?

However, there’s one critical factor to keep in mind that may take some people by surprise when planning their visit to the Ice Domes.

While the ice hotel may be called the Tromso Ice Domes, it is most definitely not in the city of Tromso… but rather a 90-minute drive away.

Yes, it’s nearly a hundred kilometers away from the Tromso city center, which necessitates either renting a car or booking a guided tour in order to visit this epic snow hotel in Norway’s north.

Since I’ve done this day trip myself, I’ve written this guide to visiting the Tromso Ice Domes.

This post will break down how to exactly to visit this popular attraction in Tromso, giving you several options for how to do it.

At first I was a little stressed on how to plan this, because there were several options and I wasn’t sure which was the best to choose… but I ended up being happy with my choice.

Luckily, no matter which way you choose to visit the Ice Domes outside of Tromso, it’s very easy to do so.

Though it being Norway, be prepared to spend a pretty penny no matter what way you pick!

This post was originally written in February 2020 after my Tromso Ice Domes visit. It has been updated multiple times to reflect impacts of the pandemic on tourism in Norway, as well as changing availability and costs of visiting the Ice Domes. As of January 15, 2024, this article was heavily overhauled, with a complete update and fact-checking, so that all information is current.

What is the Tromso Ice Domes?

Ever heard of the Snowhotel in Sweden, not far from Kiruna and Abisko? This is Norway’s version!

The Tromso Ice Domes is a hotel made entirely of ice (yes, entirely!) outside of the city of Tromso… but like I mentioned above, it’s pretty far out, an hour and half’s drive away from Tromso city center.

It’s a relatively new attraction, as it first opened for the winter 2017-2018 season, but it’s been running like a well-oiled machine since its establishment.

Quickly, it became one of the must-do winter excursions in Tromso, and with good reason — it’s absolutely epic and memorable, even for just a quick day visit.

If you have more than two days allocated for your Tromso winter itinerary, I definitely think the Tromso Ice Domes warrant a visit as part of that plank.

Is the Tromso Ice Hotel Really Made of Ice?

Yes! The Tromso Ice Domes hotel is constructed every year from scratch, and when you visit, you’ll learn how on an information video shown in their ice cinema.

As I learned in the video they showed us, it takes about one month to construct the snow igloo hotel.

Each year, a team of dozens of builders use several thousand tons of ice from a nearby river in order to build the ice hotel…. all in the pitch-black embrace of the polar night.

The actual structure is constructed by blowing up giant balloons to create the ‘dome’ structure.

After that, then the ice blocks are built up around the balloon dome. They are then melted together in order to create the solid ice structure that you see when you visit.

Another cool thing about visiting the Ice Domes, Tromso’s only snow hotel, is their art.

Each year, they invite local artists and ice carvers to create ice sculptures for the interior of the hotel, with a new theme each year.

But how stable is the Ice Domes? Is it safe to stay in a snow hotel? Won’t it melt if the temperature rises too high?

The Ice Domes are built to be sturdy and handle minor, temporary fluctuations in temperature.

Put simply, it’s not going to fall apart after a few days above zero.

Structurally, the ice is 3 meters thick on the outer walls and about a meter thick at the top (you don’t want the ceiling to fall in, after all!).

Despite how it may initially sound, the Tromso Ice Domes are actually an incredibly roomy structure.

It’s not a cramped igloo-like structure at all, but very spacious on the inside, with several rooms to wander around.

On the interior, basically every single thing is made of ice!

Yes, basically everything from the chairs and tables in the restaurant to the ice bar itself to the bed frames.

Of course, no one expects you to sit or sleep on ice: seating surfaces are covered in reindeer pelts, Sámi-style, in order to keep you warm.

But what happens to this Tromso ice hotel at the end of the season?

For safety’s sake, the Ice Domes are purposely demolished at the end of the season.

Though being made entirely of ice, they would just melt away as summer set in on Northern Norway, so it’s quite eco-friendly!

For the current winter season, the Tromso Ice Domes are open from December 20, 2023 to April 9, 2024.

How to Get to the Ice Hotel in Tromso

The most popular way to visit the Ice Domes is via a guided tour, going via a daily shuttle bus which departs from Tromso’s city center.

This is the exact tour I took, which I highly recommend — aside from the Tromso husky safari tour, it was the definite highlight of my winter trip to Tromso.

You can skip the shuttle bus and go independently via rental car and show up at the Ice Domes to take a tour.

However, I don’t recommend planning to rent a car in Norway in winter unless you are a very experienced winter driver, as the road conditions can be quite treacherous for the inexperienced.

Without a car, a guided tour using a dedicated shuttle bus is the only way to get to the Tromso Ice Domes.

Unfortunately, despite Norway’s robust public transit system, no public buses or trains will take you here.

If you want to make the most of your time, you can also combine a visit to the ice hotel with an activity.

For the best time, I’d suggest this combination Ice Domes tour and dog-sledding tour which is my absolute favorite activity in Tromso.

For vegans, people afraid of dogs, or those who want to skip animal tourism activities, you can try this combo with a snowmobile tour!

These activities booked through the Ice Domes are organized via Camp Tamok, an adjoining Arctic winter activity center that hosts activities like husky sledding, reindeer sledding, and snowmobiling.

If you have a short trip to Tromso and want to fit in as much as possible, doing a combo tour is a great way to combine two bucket list Tromso activities into one day out.

Personally, I think dog sledding is the most fun and most unique activity to do while visiting Tromso in winter.

I’ve dog-sledding three times and this upcoming winter 2024, I actually have two more dog sled tours booked, one in Rovaniemi as part of my winter Finnish Lapland itinerary and another when I return to Tromso in February.

That’s how much I love dog sledding!

In my honest opinion, reindeer sledding is a little boring by comparison (hardly an adrenaline rush, and a reindeer butt does not make the most scenic view).

Plus, you can snowmobile almost anywhere, but very few places have the history of dog sledding that Norway does, in my opinion!

What You’ll See at the Tromso Ice Domes: My Experience

Wondering what a tour of the Ice Domes is like? Here’s my brief rundown of the itinerary based on my visit.

The tour of the Tromso Ice Domes lasts about two hours, and you’ll start off in their Ice Cinema, watching a brief but fascinating mini-documentary about how the Ice Domes are constructed.

It’s quite a way to start the tour: the Ice Cinema is a gorgeous introduction to the Ice Domes, a lovely, beautifully-lit amphitheater-style room made entirely of snow and ice… with the exception of reindeer pelts to sit on.

Learning about the effort involved in constructing the Ice Domes while sitting inside of the fruits of that intensive labor is a really cool (pardon the pun) experience!

Following the video presentation and a quick briefing of what’s to come on the Tromso Ice Domes tour in the Ice Cinema, you’ll visit the rest of the ice hotel, starting in the ice bar-and-restauarant.

Here, you’ll enjoy a welcome shot to bring you into the Ice Domes in style!

When I went, either an alcoholic or non-alcoholic option was provided, but as of my 2024 update, I see now that they only offer non-alcoholic options as per the website.

It was really fun to drink up in a cup made entirely of ice from the ice bar, while sitting at a table made of ice, sitting on ice chairs! (How many times can I fit ice in a sentence? A lot, apparently.)

There are some cool (the puns never stop with me, I’m sorry) decorations in the ice bar.

The year I went, there was a very Instagrammable ice throne which everyone got really excited to take pictures in.

Insider Tip: From my experience visiting, I suggest waiting to sit in the throne and taking shots of the ice bar/restaurant until you have free time to explore the ice hotel after you see the ice rooms!

That way, you’ll have fewer crowds to contend with and it’ll be far easier to get some good photos here.

Next after the ice bar area comes the part you’ve probably been the most curious about — the ice hotel bedrooms themselves!

As with the rest of the property, the rooms are made entirely of ice as well, right down to the bed.

But hey, this is a luxury stay, not a prison: while the bedframe is carved from a block of ice, it has a lovely and plush mattress, covered in reindeer pelts to add warmth.

If you decide to splash out on the bucket list adventure of spending the night in an ice hotel, don’t worry about warmth.

A thermal sleeping bag and plenty of warm accessories will help you get comfortable and sleep through the night.

After getting briefed on the ice restaurant and ice guestrooms and have an idea of what it would be like to spend the night here, you’ll have about 40 minutes at leisure to explore the Ice Domes and enjoy a meal.

I recommend taking photos to your heart’s content before heading over the warm room, where a delicious lunch awaits.

I had a delicious bowl of creamy fish soup, and it came with unlimited coffee or tea.

Fish soup and coffee? Norwegians will pair anything with coffee! With the amount of sunlight you get in winter in Tromso, I honestly get it.

Looking at the most recent tour offering for this 2024 update, it looks like you have your choice between a stew (most likely meat-based) and soup — so be sure to ask based on your dietary preferences what is available.

Note that Norwegian fish soup is often cream-based so it’s not a suitable option for those with lactose intolerance.

Also note that the meat stew offered on these tours is often made of reindeer… so be sure to warn the kiddos if you think that might be upsetting to them.

You’ll also have a chance to briefly visit and feed the reindeer their favorite treat – some sweet, sweet lichen – should you want to while you’re visiting the Ice Domes!

They’re so adorable and friendly, and they’re definitely domesticated and acclimated to interacting with humans so little ones (and animal lovers in general) will be psyched at their interest.

This is a great way to tick meeting reindeer off your bucket list if you don’t have time to go reindeer sledding or visit a Sami reindeer farm.

Though I also do recommend those activities, as it’s a great way to learn about Sami culture.

After your free time, it’s back to the bus, where you’ll head back to Tromso via some of the most beautiful roads you can imagine… truly!

I’ve never minded a 90-minute commute less than on my way to and from the Ice Domes.

Staying Overnight at the Tromso Ice Hotel

It’s not just a fun place to visit on a day trip: the Tromso Ice Domes is a true ice hotel that you can spend the night in, should you have the funds.

And it’s an epic one, set way out in the Tamok Valley where the Northern lights often roar overhead, far from light pollution… which is why it makes our list as one the best Northern lights hotels in Norway!

So, if money isn’t an object, you aren’t limited to just a day visit — you can actually stay the night in this ice hotel.

You can spend the night here — and hopefully catch the Northern lights dancing overhead on their nightly photography tour and snowshoe walk!

At over $1,600 USD a night for an overnight stay for two, it was well out of my price range, even if I had found someone to split the bill with.

While the price is high, note that it does include transportation, meals, and several activities, which are all costs that add up a la carte.

But if you’re visiting Norway for a special occasion, you’re just generally a baller, or you really are living that YOLO mindset, you may want to splurge on staying the night!

If you’d like to stay at the Ice Domes, you can book here which covers the full experience!

If you do opt for the overnight experience, it includes a guided tour of the Ice Domes, welcome drinks, and dinner cooked on a campfire while out in the Norwegian wilderness.

You also get to take an evening snowshoe tour with the possibility of Northern lights photography.

The next day, you’ll have breakfast and a morning self-drive husky sled ride before getting your transfer back to the Tromso city center.

Is it worth it? Let’s break it down.

Independently and per person, a guided tour costs about $150 USD, dinner in Norway costs about $50-100 USD, a snowshoe tour would cost $150 USD, a night in a hotel costs about $200-400 USD, and a dog sled tour costs about $200 USD.

Using the median cost for each of those figures and calculating for two people sharing a room, the cost of all those activities would be $1,400 USD for two people… which makes staying at the Ice Hotel only an additional ~$250 USD or so.

It’s still quite an expensive activity, but if you plan to visit the Ice Domes during the day, take snowshoe and dog sled tours, and can check out of your hotel for the night in order to not pay double accommodation costs… it’s actually not as crazy a cost as it appears on its face.

It’s still out of my price range personally, but it’s not a bad deal.

As with most tours and excursions in Northern Norway, if you need to borrow any warm clothing or equipment, this can also be arranged with the hotel.

The hotel will also provide everything you need to sleep warmly, including expedition-strength sleeping bags.

Theese keep you so toasty warm that you can sleep in only thermal underwear!

Can You Visit the Ice Domes Independently?

Yes and no — you have to book a tour in order to see the Ice Domes, but you don’t necessarily need to take their transfer.

If you are renting a car on your trip to Tromso, you can arrive at the Ice Domes independently.

I would not rent a car specifically to do this with the idea of saving money, but it may be worth it if you are visiting other places in the area or you are visiting the Ice Domes on the way to somewhere else, like Alta.

As per their website for the 2023-2024 season, you can take a guided tour for 1211 NOK ($113) for adults and 606 NOK ($56) for kids aged 4 to 11.

Note that kids 12+ are counted as adults, and kids 3 and under are free.

The guided tour is at noon daily and includes lunch at the restaurant. You can (and should) pre-book here.

Since you’re in charge of your own transfer, you can stay around the area for a while after the tour is over, meeting their reindeer, walking around the premises, etc.

This is one benefit to doing a self-guided visit as opposed to taking the transfer, since you don’t have to rush to catch the shuttle back to Tromso.

I did feel like my Ice Domes visit was a teensy bit rushed, and I would have preferred about an extra half-hour to tour the area, since some of the free time was taken up with lunchtime.

What to Bring to the Tromso Ice Domes

Inside the Ice Domes, the temperature is kept a constant -5° C / 23 °F due to the insulating effects of the ice.

Even if it is much colder outside, it will always be -5° C inside, so you don’t have to worry about a sudden cold snap making it uninhabitable.

As a result, you’ll want to dress fairly warm for the day, though you’ll want to dress in layers as the bus you’ll take to the Ice Domes will be heated quite warmly.

I recommend wearing a thermal top and underwear/leggings, jeans or snow pants and a sweater on top, a warm down jacket as your outer layer, and cold weather accessories (hat, waterproof gloves, and scarf).

