Tromsø is the largest city in northern Norway. Rightly called the Arctic capital, Tromsø is lucky to enjoy not one but two natural phenomenon every year – Northern lights (winter) and Midnight Sun( summer). We were lucky to enjoy northern lights as we visited the city in April.

Tromsø is an important place for some of the worlds foremost scientists researching subjects like life in Arctic, climate changes, etc.

We reached Tromsø by hurtigruten ship MS Polarlys. You can even fly in. The hurtigruten terminal was close to the Scandic Ishav hotel that we had booked.

On the day that we reached we decided to just amble around the streets and go for northern lights safari in the night.

Located at nearly 70 degrees north between magnificient fjords, breathtaking mountain peaks and islands, it is a prime starting point for the arctic adventure. We started our Aurora chase at 9.00 pm. After driving for around 1.5 hour we reached our viewing spot.

While we were waiting for the clouds to clear, our guide told us that it was already 8th April and this was the last week of operation of their northern lights safari. Many safari companies had already closed their booking for the season. This indirectly implied that we might not be able to see the lights. The sky was very cloudy so that diminished our chances too. However the entire Universe conspired to help us see the green lady 🙂

We started our camp fire and were sipping hot chocolate when the clouds started moving and some activity started.

The aurora got stronger and stronger and we got excited and elated to see the magnificient green lights.

The Kp index, which is normally a good indicator of the aurora activity, was 2+ during our chase. This is slightly above the normal and considering the bright sky conditions we got a nice aurora show 🙂

Our guide however told us that this was only 20% of actual aurora that happens in the main winter months. Talk about satisfaction and gratitude. I was happy!

The second day of our stay was dedicated to the main spots of Tromsø.  Here is the map of what we did.

1. Scandic Ishav hotel

The starting point was our hotel Scandic Ishav. You can read the review here. We started walking on Fredrick langes gate towards Storgata.

2.  Storgata

This is the main pedestrian street with many boutique shops and restaurants. Its fun to walk around and buy some souvenirs.

Tromsø Domkirke, a beautiful 18th century cathedral is also located on Storgata.

3. Polaria

This is an aquarium and education centre. You can find bearded seals here. However don’t expect much as the entire place is small and the only attraction is seal feeding. Its a 10-15 min walk from the main city centre. The building architecture is intriguing so even if you dont want to go inside you can just stroll down there.

4. Arctic Cathedral or Ishavskatedralen

This cathedral is 30 min walk away from the main city centre across the Tromsø bridge. Its distinctive iceberg design makes it pretty much visible from the Tromsø.

You can opt to walk across the main bridge or take bus from the town centre. We bought the 1 day travel pass which allowed us unlimited travel for 24 hours. Bus no 26 goes to the church.

The cathedral also has midnight concerts.

5. Mount Floya or Fjellheisen

About 10 min walk from the Arctic cathedral is the starting point of cable car that takes you all the way up Mount Fløya. You can even hike up the 1300 Sherpa steps(obviously the Nepal Sherpas build it). The cable car runs until 11 pm so during winters there is a chance to even see northern lights from here at nominal cost.

You can get a birds eye view of the  town of  Tromsø  – the bridge, Arctic cathedral all look lovely from the top.

The mesmerizing alpine mountain peaks and views of the fjords that you see from here will keep you spellbound. For food lovers there is a restaurant at the top where you can enjoy some wine and food.

There are many other activities like fjord fishing, husky rides and polar park that you can do besides the above. In my humble opinion, Tromsø is a must visit in Norway.