A mini guide to Tromsø, the final checkpoint in Celebrity Race Across the World

26.10.2023 - 18:41 / wanderlust.co.uk / Roald Amundsen

Tromsø’s natural gifts can seem almost unfair. Buried deep in the Arctic Circle in northern Norway, it’s surrounded by the soaring, skiable peaks of the Lyngen Alps and fjords that draw pods of humpback whales in the winter. And, most famously, it’s slap-bang in the middle of the so-called Auroral Oval, the band of the Earth (between latitudes 65º and 70º north) in which the northern lights hit hardest and brightest.

But what’s perhaps more surprising is that this city of just 76,000 residents, which lines two sides of a pretty fjord, is so culturally rich. Tromsø is steeped in the history of the area’s Sami reindeer herders, trappers and polar explorers, most notably Roald Amundsen, who took off from the city on his fateful final voyage in 1928. It’s little wonder that it was dubbed ‘the Paris of the North’ in the 19th century.

But it is another nickname that has stuck. The self-styled ‘Capital of the Arctic’ is a cooler, livelier city than you might expect. The hip cafés, microbreweries and shabby-chic bars are aimed at the city’s student population yet are a boon to visitors. The food is fresh, local and heavy on the fish, especially the famously muscular skrei cod that arrives in late winter. The cultural scene counts a philharmonic orchestra and scores of festivals, including a film festival every January, based around a cinema that was built in 1916 and remains one of the oldest still working in Europe.

But the true joy of visiting Tromsø is getting out into the wilderness, and a boom in winter tourism over the past decade has meant more to do than ever before. As well as staples like whale-watching with local experts or reindeer-sledding with Sami herders, new offerings in the past few years include the Tromsø Ice Domes – an ice bar, cinema and hotel out in the wild – as well as the Aurora Spirit distillery, which is also a base for RIB boat trips, axe-throwing and tours of Cold War-era bunkers. It almost sounds blasphemous, but the northern lights streaking across the Arctic sky are merely a spectacular cosmic bonus.

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Day 1

A RIB boat nature tour with Tromsø Friluftsenter o­ffers a great introduction. A five-hour morning trip (including transfers) rewards with sightings of Arctic reindeer, white-tailed eagles and, between November and January, orcas and humpbacks.

Back in town, discover Norway’s epic expedition past at The Polar Museum, part of a larger complex that also includes the world’s most northerly botanical garden.

Next, grab a beer at Olhallen, attached to the city’s famed Mack brewery – now ‘formerly’ the northernmost in the world after Longyearbyen took that title. This authentic pub opened in 1928 and has 67 taps of craft brews.

In the evening, settle in for a slick