I also strongly recommend bringing crampons, which are little spike traction slip-ons for your shoes, as the area around the Ice Domes can ice over and get quite slippery!

If you’re not sure what to bring and you need more guidance, I have all the winter clothing and products I recommend listed on my Norway winter packing list.

Of course, you’ll definitely want to bring your camera as well for all the amazing photos you’ll take during your stay.

A cellphone works, but a proper camera with the ability to use manual settings will definitely come in handy with dealing with the low-light conditions inside the Ice Domes.

If you’re staying overnight, you’ll want to also bring an overnight bag, including whatever toiletries, medicine, a change of clothes, etc. that you would need for an overnight stay.

How to Book Your Tromso Ice Domes Visit

On a budget but don’t have a rental car? The basic guided tour plus transfers is the way to go.

Want to add a little adrenaline to your day and make your trip a bit more memorable?

Opt for the dog sledding add-on and Ice Domes visit for a special experience, or a snowmobile ride and Ice Domes visit!

And for the most memorable experience of all, an overnight stay in the Tromso Ice Domes is one for the bucket list.

If you have a rental car and plan to visit the Ice Domes independently to save a few bucks on the shuttle cost, you can book it via the website here.

Allison Green

Allison Green is a former teacher who has been travel blogging since 2016. She has a Masters in Teaching and a B.A. in English and Creative Writing. Her blog posts merge her background as an educator with her experience traveling to 70+ countries to encourage ethical, meaningful travel. She has been a speaker at the World Travel Writers Conference and her writing, photography, and podcasting work has appeared in National Geographic, CNN Arabic, CBC Canada, and Forbes, amongst others. Now a full-time traveler, she has lived in Prague, Sofia, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

eternalarrival.com

Tromso in winter is an absolute wonderland: a pristine city center, glittering freshly-fallen snow, glimpses of the aurora winding overhead.

There’s no shortage of charms this Arctic City, aptly nicknamed “The Paris of the North” for its cultural prominence, has to offer.

You’d think a wintry city near the top of the world, above the Arctic Circle, would be rather sleepy, but Tromso in winter proves otherwise.

Winter is Tromso’s peak season, where people from all over the world flock to see winter in its purest form.

Depending what month you visit Tromso in winter, you’ll either have some or no daylight.

That’s because Tromso experiences the “polar night”, a 6-week period where the sun never reaches above the horizon, from November 27th to January 15th each year.

I wanted to be able to have a bit of sunlight to my days, so I planned my Tromso winter trip for early February and it was perfect.

In fact, I loved it so much that I have a return trip to Tromso planned for February 2024!

Once the sun finally makes its reappearance, the days lengthen rapidly, and I was enjoying plenty of sunlight and lots of hours to look for the aurora!

I’ve gathered 30 incredible things to do in Tromso in winter, but I know that may be overwhelming for some people who have a limited amount of time in Tromso.

Therefore, I’ve structured the post to list my top 10 favorite things to do in Tromso first, then I break it into extra Tromso activities — foodie, cultural, and adventure — which you can add to your Tromso bucket list as you see fit.

If you want to see how this looks spread over a period of 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 days, check out this 1-5 day Tromso itinerary for the winter.

I traveled to Tromso in February of 2020, right before the pandemic hit. I have edited this post several times since to reflect changing restrictions, attraction availability, entry requirements etc. This post was updated on December 29, 2023, and it will be updated again upon my February 2024 visit.

10 Best Things to Do in Tromso in Winter

Chase the Northern lights with experts

Of course, the main reason people visit Tromso in the winter is for a chance of glimpsing the magical Northern lights!

However, it’s not quite as easy as you’d think. You may imagine that the Northern lights swirl overhead like a never-ending light show going on all night… yet unfortunately, that is very rarely the case.

I was lucky enough to see the Northern lights three times during my week in Tromso: a tiny, minute glimpse on a night sailing tour, once from my Airbnb in Tromso, and a wild show on my Northern lights tour (I went with this company).

I highly recommend going with the same company as I did for several reasons.

For one, they truly went above and beyond to ensure we got to see the Northern lights properly, which meant driving all the way past the Finnish border and setting up camp in the one place that didn’t have cloud cover.

We stayed for quite a while, eating fire-roasted sausages (reindeer, pork, and vegan options) while sitting on reindeer pelts out in the snow.

We drank cocoa and coffee to keep warm by the fire as we waited for the Northern lights to resume their dance.

Every so often, the guide would call out to us that the lights had returned and were dancing again in the sky.

Once they were out, he’d arrange for Northern lights portraits (like the above picture of me looking like the Marshmallow Man who attacks New York City in Ghostbusters — which is entirely not his fault but the fact that I was wearing both a parka and a thermal suit…)

I’ll be honest: you can try seeing the Northern lights on any selection of tours, like dog sledding and reindeer sledding tours.

That said, I did several night activities hoping I’d get a glimpse of the lights, and on almost all of them, I had a fantastic time doing the activity but saw (almost) no lights.

So if the Northern lights are on your Tromso bucket list, don’t settle for anything less than a true Northern lights tour or you might end up disappointed.

I also rounded up all the different types of Northern lights tours in Tromso here, with my personal experience from 6 of the 11 different tours — check it out!

Go dog-sledding with an enthusiastic team of huskies

Dog sledding is my favorite thing in the world!

I first tried it in Abisko when I visited in the winter of 2016, and I couldn’t wait to do this on my trip to Tromso this winter.

It’s truly a breathtaking and spectacular experience, one that’s a lot more work than it seems if you opt for the self-driving experience!

I tried out a variety of dog-sledding tours in Tromso: a daytime self-driving tour was my the first dog sled experience I did in Tromso, and I loved it!

Since I loved my driving my own dog sled in Abisko, so I knew that was the way I wanted to go in Tromso, too.

I hadn’t try a musher-led tour before and I wanted to see what the difference was for my readers, so I also did a nighttime guided dog-sledding tour — but they also ofter daytime guided sled tours as well.

When I say guided, I mean someone else drives (or mushes) and you just sit back in a sled and enjoy!

For me personally, I had more fun self-driving — it’s more active and the rush of wind at your face as you help your dogs man the sled is just incredible.

You get your heart racing and pumping as you see the incredible fjord scenery all around you and you really feel like you’re part of the pack as you help your dog team manage the sled!

Check out this self-driven dog sled tour here!

However, for many people, I think they would enjoy a guided tour better.

It’s a far better option for families traveling with younger children (the minimum age is 4 for guided tours, as opposed to 7 for self-driving tours).

It’s also better for those who are not very physically fit as self-driving is far more active than you imagine…

Just think: you’re running to help push a sled in shin-deep snow!

Also, for those who are a bit anxious about dog-sledding, I’d suggest a guided sled ride.

Check out details of the guided sled tour here!

But if you have a keen sense of adventure and are at least mildly fit (I’m no picture of health, but I managed perfectly fine), you definitely ought to try a self-driving sled ride… it’s a trip of a lifetime.

Personally, it’s my favorite winter thing to do in Tromso.

And whichever tour you choose, you’ll be given plenty of pup cuddle time!

Go whale watching in the waters outside of Tromso

Whale watching in Tromso is atop many people’s Tromso in winter bucket lists… but there’s a lot to consider when planning whale watching as part of your Tromso itinerary.

First thing to consider is when in winter you are going. If you are visiting Tromso in November through January, you are almost guaranteed to see whales on your whale watching tour…

Of course, remembering that this is a wildlife excursion and there are no guarantees in nature.

However, by the end of January, the whales tend to leave the Tromso area. I was able to snag the last day of whale watching excursions when I arrived on February 5th….

Unfortunately, the excursion was canceled as the whales had already migrated out of the area!

So if whale watching is high on your Tromso list, be sure to visit during whale season and don’t assume it’s all winter long like I did.

Another thing to consider is the significant time investment that whale-watching in Tromso requires.

The whales used to feed in the Tromso fjords, but now they no longer go there, and instead go to Skjervoy… which is about a 3 to 4-hour boat ride from Tromso.

You’re talking about 7-8 hours of boat travel time in order to have about 2.5 hours of whale watching time… a trade-off I think is well worth it.

That said, if you have a very short amount of time in Tromso or if you’re very prone to boat sickness, this may not be the excursion for you.

I recommend this hybrid-electric catamaran cruise, with the same company I did a wildlife and bird fjord safari with.

Visit a Sámi reindeer camp

The Sámi people are an indigenous people who live in the far north of four countries: Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Russia.

Their history in the Nordic lands goes back millennia and they are the original people of the Arctic north.

The Sámi people have herded reindeer for centuries, moving large herds of reindeer around Northern Norway to forage and living nomadically.

Now, many Sámi reindeer herders make some money during the harsher winter months by bringing their reindeer down from the north to reindeer farms outside of Tromso.

Climate change is making it harder for the reindeer to find food naturally up in Northern Norway in winter.

These farms serve a dual purpose of providing Sámi people a good income from tourism during the winter months — something they were historically shut out from — and ensuring the reindeer have plenty to eat during the winter season before they get brought back up north to graze in Sámi lands.

On the farm, you’ll get a chance to hand-feed reindeer, go reindeer sledding if you want, try reindeer stew (or a vegetarian option if that’s a bit too on the nose for you), and listen to a Sámi reindeer herder share his story and the history of Sámi people.

If you’re wondering if reindeer sledding in Tromso is ethical, I would say yes, in the same way that horseback riding is.

Reindeer have been domesticated by the Sámi people for thousands of years, trained to traverse huge distances and yes, pull sleds.

Using reindeer for tourism as opposed to animal agriculture is a relatively new phenomenon, but these reindeer are domesticated and the behavior of pulling a sled is not unusual for them at this point in their evolution.

This is the exact company I went with and highly recommend it!

Everything about the day was magical, and I enjoyed my reindeer sled ride (though dog-sledding is definitely a bit more ‘high-octane’ fun!).

They also offer the same activity but at night if you want to try to spot the Northern lights or if that just fits into your itinerary better!

I was really impressed by our Sámi storyteller!

He was so passionate about preserving Sámi culture but also acknowledging how the culture has changed — such as herders using drones to herd their reindeer.

He was quite young, very open and honest, and not afraid to touch upon important issues like bigotry and anti-Indigenous sentiment.

It’s important to be aware that Norway has historically been quite oppressive of the Sámi population — same as other Nordic countries.

Many state-sanctioned measures attempted to erase Sámi history from Norwegian culture through forced assimilation measures (Norwegianization or Fornorsking av samer).

These practices included prohibiting the teaching of Sámi language or culture in schools, banning Sámi clothing, stripping away land ownership rights of Sámi people, and even separating Sámi children from their families to be sent to boarding schools elsewhere in Norway.

This legalized form of cultural genocide continued into the 1980s.

Measures have been taken to atone for Norway’s horrible treatment of the Sámi, including reparations, an official apology, and a truth commission to further acknowledge the extend of what the Sámi experienced.

While Norway is making strides towards better treatment of their indigenous people, it’s important to note that anti-Sámi bigotry continues to this day, with Sámi people being assaulted for speaking their native language in public.

It’s important to be aware of Sámi history as we enjoy Northern Norway, their ancestral lands.

Visit a stunning Ice Hotel for the day — or night!

The easiest way to visit the Tromso Ice Domes is via a guided tour and shuttle bus which departs from Tromso. 

This is the exact tour I took, which I highly recommend — it was a definite highlight of my time in Tromso.

Unless you plan to rent a car when in Tromso in winter, a guided tour with a dedicated shuttle bus is the only way to get to the Tromso Ice Domes as public transportation will not take you here.

The Tromso Ice Domes are not actually located in Tromso city, but rather about 100 kilometers away in Tamok Valley… but it’s well worth a side trip during your time in Tromso!

Your standard Ice Domes tour includes watching an informational movie about how the hotel is built each year at the ice cinema, an ice shot of local juice at the ice bar, guided tour of the ice hotel, visit with the reindeers, and a meal with coffee and tea.

The most popular package is to combine a visit to the Tromso Ice Domes with a snowmobiling ride through the stunning Tamok Valley where the ice hotel is set.

I was aching to do this, but unfortunately, the snowmobiling portion of the tour requires that you have a valid driver’s license in order to operate a snowmobile, and mine just expired, so I was unable to do so.

However, if you can, I highly recommend bundling the Ice Domes and a snowmobile ride as the area around the ice hotel is truly spectacular and I wish I had more of a chance to explore it.

The priciest but most unique way to experience the Ice Domes is by staying in it overnight — but it won’t come cheap. Check prices here.

It’s definitely worth it for a special occasion, but it’s out of most people’s — including mine! — price range.

Sail into the fjords at night for a shot at spotting the aurora

How does sailing away past the city lights through a glassy fjord in search of the Northern lights sound?

If you answered “pretty darn magical,” I’d say you’re spot on.

I took a sailing and Northern lights trip that I booked on Manawa during my time in Tromso and it was an absolute delight.

We weren’t super lucky with the weather, but we did spot a glimmer of Northern lights… which I hastily snapped with my smartphone, because by the time I got my tripod out, it had already gone.

Regardless of only seeing a brief glimmer of the lights, I had an amazing time sailing… mostly because the crew was so lovely, making sure we were warm, well-fed and caffeinated, and comfortable.

We ate a delicious fish soup — truly the best I had in my week in Norway!

I must have eaten at least 5 bowls of fish soup and drank tons of tea and coffee to stay warm.

I truly enjoyed the scenic cruise and seeing the city lights as we entered and left Tromso harbor, even if the Northern lights didn’t cooperate so well!

