Tromsø in Winter

Following a very enjoyable early December holiday in Alta last year, where I saw a wonderful display of the Aurora Borealis, I decided to visit Norway again this year. Having visited the city of Tromsø in July 2012, I decided that I would return to the city to see the Polar Night, as well as attempting to view the Northern Lights.

I booked a holiday, with my friends Sue and Simon, arriving in Tromsø on Thursday December 5th 2013, and returning on Monday 9th. Our holiday was arranged by Taber Holidays, who arranged my previous visit to Tromsø, as well as my Alta trip. We stayed at the Rica Ishavshotel which is situated directly on the harbour, next to the Hurtigruten coastal ferry dock.

The holiday for me started with a nightmare journey to Heathrow for the first flight to Oslo. I was diverted off the M1 twice, and took a wrong turn, meaning that I arrived at the airport an hour later than planned and just in time to check-in.

The flight to Oslo was uneventful and a quick turnaround at the Norwegian capital saw us board the Tromsø flight with only ten minutes to spare. A short flight of under two hours and we were in Tromsø. After a 15 minute coach journey we were booking in to our hotel.

Snow arrived early in Tromsø this year, falling in October and catching motorists unawares and meaning a rapid change to Winter tyres. There were six inches at least on the ground in Tromsø, with about three feet in the mountains surrounding the city.

The main reason for our trip was to view the Northern Lights, and for this we needed clear skies. Fortunately, the cloudy skies of earlier days dispersed and we were greeted with clear skies, and low temperatures, for most of our holiday.

On our first evening in the city, we had dinner in the hotel. I chose reindeer slices for starter, followed by baked cod – both courses were excellent. After dinner, we had a stroll around the harbour and spent some time gazing towards the skies, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Aurora. I wasn’t expecting to see anything due to light pollution from the city, but we did manage to see a very brief glimpse of something resembling an Aurora over the nearby mountains.

Our second day in Tromsø started with an excellent breakfast in the hotel. I had stayed in a Rica hotel in Alta, so I knew what to expect. There was every kind of breakfast food you could imagine, from cereal, fruit, meat, fish, cheese, waffles, omelettes, as well as the usual eggs, bacon and sausage. A great way to start the day.

After breakfast, we visited a very helpful tourist information office before booking seats on the Round Trip. This is a bus and ferry journey to Skjervøy, before a return to Tromsø on the Hurtigruten. The tour left at 14:10 and we didn’t return until midnight. At 750NOK, about £75, I thought this was excellent value and to cap the trip off in style, we saw the Aurora from the stern of the Hurtigruten.

On day three, we took a ride on Fjell­hei­sen, the cable car that takes you to Stor­stei­nen (Big Rock) on mount Fløya, 421 meters above sea level. The trip takes four minutes and from the top you can enjoy the view of Tromsø and the sur­round­ing islands and fjords from an out­door viewing deck. There is also a cafe at the top where we enjoyed hot chocolate after a short stroll on the snow-covered mountain.

Snow was around six feet deep at the cable car station, and a bitterly cold wind meant that I didn’t stray too far, only venturing out to take some photos. I had particularly wanted to photograph the view from the top, overlooking Tromsø, one of my favourite views. I managed to get some shots around midday, when the light was a breathtaking blue, and also around 14:00 when the darkness had returned.

After returning to our hotel, we booked on a tour with Northern Shots to see the Aurora. They promised to chase the Lights until the early hours, if necessary, offering 50% off the next day if they were unsuccessful. The price of 950NOK (£95) and was well worth it as we caught our first glimpse of the Lights on a windswept mountain overlooking the city. We also witnessed a lightening display, which is very rare to see with the Aurora. Our expert guide even managed to snap a lightening strike and Aurora on the same photo.

We returned to our hotel around midnight, happy that we had seen what we came for.

A heavy snowfall greeted our final full day in Tromsø, with another two inches falling overnight. By 11:00, this cleared and we were able to visit the Polar Museum and Polaria. The Polar Museum had exhibits of Polar exhibitions and Sami life, while Polaria is much larger and features a panoramic film theatre showing films of the Northern Lights and Svalbard, an aquarium, complete with seals, and an exhibition showing life in the Arctic.

I met my friends Peter and Kate in Tromsø for a drink. They were travelling north on Hurtigruten, having flown in to Tromsø. After their boat left, Sue, Simon and I dined at Steakers Restaurant on the harbour side, where I had a large meal consisting of shellfish soup for starter, followed by a combo of lamb shank, pork ribs and beef steak. Another excellent, though not very Norwegian, meal.

Reluctantly, we had to say goodbye to the Arctic on day five. Heavy snow in Oslo caused a delay to our original flight, but we were able to catch an earlier flight which meant we arrived in Heathrow on time. Unfortunately, our luggage didn’t and that was delivered by courier the following evening. I didn’t mind too much as I was happy to get home at the time I had arranged.

Norway is always a place that I am sad to leave. The people are friendly, and you feel safe wherever you wander – not something I can say about my hometown. Another excellent holiday in this stunningly beautiful country was over, and before I got home, I was already planning my next trip to the Arctic – this time it will be in Summer

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• Hurtigruten cruise: Northern Lights in Norway (telegraph.co.uk)
• Simon Calder: Norway pushes the boat out for ferry holidays (independent.co.uk)
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• Arctic Norway: great winter whale watching without the whale meat at Tromso (mercedesrosello.wordpress.com)
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