3 Major Things I Wish I Knew Before Visiting Tromso, Norway

Tromsø is such a beautiful arctic town and really captures your heart almost immediately. However, I had my fair share of both good and bad experiences when visiting. A lot of the bad experiences could have easily been avoided and that is what I intend to share with you. If you plan on visiting Tromsø Norway, here are a few things you definitely should know!

It is Expensive

If you’re coming from America like I am, one really important thing to note is it is extremely expensive to visit Norway! Before I made my journey to Tromsø, I did my research and I knew their money was worth more than mine, but apparently, I didn’t realize just how much. To put into perspective how expensive it was, let me tell you a little story. My sister and I stayed at the Clarion Edge Hotel (Highly recommend it was beautiful and had an amazing breakfast display) and we decided we wanted to head over to the other side of town to visit the Northern most cathedral and to take a ride up the cable car. We didn’t have anything else planned for the day, so we decided to take the forty-minute walk over the bridge.

After exploring the cathedral and experiencing the amazing views at the top of the cable car, we then proceeded to make the forty-minute walk back. After having plenty of time to discuss, my sister and I made the ultimate decision to go back and visit the cable car that night for the spectacular views. However, we decided we wanted to take a taxi there and back this time after walking all day long. After a few hours of wandering around town and making a pit stop at our hotel, we decided to call a taxi to take us over to the cable car.

As soon as we sat down in the taxi the price was already at 10NOK which equals 1 U.S. dollars! We then proceeded with the four, yes, I said four-minute taxi drive, to the cable car and the total amount ended up being 26 U.S. dollars! My sister and I were appalled, but simply thanked and paid the driver while proceeding to get out. The taxi driver waited for us for a few minutes because he and we had then realized that the cable car was indeed CLOSED because of the high winds. My sister and I went inside and asked the worker there if the cable car would be up and running anytime soon. They politely declined and sent us on our way.

Heartbroken, my sister and I sadly started to make our forty-minute walk back over the bridge because there was no way we were spending another 26 dollars for maybe a four-minute taxi ride. I recommend walking your way around Tromsø because unfortunately there are no Uber’s, and the taxi rides are just way too expensive. This leads perfectly into another thing to know before visiting Tromsø which involves visiting the cable car.

Call First

If you plan on going up the cable car at night, or really any time of the day, make sure you call and ask if they’re opened! If you are going to walk or take an expensive taxi ride all the way over there, I recommend giving them a call first. Their website says what times they are opened depending on the time of year you visit (we went during March) and it said they were opened from 10 o’clock in the morning to 11 o’clock at night. However, as you heard from the previous story, they were closed that whole night because of the high winds. Overall, I can’t emphasize enough how amazing the views were going to the top of the cable car. This is definitely a Must Do When Visiting Tromsø, Norway, but just make sure you call and ask if it is open first.

Don’t do it Unless You’re Up For it

The number one thing to do when visiting Tromsø, Norway is seeing the northern lights. I personally had two different experiences when viewing the northern lights. The first experience was unbelievably awful and the second was everything I dreamed. My advice to you is do not go out northern lights chasing unless you are actually in the mood for it. My sister and I made the huge mistake of going out on the northern lights tour after traveling for 36 hours.

We arrived in Tromsø around 1 in the afternoon Sunday after experiencing an overnight delay. We had paid for the 7-day unlimited pass (highly recommend) which was amazing because not only can you pick and choose what days you want go see the lights, but it also saves you a lot of money. One night is about 180 U.S. dollars and the unlimited 7 nights is about 280 U.S. dollars, so as long as you go out at least two times, you’re getting your money’s worth. Anyways, we were extremely eager to start sightseeing because we already lost a day due to the airplane’s technical issues (which caused us to arrive in Tromsø on Sunday rather than Saturday) so we decided to go out on the tour that night which was a huge mistake.

Around 6:30 at night you are required to go to a certain meeting spot and the bus leaves at 7 on the spot. We were very fortunate to have an extremely clear sky which means we didn’t need to drive too far out of town in order to spot the northern lights. After driving for about 30 minutes, we stopped at this little lake and immediately spotted the northern lights which was disappointing. My sister and I made the awful decision not to bring any cameras with us besides our IPhones. This was obviously a mistake and we were not able to capture the northern lights on our phones. Overall, we ended up buying three photos (which were 40 U.S. dollars per photo.) What made this experience so awful was one the photographer/tour guide we had that night wasn’t great, two we weren’t able to take any photos on our iPhones, so we just stood there, and three it was so unbelievably long!

We were exhausted and we just weren’t in the right mind set and after standing outside in the cold for about an hour and a half we slept all the way until we ended up leaving that spot at 12:30 in the morning. The northern lights were disappointing because as soon as we got there the northern lights had appeared, but they were white. Another important thing to note when it comes to the northern lights is a lot of the times, they are actually white. The camera can capture what our eyes cannot and unless the solar activity is really strong, they’re usually white. After this we thought the northern lights we way over hyped and we left that night feeling disappointed, but mostly tired.

We didn’t go northern lights chasing again until Wednesday night after adjusting to the time zone. Even though it was cloudy outside, this time around we were in a way better mind set, our tour guide Sebastian was awesome, and we saw beautifully bright green lights! We actually drove all the way to the border of Finland (which was about a two-hour drive) in order to find clear skies. Which means we actually only stood outside for two hours because we are required to back in town around 1:00-1:30 in the morning. This time around we were way more excited, we were way more awake, and the lights were amazing.

We stood around for a while drinking hot chocolate until it finally happened, the lights started to appear! We actually saw the lights dance three different times which made my heart skip a beat. It was so nice not being on my phone or having a camera taking pictures because we were really able to experience those moments which literally only last seconds. A big thanks to Sebastian for being awesome and for driving us all the way to Finland in order to see the lights! I hope you take from this experience to only go out northern lights hunting when you are prepared psychically and mentally. This is such an amazing experience that requires a lot of patience and we just simply didn’t have it the first time around! Don’t make the same mistake my sister and I did, only go when absolutely ready. These are the three major things you should know before visiting Tromsø, Norway.

If you’re interested in visiting and want some more tips, please feel free to leave a comment below or direct message me on Instagram @smilesmilesaway . Also check out my Amazon Storefront where I share all of my Amazon favorites: My Amazon Storefront . If you’ve already visited Norway, please comment below one of your favorite memories. Can’t wait to read your comments!

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