Catch a concert at the Arctic Cathedral

The Arctic Cathedral in Tromso is located in Tromsdalen, across the bridge from the more touristic part of Tromso.

It’s an easy and beautiful walk over the bridge from downtown Tromso, but you can also take bus line 28 from Tromso center.

You can visit the Arctic Cathedral during opening hours like for a 70 NOK (around $6.50 USD) entrance fee.

Their winter opening hours are from 1 PM to 5 PM on all days except Wednesday, which is from 2 PM to 5 PM.

But if you’re visiting Tromso in winter, I recommend trying to see one of their Northern Lights concerts — if you can stay up late enough one night!

You’ll have to check their calendar for dates, but the most are in December.

Take the cable car for sweeping views over Tromso

Also in Tromsdalen is the Tromso cable car (Fjellheisen), which offers you sweeping views over the city of Tromso and the fjord landscape.

Views here are simply remarkable!

You can visit independently as I did: return tickets are NOK 225, about $21 — not bad for Norway prices, and definitely not bad for those amazing views!

You can hike around the area for some incredible scenery, but be sure to wear proper shoes with crampons as it can get quite icy and slippery here.

After you’ve walked around a bit and checked out the views, you ought to stop by the cafeteria for a delicious Norwegian waffle and a cup of coffee!

Prices are surprisingly reasonable — they are standard Norwegian prices (so not budget) but not inflated for the view.

Take a bird and wildlife fjord cruise

While I couldn’t go whale watching during my time in Tromso in winter, I was able to go on a wildlife and bird safari through the fjords of Tromso and it was incredible!

During the 5 hour cruise (this is the exact tour I took), I was able to see an amazing array of wildlife from the boat.

In that time, I spotted seals, otters, dolphins, and even Norwegian sea eagles which are truly incredible (no whales, though — they stopped visiting the Tromso fjord area long ago, even in ‘season’).

The cruise included a fantastic lunch with fresh Arctic fish and warm drinks, plus they had insulated bodysuits in case you were cold…though I was pretty toasty warm in the parka I packed for Norway!

Other Active Winter Things to Do in Tromso

Go snowshoeing

With only a week in Tromso in February, I had to make a few cuts to my original Tromso itinerary.

Unfortunately, that meant I missed the chance to go snowshoeing while in Tromso last winter.

However, I’ve down snowshoeing before in Swedish Lapland when I was staying in Abisko in winter and I absolutely adored it!

It’s a lot of fun, but it’s a surprisingly difficult workout.

It’s also important to note that unless you are picking a well-trodden trail, it’s better to only snowshoe with a guide.

With as much snow as there is in Tromso, some places are not safe and are at risk for avalanches, so be sure to go with a licensed guide and never do anything crazy like try to hike up to the Tromsdalen cable car by yourself!

Not sure who to go with? I did my nighttime dogsledding with Tromso Wilderness Center and absolutely loved it.

I’d heartily recommend their tour company for snowshoeing with huskies to keep you company or any other excursions!

Check out their snowshoeing with huskies tour here!

Try your hand at snowmobiling

Alas, another thing I didn’t get to do on my trip to Tromso in February — this time not because of time.

Rather, it was because my driver’s license expired in December before my trip began, and I didn’t have time to renew it before leaving for Tromso!

I wanted to add on a snowmobile excursion to my trip to the Tromso Ice Domes (which you can do here) but it also would have been fun to take an aurora snowmobile ride!

Book an epic aurora snowmobile ride here!

Go cross-country skiing

Norwegians love cross-country skiing — it’s a super popular activity in Tromso!

It’s not something I’ve ever tried… I’m uncoordinated enough without two planks of wood strapped to my two left feet.

If you enjoy skiing but aren’t planning to do any downhill/alpine skiing on your trip to Norway, you may want to give cross-country skiing a try!

This cross-country skiing activity is beginner-friendly and comes with everything you need for a fun day out cross country skiing!

Try your hand at Arctic fishing

If anyone in your group is a fan of fishing, you can’t miss a chance to fish Arctic-style!

Enjoy the beautiful winter dawn colors in Tromso as you enjoy a peaceful day out fishing with local fisherman who have handed down the secrets of the best fishing spots from generation to generation.

And the best part? Whatever you catch, they’ll cook for you on the boat! It doesn’t get fresher than that.

Try your hand at arctic fishing on a luxury catamaran!

Cultural Things to Do in Tromso in Winter

Get cultured at Northern Norway Art Museum

For a small city of about 70,000 people, Tromso has quite a bit of local culture that’s well-worth exploring.

This city has several world-class museums that give you a better sense of Tromso beyond the Northern lights and dog sledding activities which, while fun, are admittedly quite touristy!

One of the best places to dive into Tromso’s culture is the Northern Norway Art Museum (Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum).

This art museum features artists who were from Northern Norway or made Northern Norway the subject of their art.

My favorite part about seeing these beautiful paintings was seeing the use of light done by these artists.

Nordic light is like no other, dreamy and creamy in winter with so many pastel tones, and brilliant and vibrant under the midnight sun.

It has so many shades and tones you won’t see in other art around the world, and it was really cool to see.

There was also some really cool Sámi sculptures while I was there, and it was great to see their initiative in showcasing more Sámi art, which has historically been shut out from Norwegian culture.

Admission to the Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum is reasonable – around 80 NOK or about $9 USD – and it’s a must for any art fiend.

Allow about an hour or two to peruse the museum, depending on your pace.

Peruse the free exhibits at Perspektivet Museum

They say Norway is expensive, and they’re not wrong, but one of the great things about Norway is that many museums are free or rather affordable!

The excellent Perspektivet Museum is always free, and it’s well-worth visiting to see a more contemporary side to Norwegian art.

When I visted the Perspektivet Museum, there were a few different photography exhibits focusing on different aspects of Norwegian life.

When I visited, the theme was “Homo Religious”: all about mankind’s different relationships with religion and the many forms that took even in a small place like Tromso.

I was surprised and pleased to see such diversity showcased in Tromso, and it was really interesting to see how people have come to this unique corner of the globe and brought their religion and customs with them.

It answered questions I never knew to ask, like how do Muslims who celebrate Ramadan fast in Tromso during the midnight sun, when the sun never goes down?

Exhibits change often, but the theme is always diversity in Tromso through photography, so you’re sure to learn a lot about Tromso and the people who live here no matter what the exhibit. Absolutely worth a visit!

Learn Arctic history at the Polar Museum

This museum was a true highlight for me, as I’m a total nerd who is absolutely enraptured by people who explore extreme environments…

… that’s mostly because I’m a wimp who will never be brave enough to do even a fraction of what they do!

The Polar Museum was super cool because it showcased so many incredible Arctic explorers who went on missions to discovered uncharted and never-yet-touched lands (by man at least), such as Svalbard and the North Pole.

I really loved learning about all the explorers who left Tromso in search of understanding the globe we live on more fully.

It was so interesting to read about the harsh and extreme conditions they underwent in order to discover a previously unknown part of the globe.

I was also particularly enraptured with the story of Wanny Wolstad, a fierce explorer who was the first woman to be a fur trapper on Svalbard, the ultra-northern Norwegian archipelago.

Her story was fascinating (read a bit about it here) and I’m so glad the Polar Museum made sure to highlight her story, as women’s voices are often lost in stories about discovery and exploration.

Visit the Tromso Cathedral

Not to be confused with the Arctic Cathedral over in Tromsdalen, the Tromso Cathedral is located in the heart of the City Center.

It’s a fairly standard Lutheran church, and to be honest, it’s not particularly interesting compared to the more architecturally rich Arctic Cathedral.

That said, since it’s in the heart of Tromso, you’ll inevitably walk past it.

If you’re interested, you can enter the church but there’s a small entrance fee, roughly 30 NOK / $4 USD.

Another church worth seeing is the Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady, also not far from the center.

It’s a cute wooden church which holds the cool honor of being the northernmost Catholic church in the entire world!

Marvel at the architecture of the Tromso Library

Now this is more my speed architecture wise!

The Tromso Library (Bibliotek) is a really cool piece of modern architecture right in the heart of the city.

Visiting Tromso in winter adds to the visual effect, because it looks really cool next to the snow — almost like an igloo from the future!

It’s a modern style that looks different at every angle, something that I personally really enjoy in architecture.

Inside, the architecture is really beautiful and all the windows make it so light and airy.

Better yet, it’s free to use the internet there in case you need to warm up and browse the internet or kill some time between activities without wanting to spend a lot of money on coffee and cakes.

Check out local art at the gallery

I love looking at local art galleries while I’m traveling… even though I’m admittedly a window shopper as I rather don’t trust my own taste in art!

In between some of my activities I spent some time checking out the Galleri NORD.

I was really tempted by some of the art — particularly this beautiful piece which features an almost abstract rendering of some Arctic reindeer running — too bad it was (quite) a bit out of my price range.

There’s lots of exquisite art here and it’s located just around the corner from the Radisson Blu Hotel, a common tour pickup point, so it’s absolutely worth browsing!

Experience Norwegian coffee culture

In my opinion, there’s nothing quite like enjoying a cup of coffee on an Arctic winter day. And I think Norwegians would agree, as they drink on average 4-5 cups of coffee a day!

I had coffee at a number of cute Tromso cafes during my time there. Two standouts are Smørtorget, also near Galleri NORD and a great place to stop between tours if you’re doing both a morning and an evening activity, as well as the charming Svermeri Kafé og Redesign which is a coffee shop mixed with some cute furniture and decor pieces also for sale. They have delicious cakes as well!

Svermeri is located near the Polar Museum and makes a great stop after visiting the museum.

Sip drinks at the Magic Ice Bar

Since I went to the Ice Bar at the Tromso Ice Domes, I didn’t feel a need to check out the Magic Ice Bar as it’s a little on the pricy side.

It’s 350 NOK per person to enter, about $33 USD. That includes warm gear and a welcome drink plus a cocktail of your choice… which honestly isn’t bad given the price of alcohol in Norway.

However, if you don’t have time to squeeze in a visit to the Ice Domes but you do want that Ice Bar experience, it’s right in the heart of Tromso.

It seems like a fun, quirky way to spend some time, though of course, since it’s -5 degrees Celsius in there, it’s certainly no way to warm up!

Drink at Tromso’s oldest pub

Now, this is more my style! I really enjoyed having a craft beer at Ølhallen, the oldest pub in Tromso which features over 72 taps of beer!

It has a long history in Tromso, one that you’ll learn if you visit the adjacent former Mack brewery for a cool beer tour (more on that below).

The bartender here is really knowledgeable and can definitely point you in the right direction!

I recommend going with one of the smaller breweries rather than Mack beer, which you’ll find all over Tromso, so you can find a more unique brew worth your kroner…

Again, alcohol is very expensive in Norway, so expect to spend the equivalent of at least $10 USD on a small beer!

Tour Tromso’s own brewery

Next door to Tromso Ølhallen is Kjeller 5, a beer shop that sells tasty Norwegian craft beers and also does cool brewery tours!

Behind the beer shop are the former Mack brewery premises.

Mack used to be the northernmost brewery in the world. However, now there are at least two breweries in Svalbard, though they didn’t mention this on the tour and kept calling themselves the northernmost brewery…

Still, it was cool to learn the history of Mack and how they moved from this smaller brewery here to a larger brewery just outside of Tromso.

While their main operations are elsewhere, they still brew a few microbrews here, and you’re able to see the facilities and learn about the microbrewing process on their daily brewery tours.

It wasn’t the best brewery tour I’ve ever done, but it was interesting nonetheless and worth the price (190 NOK / ~$21 USD for a one-hour tour plus tastings).

Prices may have changed since I visited in 2020, but I wasn’t able to find updated prices — check it out in person.

Foodie Things to Do in Tromso in Winter

Have a beautiful harborside meal at Fiskekompaniet

One of the best tricks for enjoying meals in Norway on a budget is going for lunch rather than dinner!

While I was visiting Tromso on a mid-range budget, I opted to eat my meals out for lunch and at home for breakfast and dinner (when it wasn’t included on a tour, that is).

On my last full day in Tromso, I splurged on a 2-course lunch special at Fiskekompaniet and it was fantastic!

For about $35 USD, I enjoyed a meal of a spectacular fish soup and delicious local cod prepared beautifully.

Enjoy burgers, shakes, and games at Burgr

It can be hard to find a good deal in Tromso… but Burgr is a very noteworthy exception, especially at lunch time!

I forget the exact price, but I had a meal with burger and fries for about 140 NOK / ~$15 USD. Not bad for notoriously expensive Norway!

The burger was excellent and they have all sorts of fun, inventive spins on the standard burger if you want something a little more out there.

There are also some video games you can play while you’re waiting for your burger, which is a fun way to pass the time!

Try a reindeer burger at Nyt

This meal won’t be for everyone, because it’s about as Norwegian as it gets, but I loved it!

The reindeer burger at Nyt has a trifecta of three things Norway: reindeer meat (delicious!), brunost (Norwegian brown cheese — not bad, but not my favorite thing in the world), and rye bread.

I had it at Nyt for lunch and quite enjoyed my meal!

I had better reindeer dishes elsewhere in town (see my review of my sandwich at Bardus below), but overall, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to other visitors to Tromso.

The price was around 150 NOK / $17 USD.

Note that the service here is a bit slow, though, so it’s not a place I’d recommend if you’re really crunched for time.

Eat a sophisticated meal at Bardus

Besides Fiskekompaniet, this was my favorite meal in all of Tromso!

I had the reindeer open-faced sandwich at Bardus Bistro and oh my god, it was truly incredible.

The reindeer was served rare and it was absolutely delicious, better than steak to be totally honest!

It was paired with duck paté, greens, and a lingonberry jam aioli. It was life-changingly good.

