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Tromsø, Norway

  • January 7, 2025
  • Jack

After enjoying a festive holiday season in London, I jumped at the opportunity to head North to Norway for a few days before Christmas.  Why Norway?  Good question, having never ventured to the Scandinavian countries – either in the Navy or through personal travel.  However, daughter Sarah was looking for an out-of-the-way, new, adventurous place to visit en route to our planned Christmas in Germany.  During the brain-storming search to give her ideas, I turned to my trusted friend and CBRE teammate Laura Harkin for her thoughts on Norway, as she lived there for several months with her family a few years ago.  A couple of text messages later, Sarah was hooked on Norway, and as luck would have it, I managed to invite myself to join her!!  In fairness to KK, she was happy to let me go alone with Sarah to enjoy the cold, snow, ice, and darkness, as they are not her forte.

Sarah and I met in Oslo for a night and then ventured 700 miles further North to Tromsø for three nights.   Before I describe our experiences, I think it’s important to understand where it is on the map!  In the simplest of terms, Tromsø is WAY NORTH… and for my sailor and aviation friends, puts it about 69.4 degrees N.

Getting to Oslo was easy – Sarah was on BA from Houston through London and a direct flight up for me on Norwegian Airlines.  Oslo is a great city, but with limited hours and only one night, our highlights included enjoying the Christmas market (and hot wine), seeing the holiday lights, a memorable curry dinner at New Anarkali, and a walk up the roof of the famous Opera House!  We did bypass the “sauna/dip in the harbor” combo – somehow, we haven’t gotten the bug to jump in 40-degree water!  Brrrrrrrrrr.   We stayed at the Thon Terminus hotel on Rick Steve’s recommendation – and it was not only a great location but had great value with an included full breakfast, all for about $120.  With so much more to do in Oslo, it’s on my “must return” list, and I would really enjoy the sites in and around the area much better in the summer, on to Tromsø.

Oslo Christmas Market
Warming up
Oslo MId-day Sun
Opera House

Our decision to spend most of our Norway time in Tromsø was easy, as it is high season in December and a go-to place for many.  The flight up was easy – $150 – for the two-hour journey from Oslo.  For me, it was somewhat surreal to see the beautiful sunset on the afternoon flight North, as we didn’t see the sun again for three days after our departure.  Being the good aviator that I am and understanding the days would be short that far North, I checked the sunrise time prior to departure—oops—in fact, the sun doesn’t rise in late December, and the next time Tromsø would see the sun would be in January!

Tromsø is a delightful town with friendly, courteous residents who cater to visitors.  The main street is both heated and a “pedestrian only” area, making getting around easy – as most restaurants and shops are within a couple of blocks of this area and an easy taxi/Uber ride from the airport.  We explored the town the first day and managed to find Tromsø’s oldest pub, Ølhallen, for a pint.  Warm and cozy, we enjoyed getting out of the cold, and although we paid about $17 a pint, it did not dampen our spirits as Norway’s high alcohol prices were not a surprise.   While in Tromsø, there was no shortage of fantastic places to get coffee or eat – here are a couple I would highly recommend.  For dinner, Sarah had an incredible find with Art Café Bistro, a small family-run restaurant right off the main drag.  Although fully booked, we stopped, and they luckily had a no-show – bam, and we were in.   For breakfast, Riso mat & kaffebar provided a superb atmosphere and delicious menu for our last meal in town – great mains with coffee to die for. Of course, you can also opt for a hearty breakfast at McDonald’s – which we did early one morning – as it was the most Northern McD’s in the WORLD!  There are also some very nice, tourist-focused shops where you can buy any number of regional goods – stuffed Polar Bear, anyone?  I should note that hotels this time of year are pretty expensive in Tromsø; we opted for a 2BR Airbnb, which was not only very nice but inexpensive, just a brisk 13-minute walk to the town center. 

Flight North
Tromsø Heated Street
Tromsø Lights
Sarah and Friends
Ølhallen Pub

On to the real “above the Arctic Circle” fun of the visit.  We scheduled two major expeditions through Norwegian Travel during our short stay.  The first was an exciting snowmobile tour outside of town, which included a traditional reindeer stew meal around a much-needed fireplace in a Sami tent.  Did I mention it was cold outside?  The second expedition was dogsledding.  It was a blast and hard not to fall in love with the dogs!  This also included a traditional meal and a visit to see, pet, and feed reindeer with our Sami host.  All cold weather gear was provided for the outdoor tours – which we put on over what one would normally ski in.  Layering was the secret to staying warm.  Both were well-executed tours – on time, professional, and exactly as their site described.  There are other vendors for sure, and they may be equally as good, but my experience with Norwegian Travel in Tromso was 5-star.  As for the Northern Lights, the pictures tell the best story as we saw them for two of our three nights in the area.  Spectacular would be an understatement!

Snowmobile Trek
Warming up in Sami Tent
Dogsledding
Driving the Pups
Northern LIghts
New Friends
Sami Cultural Dress
Santa's Reindeer
Northern LIghts

That about wraps the quick-look from my time above the Arctic Circle.  You should go!  Now on to Germany for Christmas and back to London—both of which posts KK has already published.  Happy New Year!

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3 Responses

  1. Joseph Parrino says:
    January 17, 2025 at 2:07 pm

    Wow, what a great post Jack! Beth and I may have to visit that place…wow!!

    Reply
  2. Scott Gregory says:
    January 14, 2025 at 4:12 pm

    Really enjoyed this read and would love to get to this area of the world some day. I am sure to hear more great stories and memories and the upcoming BW20 event! Already fired up!

    Reply
  3. Kim Stewart says:
    January 13, 2025 at 3:16 pm

    Jack, it’s a tough sell to get me to consider leaving cold, sunny Colorado for a vacation in even colder and darker Norway, but you sold me. I will put this on my list!

    Reply

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