Tromsø is the most northerly place I have ever travelled. At 69.65°N it’s up past the Arctic Circle, the sun sets on 27th November and doesn’t rise again until 15th January. I came up here to welcome it back when it finally reappears tomorrow. Apparently I won’t see it though as Tromsø is an island, surrounded by mountains. Sunrise won’t be visible!
Getting to Tromsø
Getting here in winter is surprisingly easy from the UK. Budget airline Wizz Air offer direct flights from Luton. For somewhere so exotic the flights are remarkably cheap – but maybe that’s because it’s the middle of winter! Travelling in the summer is a different story with no direct flights from the UK. I’d not flown with Wizzair before but as budget airlines go things went smoothly enough. Their luggage restrictions are fairly draconian allowing just a fairly small rucksack on-board unless you pay for priority boarding. This gets you a less than standard 55x40x23cm sized trolley bag too. For £13 return this seemed a reasonable expense to bring my thermals and ski pants when average temperatures are around -4°C. Seat pitch is only 30 inches and even though I’m not tall an extra inch or two leg room would have been nice for the 3hr 30 min flight.
Somewhere to stay
A word of warning. Norway does not come cheap. At an eyewatering £9 for a medium bacon double cheeseburger meal in Burger King, you know you’re not in Kansas anymore.
With that in mind, I took the jump into Airbnb and, first impressions, it was a great decision. The house I stayed in was lovely with a huge and cosy bedroom. The owner messaged me with all I needed to know to get here from the airport and it just a short walk into town. Beats the overpriced hotels down the road.
100% cloud cover this evening so no Northern Lights. Instead, time to try a Norwegian beer – Icebear, brewed by Mack whic claim to be “the world’s northernmost brewery”. In fact, that accolade belongs to a brewery based in Svalbard. Anyway, the beer was cool and crisp with a light hoppiness.
For an idea of what to do in Tromsø you might be interested in the blogposts here and here.