It was a little more expensive than other places in Tromso, 180 NOK / ~$20 USD for a sandwich at lunch, but it was worth every kronor.

Have the affordable daily lunch at Mathallen

Really on a budget? Get the lunch of the day at Mathallen, easily the best deal in all of Tromso!

I spent 99 NOK on this really tasty fish gratin — I promise it was much better tasting than the picture suggests — with buttery baby potatoes and a sweet carrot salad.

It’s much more expensive to eat there at night — we’re talking tasting menus that run between 700-900 NOK, (~$80-100 USD) — so this is a fantastic deal given the quality of food at Mathallen.

Where to Stay in Tromso in Winter

First things first: when it comes time to pick where to stay in Tromso in winter, book early. The best deals go fast, as accommodation is limited and Tromso is soaring in popularity as arctic travel gets really big.

Accommodation will be one of the pricier parts of your trip to Tromso, so be sure to budget accordingly.

Expect to spend, even on the budget end of things, approximately $150 USD per night at a minimum, and around $300 per night for upper-tier accommodations.

If you want to stay at bucket list places, like some of the ice hotels and Northern lights hotels in Tromso and Northern Norway, expect to spend $300+ a night!

Budget

The best budget option in Tromso is hands-down Smarthotel Tromso.

It’s right in the heart of central Tromso, so it’s easy to get to all your activities, it has all the things you need in a hotel: 24 hour reception, comfortable beds, a work desk, some food available in the lobby.

Note that breakfast is not included in the price but can be added for a fee.

Check prices and availability here

Mid-Range

If you want to stay in a chic boutique hotel that’s not overly fancy, Thon Hotel Polar is a fabulous choice.

The decor is irreverent yet modern with an arctic and polar theme, many with vibrant pops of color that make the hotel have a lot more personality than many other Nordic hotels which tend to be a bit more muted in terms of decor.

Breakfast is included and the location couldn’t be better, so it’s a fantastic choice for mid-range travelers to Tromso in winter.

Check prices and availability here

Luxury

There are three Clarion Collection hotels in Tromso, but the nicest of the three seems to be Clarion Collection Hotel Aurora.

Why? It’s harborfront and has an incredible rooftop jacuzzi where you can try to spot the Northern lights!

Just 250 meters away from the Hurtigruten cruise dock, it’s perfect if you’re staying in Tromso for a few days before embarking on an adventure on the Hurtigruten.

Rooms are luxurious and modern with updated bathrooms, and the facilities include a gym, free afternoon coffee with waffles, and a light evening meal as part of your stay.

Check rates and availability here

Allison Green

Allison Green is a former teacher who has been travel blogging since 2016. She has a Masters in Teaching and a B.A. in English and Creative Writing. Her blog posts merge her background as an educator with her experience traveling to 70+ countries to encourage ethical, meaningful travel. She has been a speaker at the World Travel Writers Conference and her writing, photography, and podcasting work has appeared in National Geographic, CNN Arabic, CBC Canada, and Forbes, amongst others. Now a full-time traveler, she has lived in Prague, Sofia, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Dog sledding is a Tromso bucket list must — it’s an experience you’ll never forget.

There’s no more incredible feeling than bounding over powdery snow, powered only by a team of enthusiastic huskies and your steering.

From self-driving Tromso husky tours to musher-led tours, from daytime tours to nighttime tours with hopes of glimpsing the Northern lights above you, there’s a dog sledding tour in Tromso perfect for you!

In this post, I’m going to tell you exactly what it’s like to go dog sledding in Tromso and share the best favorite Tromso husky tours.

I’m a huge dog sledding fan and I’ve gone dog sledding three times: once in Abisko, Sweden and twice in Tromso in the winter!

The Abisko dog sled tour was self-driven; one of my Tromso ones was a daytime self-driving tour as well.

The other Tromso tour I took was a nighttime combination with a Northern lights tour, where the musher drove the dog sled.

What to Expect on a Tromso Husky Tour

What you experience depends what kind of tour you book, to be honest!

All the Tromso husky tours are quite different and require different levels of fitness or commitment. 

Here are a few different kinds of tours and my comments on each.

Self-Drive Tromso Husky Safari Tours

This is usually a daytime tour as it’s a bit tough to drive a dog-sled at night!

However, during the polar night in Tromso (December and January), you won’t have much light as you do a self-driving tour, so do keep this in mind. 

On a self-drive dog sled tour, you and a fellow tour participant — either someone in your group or a fellow solo traveler in my case — are in charge of leading your dogs.

You’ll bound through the landscape on a beautiful circuit, passing gorgeous Northern Norwegian landscapes like fjords and mountains. 

You take turns, one of you steering and the other sitting, and it’s actually a lot more hard work than it looks to steer the dog sled with your very own team of Alaskan huskies! 

This is no passive activity, but rather, you work as a team with the dogs. This means that you help the dogs run up hills, and you use your body weight to steer and also to brake as needed. 

You also have to keep your eye on the order of the dog sleds and not get out of order or race ahead of the line.

Keep in mind that these huskies aren’t pets, but rather working dogs.

There is a specific order to the line-up of sleds that the mushers organize based on their temperaments and relationships between the dogs.

I’ve done two self-drive dog sled tours and they are absolutely incredible.

Personally, they are my favorite way to do a dog sledding tour in Tromso, because it’s active and you develop a really cool bond with dogs as you work together. 

However, the con of doing a self-drive dog sled tour is that it is physically demanding, and it’s not suitable for people recovering from injuries, people with mobility concerns, or families with small children.

Musher-Driven Tours

I’ve done one musher-driven tour and it was also a super fun experience! I did a combination Northern lights tour with a dog-sledding tour and it was an Arctic adventure I’ll never forget.

On a musher-driven tour, you’ll be guided by expert mushers who know exactly how to handle the dogs and make sure everything goes smoothly. 

You don’t have to worry about making sure the dogs don’t run ahead of their assigned order.

The mushers ensure this won’t happen and have more of a relationship with the dogs because they’ve been working with them so long, so the dogs stay in line more and don’t test the waters!

Musher-driven tours are ideal for families, people with mobility concerns, and people who are a little anxious about doing their own self-driving husky sledding adventure. 

I loved the experience and was glad I got to do it, but personally, if I had to choose just one, I think a self-drive husky tour is more fun if it’s the right option for you!

The Best Winter Dog Sledding Tours in Tromso

There are a number of great dog sledding tours in Tromso!

Note that the conditions have to be right for dog sledding tours, and they can be canceled due to poor weather and bad snow conditions.

Dogs cannot safely run when the snow is very icy, such as when the daytime gets too warm, melts the snow, and then it forms back into ice at night.

In this case, they would cancel the tour and issue a refund, as it’s not safe for either the dogs or the humans on the tour.

The later you get into the season, the more likely this is to occur.

I went in the first week of February on my most recent trip to the Arctic.

It was the perfect time for dog sledding with lots of fresh powdery snow for them to pull sleds through comfortably. 

However, someone I know who went to Tromso a few weeks later than me at the end of February experienced issues with ice and her dog sled tour was canceled as a result. 

Similarly, booking a dog sledding tour too early in the winter means there may not be enough snow on the ground. 

I had friends who were in Tromso in December a few years back, and there was no snow on the ground at all in December — even by Christmas!

Keep in mind that climate change means that weather is more and more unpredictable.

Mid-January is likely the safest month to plan for, and it has the added bonus of being a prime time for whale watching in Tromso (as the whale watching season ends near the end of January). 

With that out of the way — here are my picks for the top Tromso husky tours.

Self-Drive Husky Dog Sledding Adventure – Book Here

This is the exact Tromso husky tour I did and it was my favorite!

You start by getting oriented to the husky farm and acquainted with what you’ll be doing on your half-day adventure. 

You’ll pick out your warm gear, put everything away that you won’t be taking with you in a locker, and then it’s time to meet the pups!

They give you a chance to cuddle the huskies who aren’t doing the run and get to take a billion husky selfies while they get all the husky sleds geared up and make sure all the safety checks are passed.

Once they’re satisfied that the huskies are ready to run, they give you a quick demo of how the dog sledge works — how to steer, how to brake, how to help your team of huskies up the hill, that sort of thing. 

Then it’s off to the races!… Though not quite, as the head mushers and other mushers interspersed throughout the line of husky teams set a pace, and you follow in a line to ensure everyone, including the dogs, are safe.

You’ll speed around the Arctic wilderness on the beautiful island of Kvaløya for a time, about 90 minutes, stopping every so often.

They’ll check to ensure all the sleds are still in the correct order and that everyone is safe, as well as to stop and snap some photos of you enjoying your husky sled ride! 

At the end, you’ll eat a tasty meal of a warm codfish stew in the lavvu (a typical Sami tent), followed up by some chocolate cake and hot drinks of your choice — coffee, hot tea, or hot chocolate.

This also included a meet-and-greet with one of the retired sled dogs, who greatly enjoyed all the love and attention.

This tour includes pick up and drop off in the city center, making it one of the easier day trips to arrange in Tromso.

Self-Drive Tromso Dog Sled Tour in Kvaløya – Book Here

This is another self-drive tour, and like the first one I listed, it’s also on the island of Kvaløya just a short ride from Tromso.

I didn’t do this exact tour, but it’s with Tromsø Villmarkssenter, who I went with on a nighttime guided dog-sledding tour, so I can vouch for the operator being great!

There are two morning tours daily, so you can make the most of Tromso’s limited winter sunlight hours: one that departs Tromso center at 8:45 AM and one that departs at 9:45 AM.

You’ll meet the pups on the farm before getting all suited up for the ride before learning all the basics of dog-mushing before you go! 

Like the other self-drive tours, two people share a sled, and you have the option to swap between driver and passenger at the halfway mark. 

After the tour, you’ll enjoy a delicious meal of bids, a traditional stew made from reindeer meat that is popular amongst the Sámi people. If you’re not one for reindeer, vegetarian options are available.

A hot beverage and a tasty piece of chocolate cake are the perfect cap on a wonderful day!

This tour is really similar to the first listed, so my choice would really depend on availability, as there’s not any major difference between the two tours.

Self-Drive Tromso Husky Tour in Breivikeidet – Book Here

Here’s another self-drive Tromso husky tour, where you become a dog musher for the day and lead your own dog-sled with a team of powerful huskies!

The key difference between this tour and the one above is that it’s a little further out from Tromso, about a 50-minute drive to the husky farm, which is in Breivikeidet.

However, they include the transfer, and the views should be really beautiful (as they are everywhere in the Troms region, to be honest!) so that isn’t a huge factor, unless time is a major constraint during your time in Tromso.

There are three daily tours: one leaving at 8:10 AM, one at 10 AM, and one at 11:50 AM. 

These later-in-the-day tours can be a great option if your schedule has you getting into Tromso in the morning and you want to hit the ground running (er, sledding?) or if you simply want to sleep in while on vacation.

Just keep in mind the limited (or sometimes non-existent) daylight hours in Tromso if you book one of the later tours!

After the drive, you’ll arrive at their picturesque camp, which is located in a stunning valley close to the water.

You’ll get suited up in all the necessary gear, meet the dogs, and get an introduction to how to drive the dog sled as well as important safety information.

This tour works similarly to the above, where two people share a sled — one is the driver and the other is the passenger, and you have the option to swap halfway through the husky tour, so everyone can have the chance to be a musher if they want to.

This also lets you take as many photos as you want while you’re the passenger… something you definitely can’t do while you’re driving!

The tour ends with a hot beverage in the lavvo (a Sámi tent typical of the region) and some cake around an open fire. 

Note that this tour does not include a full meal, unlike the one above. 

Given that this tour and the one above are roughly the same price (the above is actually slightly cheaper), I would opt for the one above unless you specifically want to visit the Breivikeidet area.

That said, this tour still has 4.8 out of 5 stars with over 500 reviews, so clearly it’s still a fan favorite! 

If having a meal isn’t an important factor, such as if you have a lot of food intolerances and prefer to make your own plans around meals, this is another good option for a Tromso husky tour.

Tromso Ice Domes Tour and Dog Sledding Adventure – Book Here

Want to combine two epic Tromso bucket list items into one excursion? Check out this Ice Domes visit and dog sledding tour combination.

I didn’t do this exact tour, but I did enjoy a fantastic guided visit to the Tromso Ice Domes and can highly recommend it to every traveler!

Personally, I did these tours on different days as I had one whole week in Tromso, but if you were short for time, I’d suggest this combination tour.

This tour picks you up in the city center of Tromso and drives you far into the Tamok Valley, about an hour and a half away from downtown Tromso. 

But the ride into the Tamok Valley is in and of itself an absolutely gorgeous experience, as you pass all sorts of mountains and fjords along the way, including the beautiful Lyngen Alps. 

Once you’re at the gorgeous Ice Domes, the fun really begins! 

You’ll be greeted by a guide and either begin with a dogsledding tour or a guided tour of the Ice Domes.

The order of activities will depend on a number of factors, including how many people are on the tour, weather, and availability.

The tour of the Ice Domes is incredible — a true winter wonderland — and it’s something I’ve done firsthand and loved. 

First, you’ll watch a brief video in the ice cinema that explains exactly how the ice hotel is built (from scratch!) each and every year, using ice from the nearby rivers. 

All in all, it takes about 6 weeks to build, all done as the Polar Night approaches.

Then you’ll get to tour the hotel in a small group, starting at the ice restaurant and all its incredible sculptures and themes, have a shot of lingonberry juice at the ice bar, and then get to tour the different rooms.

This way, you can see what it would be like to spend the night in an ice hotel (without having to splash out $1,500+ to do so!).

For a full recap of my visit to the Ice Domes, read here, although keep in mind I did not do a husky tour on my trip (I did get to meet the reindeer and feed them some lichen, though!).

This tour includes the guided tour of the Ice Domes, a non-alcoholic drink, a light meal, a dog-sledding tour, warm clothing rental, and transfers to and from the ice domes.

This is another self-drive dog sled experience like how I described all the above husky tours, so you’ll man your own dog sled during your tour.

The thing that really sets it apart is the Ice Domes visit; the dog-sledding portion of the tour is similar to the others.

If you want to combine two epic things in one go, it’s the perfect tour!

Camp Tamok Dog Sledding Tour – Book Here

This self-drive husky tour is similar to the tour above except there’s no Ice Domes visit.

Note that Camp Tamok is located a 1.5-hour drive away from Tromso, so it’s a longer time commitment than many of these other Tromso husky tours.

While I didn’t do this tour, I have taken the transfer to the Camp Tamok area when I visited the Tromso Ice Domes (which this husky camp is associated with), and I can vouch for how incredible the drive is!

However, I do also acknowledge that the fact that you’re spending 3 hours in a bus may not be how you want to spend your dog sledding trip to Tromso. 

You can book it with or without a transfer, and the transfer is only about $20, which is a pretty good deal.

If you plan to drive yourself to Camp Tamok, the dog sledding tour leaves at 10:15 AM; if you plan to take the transfer, the transfer bus leaves at 9 AM.

This is another self-drive dog sled experience like how I described above.

Your guides will explain how to man the sledge and handle your team of dogs and give you all the tips you need to ensure you have a safe and fun sledding experience.

Like the other tours, you will be actively dog-sledding for about an hour and a half, swapping spots halfway through if you want a chance to switch.

And of course, there will be plenty of time for lots of husky cuddles!

The tour includes a tasty meal (a meat stew or a vegetarian option), and warm drinks after the dog-sledding portion of the tour ends.

Guided Husky Sledding with Lunch – Book Here

All of the above tours fall under the self-drive category, which are the perfect adrenaline-pumping tours for travelers who like a more active adventure.

But what about if you want to relax and let the mushers do what they do best?

Or what if you’re traveling with small kids who aren’t strong enough to be on their own on a sledge? Then a guided husky sled tour is the perfect solution.

I actually did this same tour but in the nighttime (which I’ll talk about more later), and I can highly recommend it.

While I personally prefer the adrenaline that comes with mushing my own dog sled, I can definitely see why this might be a better experience for some travelers.

For example, most of the self-drive tours require kids to be at least 7 or older, sometimes 16 and up. 

This tour has no age limits, so as long as you feel comfortable bringing your little ones, you are allowed to.

On a guided husky tour, each team of dogs is paired with a professional musher, and you and another passenger get to sit in the sledge, nice and toasty in your warm suit!

After about a 45-60 minute dog sledding tour, complete with views of Balsfjord, it’s time to thank your team of huskies and have lunch.

You’ll head into the lavvo to enjoy bidos (a Sami reindeer stew) or a vegetarian option, and a cup of coffee around the fire, before heading back to Tromso city center on the provided transfer.

Full Day Arctic Dog Sledding Expedition – Book Here

Want even more time with your four-legged pals? 

A full-day expedition tour is the perfect way to amp up your dog sledding experience and make it even more memorable.

The dog sledding tour lasts about 6 hours, much of it active, so be prepared for a lot of hard work!

You don’t need to be experienced with mushing, but you should be in good shape and prepared to pay attention to your team of huskies at all times! 

Along the way, you may see different Arctic wildlife like foxes, snowshoe hares, Arctic hares, eagles, moose, and even reindeer!

This full-day mushing tour will really get you in the mindset of how Arctic mushers experience daily life as you explore the beautiful landscapes of Kvaløya with your own team of sled dogs during this full-day mushing expedition tour! 

You’re in charge of your team of dogs and for ensuring they stay on task and stay safe. But don’t worry, you won’t be doing it all alone — you’ll have experienced guides with you every step of the way.

I didn’t do this tour, but I did do a different tour with this same company and I can stand behind the organization and team 100%!

They truly care about their animal’s welfare and make sure you have a phenomenal experience on the tour. 

This tour includes the 6-hour tour, transfers, and a delicious meal of reindeer stew (or a veggie option) served in the lavvu, with tea or coffee and a dessert of chocolate cake to reward you after a long day’s work!

Musher-Led Evening Dog Sledding Excursion – Book Here

This is the exact tour I personally did (afternoon version) while visiting Tromso in winter! 

I wanted a chance of seeing the Northern lights while I dog-sledded, and while unfortunately, the lights didn’t make an appearance, it was still a lot of fun and a great way to spend an evening in Tromso.

With limited daylight hours in Tromso in winter, it’s nice to be able to have activities that are just as enjoyable in the dark night hours as the softly-lit day hours.

So if you are trying to pack quite a few activities into your time in Tromso, this is a great way to maximize your Tromso vacation.

One quick note though: I wouldn’t make this the only Northern lights excursion you do if you have your heart set on it. 

There are so many different ways to see the Northern lights in Tromso, but a tour where you move over a large area and have a guide and driver specifically chasing the lights and the perfect weather conditions is the best way to ensure you see the lights. 

It’s still not 100%, but you have a very good chance on a minibus tour, as they’ll drive far — in my case, we literally went all the way to Finland! — to get the best chance of seeing the Northern lights.

However, if you have another Northern lights expedition booked, and you’re looking for another chance to see the lights and also enjoy a fun activity, I strongly recommend this tour — I absolutely adored my experience, lights or not!

This is a musher-driven guided tour, so you don’t have to worry about driving yourself in the dark.

You are provided with a headlamp and the guides lead you all away around the ‘track’ that the huskies run.

This way, you can see what you’re doing while also having a chance to maybe spot the Northern lights as you get away from the light pollution of the husky camp.

The tour is done with a ratio of 2 guests to every guide, so you can ensure you have a lot of personal attention.

Although I was a solo traveler, I didn’t have to share my sled with anyone, so I got the experience all to myself.

I can’t ensure this will happen to you, if you travel solo you may get paired up with another solo traveler, but since there was an odd number in my group, I got lucky.

This tour also includes a meal in the lavvo — a delicious plate of stockfish stew (similar to bacalao/bacalhau, dried codfish) for dinner, which I can attest firsthand was so, so tasty!

Transfers are included to and from the Radisson Blu hotel and the tour lasts about 4 hours including travel time.

Ice Domes Overnight Stay and Dogsledding Tour – Book Here

If you’re visiting Tromso for a special occasion like a honeymoon, anniversary, or you just like to vacation like a baller, then you’ve got to spend a night hunting for Northern lights at the ice hotel!

Combine your dog sledding adventure with an overnight adventure at the Tromsø Ice Domes.

This gorgeous ice hotel (yes, made of real ice) is located in the Tamok Valley, about an hour and a half away from Tromsø City Centre. 

You can do a day tour of just the hotel or take a dog sledding tour at the nearby Camp Tamok, but the full-on experience is the overnight experience!

This includes a night staying the ice hotel, which also includes a dog-sledding tour the following morning, a Northern lights campout, a snowshoe tour, and all your meals (dinner and breakfast).

On this experience, you can enjoy the entire property of the Tromso Ice Domes — which includes a bar made of ice, an ice cinema, an ice restaurant, and even ice bedrooms!

The whole property is decorated with themed ice sculptures as well, carved by local artists each year.

The evening part of this overnight tour includes a snowshoe walk in the Tamok Valley.

As you explore deep into the Arctic wilderness, you’ll be accompanied by a local guide.

They can help you identify wildlife tracks and nature in the area, set up the nature camp and fire, grill a dinner over the open fire, and spot and photograph the beautiful Northern lights if they make an appearance!

The overnight part of the tour consists of staying in a literal ice bedroom. Don’t worry, though, you won’t be sleeping on an actual block of ice (though the bed frame is made of ice!).

You’ll have an expedition-rated sleeping bag to keep you warm and cozy, and your mattress is covered in reindeer skins to keep you toasty warm. 

The morning is when the real fun begins!

You’ll wake up to a winter wonderland landscape and enjoy a delicious Nordic breakfast to fuel you up.

You’ll then suit up for a self-drive dog-sledding excursion for a few hours, before you head back to Tromso city center and end the tour.

Aurora Camp Overnight and Dog Sledding Morning Tour – Book Here

For an epic spin on the dog-sledding experience, you can dothis overnight aurora camp with a husky tour in the morning.

This tour brings you away from the bright city lights of Tromso and into the wilderness around Kvaløya at the Tromso Villmarkssenter, where there’s very little light pollution.

You’ll be suited up in a thermal expedition suit and waterproof boots so that you stay nice and toasty, and then you’ll get a chance to meet the 200 Alaskan huskies who call this farm their home!

Once you’ve met the pups, you’ll have dinner in the hut, where you can try a codfish stew or a vegetarian alternative (from personal experience, I can tell you the stew is delicious!)

After dinner, you can sit around the bonfire and wait to see if the Northern lights make an appearance overhead! 

When you’re ready to sleep, there are lavvu tents all ready for you, where you can sleep nestled up in with sleeping bags and warm reindeer skins.

The next day, you’ll finally go on your dog sledding tour (you can pick between self-driving or having a musher-led guided tour).

After, it’s time for a lunch of bidos (a Sámi traditional reindeer stew) before you say goodbye to the dogs and head back to Tromso city center.

If you want to combine the chance of seeing Northern lights in the countryside and a dog-sledding tour, this is a great choice.

It’s also a budget-friendly way to combine two popular activities into one!

Other Ways to Meet Huskies in Tromso in Winter (Without Dog Sledding)

Snowshoe Hike with Husky Visit – Book Here

Like I detail below, I do believe husky tours are absolutely an ethical way to interact with these gorgeous, hard-working Alaskan huskies.

However, if you’re not into the concept of husky sledding for ethical or personal reasons, there are other ways you can interact with huskies that have nothing to do with sledding!

You can do a snowshoe tour and husky visit with Tromso Villmarkssenter where you get to meet their huskies and embark on a beautiful snowshoe adventure in the Norwegian Arctic wilderness.

Northern Lights Camp with Dinner and Husky Visit – Book Here

Another option, also at Villmarkssenter (where I did my Northern lights and guided husky sled tour, and can highly recommend!), is the Northern lights and husky experience. 

This is similar to the tour I described above, but instead of doing a sled ride, you just get to meet and interact with the huskies.

It’s also a nice way to have a Northern lights tour and husky experience on a budget, as it’s about half the price of the dog-sledding tours. 

Husky Tours in Tromso in Summer & Fall

Summer Husky Hiking Tour – Book Here

Yes, you can play with huskies in the summer in Tromso, too!

These pups need attention and exercise at all times of the year, so don’t fret if your trip to Tromso falls under the midnight sun or beautiful autumn season.

There are a few different ways you can interact with huskies in the summer and fall. One great option is going on a husky hike tour!

Visit the Villmarkssenter husky farm while taking these energetic pups out for a walk in the beautiful summer Norwegian countryside.

You’ll have views of fjords, mountains, and all sorts of beautiful views in the gorgeous summer light — accompanied by huskies, of course. 

This tour includes a lunch, coffee, and tasty chocolate cake as a dessert — you’ll need to replenish your energy after walking these rambunctious pups! 

Tromso Husky Puppy Training Tour – Book Here

More interested in some puppy love?

Do the puppy training tour, where you can interact with and train puppies aged between four weeks to six months! 

You’ll do an hour to hour and a half hike our with the puppies, including some training exercising depending on the ages of the dogs.

This is a great tour for kids in summer – they won’t be disappointed!

Dog Sledding FAQ

• Is dog sledding cruel to dogs?

I definitely don’t think so!

Of course, there may be some bad apples in the dog sledding world, as with any animal tourism enterprise.

However, I’ve gone dog sledding three times, and every dog sledding tour operator I’ve used has treated the dogs as members of the family and care for them well.

Remember, Alaskan huskies are… well, to borrow the words of Bruce Springsteen, born to run! 

I’ll answer this question in more detail below on the section on “Is Dog Sledding Ethical”, so be sure to read that section. 

• When can you dog sled in Norway?

This truly depends on the year!

As climate change means weather patterns are more and more unpredictable, there is a less definitive start and end date of dog sled season in Norway. 

Generally, dog sledding tours open up November 1st and run through the end of April.

However, snow conditions are critically important, and if there is not enough snow or if the snow has melted and turned to ice, dog sledding tours cannot safely run.

• Where can I go dog sledding in Norway?

There are several places you can go dog sledding in Northern Norway, but Tromso is by and far the most popular. 

Keep in mind that places in Southern Norway like Oslo and Bergen do not have enough snow to support dog sledding, so you want to be North — like, North of the Arctic Circle North!

Other places you can go dog sledding in Northern Norway include the Lofoten Islands and Alta. 

• How much does it cost to go dog sledding?

Most half-day dog sledding tours in Tromso cost around $200 and full-day tours are closer to $400.

If budget is a concern, there are cheaper ways to visit the husky farms by doing a tour that does not include sledding, which can be as little as $100 USD or so.

• Why is dog sledding so expensive?

These are hard-working dogs who need a lot of food and care… I remember one tour operator telling me that these 45-60 pound dogs eat 10,000 calories worth of food a day!

That’s a lot of food… especially since most Tromso husky tour companies have 100-300 huskies they care for!

Considering a ~150 lb. human needs about 2,000 calories a day, that’s pretty wild!

The money spent on a dog sledding tour also ensures that the dogs have access to regular vet care.

Other expenses for operators include maintaining their licensure to operate, paying the staff to feed and clean and take care of the dogs, as well as paying the staff a living wage.

Remember that the cost of living in Norway is high and salaries are high as well.

While a dog sledding tour may seem expensive, remember that you are paying for an ethical experience in multiple ways.

Your tour cost goes to not only well-fed, well-kept dogs, but also well-paid people and healthy families!

• Is dog sledding difficult?

If you’re self-driving… definitely, in the sense that it’s a real workout!

However, it is not hard to learn how to operate the sledge, so you can absolutely get acquainted with the basics of dog sledding and do it safely, even in a short 90-minute tour.

That said, there are also musher-driven dog sled tours which are a lot less difficult on the body… just sit and enjoy!

These are the perfect dog sledding tours for kids, older adults, people with injuries or disabilities, or people who just want a more relaxing experience.

Is Tromso Dog Sledding Ethical?

The ethics of dog sledding is understandably a concern, and it was a subject I researched in depth before first deciding to do a dog sledding tour in Abisko in 2016. 

Before I did another two dog sledding tours on my 2020 trip to Tromso, I dove deep into the research again to ensure that I was still operating with good information and that my initial assessment that dog sledding can be ethical with the right company still stands.

My opinion is this: dog sledding can be ethical or unethical depending entirely on the treatment of the animals.

I would compare it to horseback riding, but I think the dogs enjoy running and sledding more than horses enjoy people riding on them! 

At the two Tromso tour companies I visited as well as the one in Abisko, I felt the dog sledding companies truly had their dogs’ health and happiness at the heart of everything they did.

My conclusion was that these are ethically run husky sledding tours and that I felt comfortable with everything I saw.

The reality of these tours is that these dogs are, quite simply, born to do this.

These are Alaskan huskies who have generations upon generations of running and pulling sleds in their bloodlines. 

It is, quite simply, what they were born and bred to do, and they would go insane as pets kept in an apartment.

They need to run for several hours a day to let off all their energy, and you can see just how much they love to run when they start howling as a team as they get suited up and ready to pull the sleds.

One thing I will say, though, is that the dogs are kept chained up when not running. This is due to Norwegian laws.

This can be a little off-putting at first, so I asked about this. I learned that the chaining is done to prevent fights from breaking out between the dogs, which can happen as dogs are pack animals and form different little “cliques.” 

This also helps ensure no unwanted puppy accidents happen and that the husky farms only breed exactly as many puppies as they can care for and take care of.

I should note that the husky babies are bred in small numbers, usually just one or two litters at a time so as not to be overwhelmed by puppies.

The husky mom gets to live in a giant suite with all her puppies, kept away from the other dogs. 

All the dogs have their own little homes and live next to a dog they are friendly with so they can socialize.

Sometimes, if a particular dog has trouble living and sharing a close space with other dogs, it will have its own cage, with a box to keep warm and snuggle in, as well.

Their boxes are filled with straw, cleaned multiple times daily, and provide plenty of space for the dog (I saw two particularly friendly pups spooning and sharing a box instead of enjoying their own rooms!).

About the temperatures: huskies are happy out in the cold and can withstand temperatures as low as -60° F / -50° C.

It rarely gets below -20° F / -6° C in Tromso, and if it does, they have their dog houses with plenty of warm insulating straw for them to keep warm in.

The dogs get exercise daily with one day of rest per week.

With so many different husky tours running at all hours of the day, every dog gets a chance to run daily, and they never run more than 50 miles in a week, and never if they are sick or injured.

Compare this to the Iditarod, where dogs sometimes run 100 miles in a single day.

The dogs are checked frequently by vets and the kennels are inspected by Norwegian government inspectors to ensure the dogs are enjoying high-quality care.

But my favorite thing was seeing that the retired dogs get to live a good life, too.

On my self-drive Tromso husky tour with Arctic Adventures, they brought out a retired sled dog at the end to meet and greet all of us while we enjoyed our dessert.

They explained how every dog is part of the family, and that often those who work at the husky farm end up adopting the retirees!

Some sometimes, the retirees end up enjoying a comfortable retirement as a pet, getting loved on by visitors to the farm!

What to Wear When Dog Sledding in Tromso

On your dog-sledding tour, they will provide you with a warm suit and boots to ensure that you don’t get too cold on your tour. 

I strongly suggest you wear what they offer you, as you’ll be so nice and toasty!

This is expedition-strength gear and will likely be warmer but more breathable than whatever you brought.

Remember, you’re above the Arctic Circle, and it gets cold! Make sure that you come equipped with thermal base layers, waterproof gloves, and a hat that tightly covers your ears.

Here’s what you should bring:

• Winter hat
• Gloves
• Scarf
• Base layers
• Wool socks
• Your everyday winter clothing (sweaters & jeans/pants)

Where to Stay in Tromso

Here are my 3 top picks in Tromso city center.

Budget

The best budget option in Tromso is  Smarthotel Tromso.

It’s right in the heart of central Tromso and has 24-hour reception, comfortable beds, a work desk, and some snacks available in the lobby.

Check rates and availability here

Mid-Range

If you want to stay in a chic boutique hotel that’s not overly fancy, Thon Hotel Polar is a fabulous choice.

With Arctic themed art and Nordic decor, it’s a cute place to stay.

Breakfast is included and there is also a restaurant on-site should you want to dine in.

Check rates and availability here

Luxury

A great luxury option is the Clarion Collection Hotel Aurora.

It’s harborfront and has an incredible rooftop jacuzzi where you can try to spot the Northern lights!

Rooms are luxurious and modern with updated bathrooms.

Extras include a gym, free afternoon coffee with waffles, and a light evening meal as part of your stay.

Check rates and availability here

DON’T FORGET ABOUT TRAVEL INSURANCE!

When planning any trip, especially a winter trip, be sure not to forget about travel insurance!

I use SafetyWing and its Nomad Insurance to insure all of my trips for its affordable rates and comprehensive coverage for all my travel needs.

For a trip as expensive as traveling to Norway, with weather as unpredictable as the Arctic, it’s especially important for me to have coverage.

It provides both travel insurance (coverage for trip delays, cancellations, interruptions — the likelihood of which increases in winter) and travel medical insurance (coverage for things like accidents, illnesses including Covid, etc. — also more likely in winter!).

Coverage is really affordable — for me, it costs roughly $11 USD for a week of coverage outside of the U.S., with a policy max of $250,000 after a deductible of $250. Not bad!

Check SafetyWing for a quote here!

Allison Green

Allison Green is a former teacher who has been travel blogging since 2016. She has a Masters in Teaching and a B.A. in English and Creative Writing. Her blog posts merge her background as an educator with her experience traveling to 70+ countries to encourage ethical, meaningful travel. She has been a speaker at the World Travel Writers Conference and her writing, photography, and podcasting work has appeared in National Geographic, CNN Arabic, CBC Canada, and Forbes, amongst others. Now a full-time traveler, she has lived in Prague, Sofia, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

eternalarrival.com

Beautiful ribbons of green dancing in a starry night sky against a backdrop of fjords and frozen landscapes: this is what you can expect when you come to see the Northern lights in Tromso.

 But Tromso offers so much more than just the aurora borealis: it’s a vibrant, buzzy student city of more than 70,000 people.

It’s nicknamed the “Paris of the North” partly for its cultural scene, but also because it’s practically a megapolis around these sparsely-populated parts of the Arctic. 

The next-largest Arctic city in Norway, Bodø, numbers just over 50,000 people, and then population numbers drop off steeply outside of these urban areas.

Tromsø is a place of incredible beauty and culture, especially in winter.

By day, you can walk around the picture-perfect city center and shop on Nerstranda.

By night, you can catch a concert at the Arctic Cathedral and stare up at the sky with hot drinks in hand, hoping for a glimpse of the ephemeral aurora.

But there are so many more ways to see the Northern lights in Tromsø than just hoping for a glimpse over the city sky! 

In this post, I’ll go into all the day trips (well, night trips technically) that I recommend from Tromso.

However, there are also a large selection of wonderful Northern lights hotels in Northern Norway offering unique accommodations like glass igloos, ice hotels, and glamping domes which are also a great option. 

Read my post on epic Northern lights hotels if you want some curated hotel ideas!

Besides looking for aurora around Tromso’s city center, you can take aurora minibus small group tours, tours that incorporate Sami culture, and tours that take you to the Tromsø region’s very own ice hotel… among others.

We’ll go into all the unique ways you can combine sightseeing with a Northern lights chase below.

But first, let’s tackle where and when is the best time to see the Northern lights in Norway!

Where to See the Northern Lights in Northern Norway

The best place to see Northern lights in Norway is in destinations like Tromsø that are north of the Arctic Circle.

The Arctic Circle’s latitude is located at 66°33″ N: everything above that is considered part of the Arctic Circle — whether you’re in Scandinavia, Iceland, Russia, Alaska, or Canada.

The Arctic Circle is basically the lowest latitude where both the polar night and midnight sun phenomena occur; north of it, the length of polar night and midnight sun extends for longer and longer. 

Polar night is when the sun doesn’t rise above the horizon, whereas midnight sun is the inverse, where the sun doesn’t sink below the horizon.

In Tromsø, located at 69°64″ N, the polar night lasts for six weeks, and midnight sun lasts for a bit over two months.

In other parts of Norway, this can be even longer! Nordkapp gets polar night for more than two months, and Svalbard experiences it for two and a half months! 

There are three main touristic destinations in Norway in winter: Tromsø, Alta, and the Lofoten Islands, which are some of the best places to spot the Northern lights in Norway.

However, this post only focuses on Tromso Northern lights tours, as that’s what I experienced!

Best Time to Do a Northern Lights Trip in Tromso

There is a wide span of when the Northern lights are visible above the city of Tromsø and in neighboring locations. 

The earlier you might be able to spot the Northern lights in Tromsø would be in late August or early September, and the latest would be in early April.

You just need a certain amount of darkness, a clear sky, and enough solar wind for the aurora conditions to happen.

You can check an aurora forecast closer to your trip to get an idea of what may be happening, but it is hard to predict this sort of thing days in advance.

Generally, tour operators dedicated to chasing the Northern lights have a far more sophisticated aurora forecasting system.

They will do everything they can do get you the best chance of seeing the Northern lights… even if that means driving into Finland, which our guides did — they know all the best locations for clear skies!

There isn’t a specific time of the year that is consistently more active than others; you just need enough darkness.

The solar storms which cause the aurora happen all year long — the sun doesn’t stop emitting solar particles, after all — you just need the sky to be dark to see it, but because it’s the Arctic Circle, you can only see this during the winter months!

However, most people tend to opt for a winter trip to Tromsø so they can do other wintry activities like dog sledding, reindeer feeding or sledding, and whale watching activities.

I personally visited Tromsø in the first week of February and thought it was almost perfect. There was enough sunlight to get a little hit of Vitamin D every day (from about 10 AM to 2:30 PM daily). 

However, it was still in the heart of winter and there was snow everywhere. I was able to do snow-dependent day trips and excursions like dog sledding, whereas travelers who visited a few weeks later than I did had many activities stop due to lack of sufficient snowfall.

The one thing I regret, though, is that I came slightly too late for whale watching season, which ends around the end of January.

If seeing orcas and other whales is part of your Tromsø bucket list, then make sure you visit around mid-January. There will be less sunlight, but it’ll be your best bet to get to go whale watching in Tromso!

Getting to Tromsø

For a place so remote, getting to Tromsø is relatively easy! When I went, I flew Sofia to Frankfurt to Tromsø on Lufthansa and it was pretty painless.

My roundtrip ticket was around $550 USD when I booked a few months in advance.

There are also flights to Tromsø from London and Oslo. Many people will fly into Oslo on a low cost airline like Norwegian Airlines and then hop on another flight up to Tromsø.

I don’t recommend driving up to Tromso from Oslo. It’s a 22-hour drive and between renting a car and paying for gas it’d be far more expensive than flying. There is also no train connection between Tromso and Oslo.

One other option would be the Hurtigruten cruise, which departs from Bergen and will bring you to different destinations along the Norwegian coast, including the Arctic!

What to Know Before Doing a Northern Lights Tour in Tromsø

Be prepared for anything. 

While the Northern lights in the Arctic are actively dancing for much of the winter nights, it’s also easy to overstate the probability of seeing the lights.

For one, cloud cover is a major concern: you need clear skies to see the aurora properly. 

With how often it snows in Tromsø, that can be problematic. In fact, when I did my Northern lights minibus tour, we actually drove all the way to the Finnish border and parked where we could see the lights dancing over Finland!

Another factor is solar activity. The aurora phenomenon is caused by charged solar particles entering Earth’s geomagnetic fields near the poles.

This causes beautiful reactions as light energy emits at different wavelengths, causing the colors you see. Green is the most typical, but I’ve also seen white and purple colors and even a dash of red.

Finally, the Northern lights are a natural phenomenon. Guides are talented at predicting the intensity and location of the lights, but they are not miracle workers.

Sometimes the Green Lady doesn’t appear, and that’s part of what makes the times you do see it so magical.

Bring all the camera batteries and a lens cloth.

The extreme conditions while chasing the Northern lights in Norway will do a number on your camera battery function.

Just look at the above picture, taken after my camera was out in the cold weather for a few hours in -15° C / 5° F temperatures! 

Be sure to also bring a microfiber lens cloth that can gentle remove the ice and condensation from your camera.

You should also bring plenty of freshly charged spare batteries (keep those warm in your pockets!).

Bring your passport/ID if doing a minibus tour. 

Like I said, on a minibus tour where you are chasing the Northern lights activity, you may actually end up crossing a border to escape the cloudy weather on the coast of Norway. 

My tour guide on the minibus tour in early 2020 told me that about half of the nights, they had been driving into Finland to even spot the lights! So be sure to bring a passport to be safe. 

There are no official border crossings as it’s all Schengen zone, but you do technically need identification when crossing a border.

Be realistic and don’t get disappointed. 

First of all, I want to preface this by saying that the Northern lights are absolutely magical. However, they’re also different than I imagined. 

When you see jaw-dropping Northern lights photography, keep in mind these are taken by professional photographers using high-quality camera gear that’s far more sophisticated than the naked eye (or your smartphone, for that matter). 

Photographs of the Northern lights use slow shutter speeds so that the camera’s “eye” is open for multiple seconds, taking in light. Meanwhile, your eye processes things at, well, the speed of light! 

As a result, the lights you see in photographs of the aurora are far more spectacular than you can see with your eye.

This isn’t photoshop — the colors out of the camera are often barely touched or altered at all — but the magic of a long exposure.

Don’t plan an entire trip around seeing the Northern lights. 

If seeing the Northern lights in Tromso is the singular purpose of your trip, you may wind up disappointed if the lights are less active than you expect or if you have poor weather blocking the view of the Northern lights! 

My suggestion would be to book a minibus aurora tour for your first night. These tour guides are driven — literally! — to make sure you see at least something on your Northern lights tour. 

For your second night and for the rest of the trip, book other excursions at night that focus on outdoor activities and cultural experiences that have a chance at seeing the Northern lights, but aren’t singularly focused on it.

For example, I was in Tromso for one week. I scheduled one Northern lights tour, one sailing aurora tour, and one dog-sledding tour.

I saw a tiny glimpse of the lights on my aurora sailing excursion, no lights at all on the dog-sledding night, and so much aurora activity on my dedicated aurora chasing minibus tour.

If you only have the budget for one tour though, make it a minibus tour. It’s the best way to see the Northern lights in Tromso because they are so dedicated that they will literally drive to another country to make it happen!

My Tromsø Northern Lights Experience

I’ve listed 11 unique Northern lights tours below, and I’ve done 3 of the tours: the fjords sailing tour, the small group Northern lights chase minibus tour, and the husky sledding and Northern lights tour.

I’ve also visited the Ice Hotel during the day (read about my experience here) and visited a Sami reindeer farm with lavvus during the day as well, so I can speak to a portion of those experiences. 

So I have some firsthand insight from 6 out of the 11 Northern lights tours here, and the rest are driven by research and chatting with other friends who visited Tromsø in winter.

I hope this helps you narrow down your search and find the perfect Northern lights tour (or tours, as I did!) for you… and good luck!

11 Unique Northern Lights Tours in Tromsø

Fjords Sailing and Northern Lights

This was the first Northern Lights tour I did on my trip to Tromsø and it was a great introduction to the beautiful fjords around Tromsø. 

We met at the Pukka Adventures office where we enjoyed coffee and snacks before our tour.

We had a quick safety and tour briefing and got into our warm suits and boots! Then we walked a short walk to the marina where the sailboat was docked.

Once we disembarked, we set sail through the fjord, watching the city lights of Tromsø twinkle magically as we got further and further away from the city.

We all clustered outside hoping to find a glimpse of the Northern lights, and we did… albeit briefly. 

Luckily, it was so vivid and powerful that I was even able to capture a tiny glimpse with my smartphone!

However, I didn’t have my tripod set up yet, so I wasn’t able to capture a better shot, and then the lights faded for the night and hid behind the clouds for the rest of the excursion.

The disappointment of not seeing the lights in their full glory was quickly assuaged by a delicious meal of seafood chowder served with Norwegian bread and butter and some coffee and chocolate for dessert.

All in all, I absolutely loved the sailing experience and while I wouldn’t say it’s the most reliable way of seeing the Northern lights, I loved getting to do a sailing cruise around Tromsø at night.

Enjoying the seafood chowder with a view of the city sparkling around us was magical and it was one of the best tours I did.

Book your Northern lights sailing tour online here!

Tromso Northern Lights Small Group Minibus Tour 

This was another tour I booked for myself during my trip to Tromso, and it was the Northern lights tour that delivered the most when it came to actually seeing the lights themselves!

If you are dedicated to seeing the aurora, this is one of the best Northern lights tours you can do: they’ll bring you to the best spots and while you are not guaranteed to see the lights, it’s as close to a guarantee as you’ll have.

My guides were absolute legends, driving all the way to the Finnish border and beyond to ensure we all got to see the Northern lights. 

They were true experts with years of experience. They’d consult different solar activity apps and talk about all sorts of scientific factors as to what that meant for the Northern lights.

They’d even call other guides to see if they had any scouting tips in terms of weather, always willing to make adjustments to the plan to bring us to the perfect location in search of the Northern lights.

Once we arrived at our spot, a few miles over the Finnish border, they set up a little aurora camp: reindeer pelts atop snow “benches” (which were surprisingly warm to sit on) as well as a fire we could all get toasty around.

We roasted all-you-can-eat sausages — reindeer, pork, and vegan options — with tunnbröd or “polar bread”, a flat, tortilla-like bread.

We had copious cups of coffee and hot chocolate around the fire, while our guide shouted for us every time the aurora made its appearance. 

Our expert guide would snap professional-grade photos for us, one by one, so we’d all have at least one aurora selfie to take home with us.

He also helped us with photographing the aurora independently, assisting with the tripod set up, and identifying the correct manual camera settings to best capture the lights.

All in all, I absolutely adored this tour. The only con is that it was a lot of driving, and we got home very late — well past 2 AM, maybe closer to 3 AM — but it was well worth it for the amount of lights we were able to see.

If it’s your first time trying to see the Northern lights, this is the way to go. They’ll travel long distances in search of clear nights and the perfection location to have a good chance to seeing the Northern lights.

I felt they gave us plenty of time to enjoy the aurora once we finally found one of the right place to see the aurora. We were never rushed, which was very generous of them.

I feel especially certain that this is the best Tromso Northern lights tour, because I spoke with other travelers in Tromsø who went with less dedicated guides and unfortunately didn’t get the full aurora experience.

Book your own Northern Lights minibus tour online here!

Snowmobile and Aurora Tour

I’ve never ridden a snowmobile, but this is another common aurora chasing tour option in Tromsø that combines a little bit of adrenaline, a lot of sightseeing, and hopefully, a shot at spotting the Northern lights!

Snowmobiling is a great way to cover a lot of ground in a way that gets your adrenaline pumping.

It’s perfect because you can move around a bit in order to find a clear patch of sky in the middle of nowhere that (hopefully) will allow for perfect aurora spotting!

This tour takes you to Camp Tamok at the Tromso Ice Domes 1.5 hours outside the city.

This way, you can visit the grounds of the magical ice hotel before going out for an epic snowmobile ride you’ll never forget in the Tamok Valley.

If you’re lucky, the Northern lights will make an appearance!

Book your Northern lights snowmobile tour online here!

Dog Sledding and Aurora Borealis Tour

This was another one of the many Northern lights tours I took on my last trip to Tromsø.

While I didn’t get lucky enough to see the lights, it was still one of my favorite tours… because hello, it’s dog sledding under the stars, how much more magical does it get?

There are two kinds of dog sledding tours you can do: self-driving and musher-driven.

This falls into the latter category, where you get to sit in a seat on the sled as a musher drives you with a team of huskies, speeding through the snow while you cuddle up with some reindeer pelts to keep warm!

Doing a dog sleigh ride is more passive than self-driving dog sledding.

As a result, it’s a lot less physically demanding, making it a great option for families of young kids who may be a little too small to handle self-driving.

The other bonus of it being musher-driven is that you have all the time in the world to look up at the sky and hope to see the Northern lights!

In my case, it was hopelessly cloudy and there was no shot, but you may be luckier than I was!

After the husky sledding experience, which lasted around 30 minutes, we ended up at the lavvu (Sami-style dwelling, similar to a Native American tipi).

We warmed up around the fire and enjoy a delicious seafood stew dinner to warm up with! Vegetarian options were also available.

Book your dog sledding evening tour with a chance of Northern lights here!

Whale Watching and Overnight Aurora Camp

Want to combine two Tromso bucket list musts into one perfect excursion? Well, pinch yourself, because that actually totally exists!

One thing to know about whale watching in Tromso is that the whales used to visit the fjords in Tromso proper, but now, they’re found quite a bit away from Tromso, in Skjervoy.

Going by boat to Skjervoy can be a miserable, 3+ hour one-way experience with lots of seasickness.

This tour actually drives you to Skjervoy before embarking in a RIB boat. This small boat allows you to view the whales in a more ethical fashion than big-boat tours, which can sometimes scare the whales.

Your whale watching experience is wrapped up with a meal before heading to the beautiful Green Gold Villa, located in the Lyngen Alps.

Here, you’ll enjoy a photography workshop to prep you on how to photograph the Northern lights, as well as a group dinner.

You’ll then get to watch the aurora from the villa, and you’l get to enjoy an overnight stay in one of the six Crystal Lavvos which offer an incredible glamping experience! 

The Crystal Lavvos are made of wood frames with a glass-paneled roof so you can watch the Northern lights dance overhead through the ceiling, like those glass igloos you may have seen in Finland!

The overnight Northern lights tour culminates with breakfast and a transfer back to Tromso city center.

Book your whale safari and aurora lavvu camping experience online here!

Reindeer Sledding with Sami Guide and Northern Lights Tour

This is a tour I did during the daytime, but the same company I went with also offers night tours which follow basically the same itinerary, but with a shot at getting to spot the brilliant lights!

The tour consists of visiting a reindeer farm, where you can either feed and interact with the reindeer (they are very tame!) or go reindeer sledding.

This pretty much just consists of being pulled around the camp for 15-30 minutes, followed by a meal and a storytelling and singing session in a Sami lavvu.

Reindeer farms are a big part of Northern Norway’s tourism scene, and the history of it is really interesting.

Historically, reindeer herding is how the Indigenous people of Northern Norway, the Sami (also written Sámi or Saami) have survived. 

So, who are the Sami? The Sami are indigenous to the region called Sápmi which covers parts of Northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and parts of Russia (specifically, Murmansk Oblast). 

Sápmi is mostly synonymous with the region known as Lapland, but the term Lapland is not preferred by most Sami, who consider the word “Lapp” to refer to a Sami person in a pejorative fashion. 

One of the things I liked most about my tour to the Sami reindeer camp was the chance to learn from my young Sami guide, who was an incredible storyteller. 

He spoke with passion and emotion about the history of the treatment of the Sami people as we gathered around a fire in a lavvu, a traditional Sami tent.

He was not shy about critiquing the way the Norwegian government has historically treated the Sami people, which was similar to the treatment of First Nations and Native American people in Canada and the United States.

Practices such as the banning of the Sami language and the forcing of Sami children into Norwegian boarding schools were aimed at destroying Sami identity. 

Unfortunately, as a result of these laws, many Sami have since lost touch with their roots and integrated with Norwegian or other Scandinavian societies, losing their language and culture in the assimilation process.

Today, Nordic governments are setting up truth commissions and working on reconciliation projects that will, hopefully, make up in some small way for the historic injustices the Sami have faced.

It all may seem a bit heavy for a Northern lights tour — and of course, the subject matter is heavy, but it is important. 

I was so, so glad I went and had the chance to learn from a young Sami storyteller, someone who is so deeply passionate about preserving his people’s identity but also with sharing that identity with tourists.

If you’re looking for chance to spot the Northern lights in Tromso that also touches on culture, history, and cute animals — this is a great way to spend a night in Tromsø. 

This Sami reindeer camp and Northern lights tour is with the same company I did my daytime trip with, and I can’t imagine why the nighttime tour would be any less magical!

Book your reindeer camp and Northern lights excursion here!

Snowshoe and Aurora Tour

Some people prefer a more active approach to spotting the Northern lights, one that combines some physical exercise with a chance of spotting the Northern lights. 

If you’re of the mindset that ‘the best views come after the hardest climb’, snowshoeing in the Arctic with the hope of spotting the Northern lights sounds like the perfect adventure for you!

I’ve gone snowshoeing in Abisko (part of Sápmi/Swedish Lapland) while spotting the Northern lights there, and I had so much fun! 

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to do this tour in Norway, but it seems like a fantastic way to combine some exercise with an opportunity to see lights dancing above you without any interference from light pollution.

Book your snowshoe aurora experience here!

Ice Hotel and Aurora Camping

For the most epic way to see the Northern lights in Norway, try spending the night in an Ice Hotel!

I did a daytime visit to the Tromso Ice Domes, the premiere ice hotel in Norway, and was it ever stunning!

I couldn’t afford the whole overnight package, unfortunately, but I enjoyed even my brief daytime visit. It was one of the best things to do in Tromso, hands down!

If you’re visiting Tromso for a special occasion like a honeymoon, anniversary, or you just like to vacation like a baller, then you’ve got to spend a night hunting for Northern lights at the ice hotel!

Tromsø Ice Domes are located in the Tamok Valley, about an hour and a half away from Tromsø City Centre.

You can do a day tour, but the best experience is a tour staying overnight in the ice hotel.

It also includes a dog sledding tour, Northern lights safari, snowshoe tour, and all your meals.

If you’re visiting Tromso for a special occasion like a honeymoon, anniversary, or you just like to vacation like a baller, then you’ve got to spend a night hunting for Northern lights at the ice hotel!

Enjoy the entire Ice Hotel — including an ice bar, ice cinema, ice restaurant, and ice bedrooms! — as well as the ice sculptures all around the property. 

The evening includes a snowshoe walk in the Tamok Valley, including a guide who will help you spot and photograph the Northern lights, as well as identifying animal tracks and learning about the nature in the area.

You’ll camp out at the nature camp, and you can grill a delicious dinner on an open fire!

You’ll stay in the ice bedroom overnight and be given a cozy expedition-rated sleeping bag on a proper mattress (don’t worry, you won’t be sleeping on an actual block of ice, though you do have an ice bed frame!) covered in reindeer skin. 

In the morning, wake up to a beautiful icy landscape, enjoy a traditional Nordic breakfast, and go on a dog-sledding excursion before heading back to Tromso city center.

Book your Ice Hotel overnight and Northern lights tour here!

Jacuzzi and Sauna Northern Lights Cruise

If you can’t afford a night at the Tromso Ice Domes, this is a romantic and luxurious way to spot the Northern lights on a far more affordable budget!

Imagine cruising the fjords of Tromsø while staring out at the beautiful city lights as you exit the port of Tromsø and give way to the beautiful waters surrounding the fjords…. while in a delightful hot tub!

This Northern lights cruise combines a relaxing spa experience with all the pleasure of chasing the aurora borealis…

Plus, it keeps you warm and relaxed while lights-hunting on this beautiful Northern lights tour from Tromso.

Book this jacuzzi Northern lights cruise online here!

Arctic Cuisine & Northern Lights Cruise

For a special spin on a Northern lights cruise, do one that is cuisine-themed with a focus on delicious Arctic food!

You may wonder what Arctic cuisine entails. Well, it’s not particularly vegetarian or vegan-friendly due to the difficulty of growing vegetables in the Arctic! 

Arctic cuisine leans heavily on humanely-raised meat such as reindeer (which is typically herded and farmed by the Sami) as well as fish like cod, Arctic char, and more. 

Enjoy a 3-course Arctic-inspired meal aboard an electric catamaran with chances of seeing the Northern lights dancing overhead.

Book your catamaran & Arctic cuisine dinner cruise here!

Northern Lights Photography Tour in a 4×4

So far, each of these Tromso Northern lights tours listed has a slightly different focus.

Some are more geared towards animal experiences, such as in the dog sledding and Sami reindeer camp tours. 

Others are geared towards exercise and active adventure, like snowmobiling and snowshoeing.

Others still are focused on luxury and romance, like the Ice Domes or the Jacuzzi Cruise.

But what about a Tromso Northern lights tour that focuses specifically on photography?

While many of the tours, including the minibus tour, will help you out with photos, you may want a more photography-focused excursion.

This tour does just that in a 4×4, no less, so you can really get off the beaten path (literally) and out into the most beautiful nature Northern Norway has to offer.

This highly-rated 4×4 small group photography tour is the perfect choice for photography enthusiasts who have their heart set on taking home a beautiful photograph of the aurora that they snapped themself.

This tour includes two local guides who are willing to drive anywhere and everywhere for a better chance to spot the best Northern lights.

Once a great location is found, the guides set up camp and help you set up tripods (provided by the tour guides) and give you all sorts of tips on best composition and ideal camera settings. 

The guides will also take photos of you, and photos of the aurora, in case you’re not confident in your photography skills. 

The group is always kept small — no more than 8 guests — and the tour includes a vegan soup dinner and dessert.

They also provide hot beverages to keep warm by the fire while waiting for the aurora to appear, tripods and headlamps, hand and foot warmers if needed, plus all sort of thermal suits you might need to stay warm.

Drop off is included as well, which is nice as you arrive back quite late!

Book your Northern Lights photography tour online here!

Seeing the Aurora Borealis in Tromsø Independently

You can occasionally see the Northern lights dancing over the city of Tromsø itself!

My Airbnb host spotted them one night from his house and he popped over to my room to give me a heads up that they were dancing, and I was able to spot them just from the balcony!

However, this only happened once in the 7 days I was in Tromsø, so view it as a bonus, not a given. 

If you want to the best odds of seeing the Northern lights in Tromsø without booking a guided tour, you can take the Fjellheisen cable car up to their viewing platform.

This helps you escape some of the light pollution and also offers a stunning vista over the city.

A return ticket costs NOK 218.50, which is around $27 USD, a great price considering you can stay as long as you like! 

There’s also a restaurant up at the top, Fjellstua, which is reasonably priced given its gorgeous location.

It’s recommended to reserve a table — email them at [email protected] to do so — as spots are limited. I didn’t reserve a table, but I visited around 4 PM when tables were plentiful. 

I had an all-you-can-drink cup of coffee (hot chocolate also available!) for around $4 USD, and a traditional waffle for another $5 USD!

If the weather forecast for Tromsø is pretty bleak but you don’t have a tour, you can try self-driving, so long as the weather conditions aren’t too intense and you are comfortable driving in cold, snowy landscapes.

You could drive out to Lyngen about an hour from Tromsø. The Lyngen Alps break up some of the cloud cover that Tromsø gets, so it can be a good location to try self-driving.

You might also just want to bite the bullet and drive to Finland if you’re self-driving.

We ended up outside the town of Kilpisjärvi on our minibus tour, and it was the only place you could see the Northern lights for miles and miles, according to our guides!

Another option if you prefer independent travel is spending some time in Abisko, Sweden.

Abisko is statistically proven to have the best Northern lights around, with scientists pegging your odds at 80% if you stay for 3 days. 

Abisko is where I took this gorgeous photograph, with green and a bit of purple!

Personally, I saw them 3 out 3 days in a row! 

As a bonus, in Abisko, it’s so easy to see them without any need for tours due to the “Blue Hole” that forms around Torneträsk, the frozen lake at the heart of Abisko National Park.

It’s a great budget option, so if you don’t necessarily have your heart set on Tromsø, Abisko makes a great alternative.

I have a bunch of resources on planning a trip to Abisko in winter, which you can find here.

What to Wear in the Arctic

I have a full packing list for what to bring to Norway in winter here, which you should definitely check out before your trip.

Note that being out spotting the Northern lights can be extremely cold! While virtually every company I know of offers free thermal suits for rent (which you absolutely should take advantage of), you’ll want to wear comfortable thermal layers underneath.

Warm socks, snow boots (though many places offer boot rental as well), warm gloves, a scarf, a hat, and thermal layers are must-haves when dressing for the Arctic. You’ll also want a parka and snow boots for walking around town.

Here are my quick recommendations:

Parka

For my trip to Norway, I wore a jacket that I bought from Decathlon which I can’t find online, but it is virtually identical to this one but in a navy blue.

On my past trip to the Arctic, in neighboring Sweden where it’s actually a bit colder, I did really well with my North Face parka which I’ve owned for 10 years and absolutely love (I just didn’t have it moved over to Europe, where I was living at the time).

Snow boots

I wore a pair of snow boots by Quechua which I bought from Decathlon, which I can’t find online anymore.

Here is a similar boot by Sorel, a trusted winter brand that’s beloved in Norway and beyond (here’s a women’s version and a men’s version).

I recommend sizing about half a size up to account for thick winter socks — which should definitely be wool!

Yaktrax

Walking around Tromso is icy and crampons are a must if you don’t want to fall and risk being hurt!

While you might not need Yaktrax on your Northern lights tours, you’ll want them for walking around the city when it ices over — which happened multiple times during my trip there.

I like these simple Yaktrax because they’re easy to take on and off, as you’re not allowed to wear them in indoors stores, etc. in Tromso.

And yes, they are carry-on friendly in my experience!

Cold weather accessories

For me, this includes the following: a winter hat, two pairs of winter gloves (one thin and able to be used with touchscreen devices, one thick and waterproof), and a scarf or two.

I suggest getting colorful accessories which will help you differentiate and stand out in your photos, since you’ll likely be wearing the same outerwear jacket in all of your snaps.

Base layers

For thermal leggings, I recommend these for women and these for men, both by Columbia, a trusted outdoors brand.

For a top thermal layer, I recommend this top for women and this top for men.

Merino wool is also a popular choice because it is odor-resistant and moisture-wicking.

However, I’m neurodivergent and have pretty intense sensory issues, which makes wool tough for me.

For me, wool is too scratchy for the softer skin on my body, but it’s fine on my feet, so I only wear wool socks and then I opt for non-wool materials for the rest of my base layer.

If you’re fine with merino wool, I suggest base layers from Merino.tech, like this leggings and top base set (women’s) and this version for men, which is very affordable for the high quality!

Wool socks

For making those warm snow boots even warmer, I love SmartWool.

And yes, even though I normally hate wool, I don’t find these itchy at all!

Your typical winter clothing

Once you’ve got a parka, base layers, accessories, and snow boots, you can wear whatever normal winter clothing you’d wear — jeans, sweaters, etc.

Even if you don’t come from a particularly cold climate, as long as you’re wearing things that cover your limbs, you should be fine after all your accessories, which do the heavy lifting of keeping you warm!

Photography Gear for Shooting the Northern Lights

I have a full guide to photographing the Northern lights on the way, but here are the basics of what you need, and I also cover this topic quite a bit in my post on seeing the Northern lights in Sweden.

Tripod

You’ll want a stable tripod that won’t be knocked around if there are winds.

A tripod is non-negotiable because you need to stabilize the camera when photographing the Northern Lights for seconds at a time, which your hand is incapable of doing.

Some Northern lights tours will offer tripod rentals, whereas others do not, so ask first or bring your own.

This COMAN tripod is reasonably priced (trust me, real-deal tripods can easily exceed $600, so this is a good deal) but far sturdier than the cheapest bare-bones tripods you’ll find on Amazon.

Camera with manual settings

You don’t need an incredibly expensive to see the Northern lights, not at all!

However, you need something with a little more power than just a smartphone.

I used a Sony A6000 when I snapped all my Northern lights photos and it worked just perfectly.

You’ll need to get acquainted with the best camera settings for capturing the Northern lights, but any camera that has manual capabilities will have plenty of power for capturing the lights.

I recommend my Sony A6000 all the time, as it’s served me very well!

I’ve since upgraded to a Sony A7R II — not the highest end that Sony offers, but among the cheapest in the full-frame arena — and I adore my new camera, and can’t wait to take it on more Arctic adventures!

Lots and lots of spare batteries

A camera battery in the Arctic lasts way shorter than you’d expect.

I run through a battery in about 30 minutes of use in the Arctic… sometimes even faster (see photo above!)

Carry at least 4 extra batteries with you, preferably in a pocket to keep them as warm as possible until you’re prepared to use them.

Sony’s proprietary battery packs are expensive, so I use these ones by Wasabi Power.

Note that the charger included is only compatible with the Wasabi batteries, though, and not the one that came with your Sony. That you can charge via a USB.

Microfiber lens cloth

These lens cleaning cloths will help you remove ice and condensation that occurs on the lens in these extreme cold climate conditions!

As you can see above — it’ll come in handy!

Where to Stay in Tromsø

Central Tromso is nice and small, and there are tons of great accommodation choices right in the heart of town. 

Here are our 3 top picks in Tromso city center, as well as one amazing Arctic glamping spot just a bit outside of the city (free transfers are provided).

Budget

The best budget option in Tromso is Smarthotel Tromso. It’s right in the heart of central Tromso, so it’s easy to get to all your activities!

Plus, it has all the things you need in a hotel — 24-hour reception, comfortable beds, a work desk, and some food available in the lobby.

Note that breakfast is not included in the price (that’s part of why it’s budget-friendly!) but can be added for a fee.

Check reviews from verified guests, see photos, and book your room here.

Mid-Range

If you want to stay in a chic boutique hotel that’s not overly fancy, Thon Hotel Polar is a fabulous choice!

The decor is irreverent yet modern with an Arctic and polar theme, many with vibrant pops of color that make the hotel have a lot more personality than many other Scandinavian hotels which tend to be a bit more muted in terms of decor.

Breakfast is included and there is also a restaurant on-site should you want to dine in.

The location couldn’t be better, so it’s a fantastic choice for mid-range travelers to Tromso in winter.

 Check reviews from verified guests, look at photos, and book your room here

Luxury

There are three Clarion Collection hotels in Tromso, but the nicest of the three seems to be Clarion Collection Hotel Aurora.

Why? It’s harborfront and has an incredible rooftop jacuzzi where you can try to spot the Northern lights!

Rooms are luxurious and modern with updated bathrooms, and the facilities include a gym, free afternoon coffee with waffles, and a light evening meal as part of your stay — a great value in pricy Norway!

Check reviews from verified guests, look at photos, and book your room today!

DON’T FORGET ABOUT TRAVEL INSURANCE!

When planning any trip, especially a winter trip, be sure not to forget about travel insurance!

I use SafetyWing and its Nomad Insurance to insure all of my trips for its affordable rates and comprehensive coverage for all my travel needs.

For a trip as expensive as traveling to Norway, it’s especially important for me to have coverage. Plus, it’s a Norwegian company!

It provides both travel insurance (coverage for trip delays, cancellations, interruptions — the likelihood of which increases in winter) and travel medical insurance (coverage for things like accidents, illnesses including Covid, etc. — also more likely in winter!).

When you throw in travel to the Arctic, things get even more unpredictable with the weather, and you’ll be especially glad for the peace of mind!

Coverage is really affordable — for me, it costs roughly $11 USD for a week of coverage outside of the U.S., with a policy max of $250,000 after a deductible of $250. Not bad!

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Allison Green

Allison Green is a former teacher who has been travel blogging since 2016. She has a Masters in Teaching and a B.A. in English and Creative Writing. Her blog posts merge her background as an educator with her experience traveling to 70+ countries to encourage ethical, meaningful travel. She has been a speaker at the World Travel Writers Conference and her writing, photography, and podcasting work has appeared in National Geographic, CNN Arabic, CBC Canada, and Forbes, amongst others. Now a full-time traveler, she has lived in Prague, Sofia, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

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