Tromsø Self-Guided Walking Tour: Highlights & Hidden Gems
Tromsø is a city best explored on foot, so I’ve put together a self-guided walking tour based on where I like to go when I’m in the city. I’ve also put this together with the Hurtigruten in mind and the time that has to be taken into account when you’re only in the city for four hours. I took these photos in February 2020 in the middle of winter; hopefully I’ll get some photos this summer to show how different the city looks when there’s no snow!
Tromsø is one of the most popular places to visit in Norway, and I can understand why. Called the “Arctic Capital of Norway”, Tromsø is located far, far north above the Arctic Circle, making it perfect in summer for the midnight sun or in winter for the northern lights. It’s got museums, restaurants, shopping, various outdoor activities, and countless lovely hotels. It’s also one of the most popular ports on the Hurtigruten, especially when travelling northbound (4 hours in the city!).
In this article...
Download this Guide
All of our guides can be downloaded via our online store.
We offer downloadable versions of our self-guided drives on our online store.
Online Guide
- Information about points of interest
- Images of each point of interest
- Historic overview of the neighbourhood
- Directions between points
- Historic photos
- Information about facilities along the way
Downloadable Guide
- Information about points of interest
- Images of each point of interest
- Historic overview of the region & towns
- Directions between points
- Historic photos
- Facilities including supermarkets, toilets, petrol, hotels, cafes, restaurants with addresses.
Practical Info
- If you are doing this walk during winter, be wary of ice. Tromsø can get very icy, and they don’t always cover the ice with gravel. Some paths are heated, meaning no ice, but you will encounter ice on this trip.
- This trip can be broken up with visits to the cable car, Polar Museum, and Perspective Museum.
- If you’re doing this trip while on Hurtigruten, always keep an eye on the time. I did this walk in around 45 minutes (lots of photo-taking stops) with no entrances.
- Walk length: 1.8km (1.1 miles) / Mostly flat (hilly if detouring to the Catholic Church).
Tromsø Self-Guided Walking Tour
Arctic Cathedral View
Completed in 1965, the Arctic Cathedral stands out over the cityscape. The white, glacier-like appearance is supposed to represent the stockfish drying racks, the Northern Lights, and the eleven Apostles that were left after the betrayal. The entire east wall is formed by a huge stained-glass window, one of the largest in Europe, and the organ is built to represent a ship when viewed from beneath.
The Arctic Cathedral is generally open, but to get there you’d need to take bus 26, explained later in this walk. If you’re in Tromsø for a couple of days, consider attending one of their concerts: https://www.ishavskatedralen.no/en/the-arctic-cathedral/concerts/
Roald Amundsen Statue
Since Tromsø was an important harbour area for Arctic exploration, it makes sense to have a statue of Roald Amundsen in one of the town squares. Amundsen (1872-1928) was a Norwegian explorer who led the first expedition to traverse the Northwest Passage by sea and also the first expedition to the South Pole. He also led the first expedition proven to have reached the North Pole in a dirigible in 1926.
Behind the Amundsen statue is the North Norwegian Museum for Art, a free museum with rotating exhibitions all about life in the north.
Jewish Memorial
Tucked away in the corner of the park is a monument for the Jewish members of the community who were deported during World War II. The monument reads: “in memory of the Jews from Tromsø killed in German concentration camps. Erected with deep love by their countrymen. We must never regret”. All 17 Jews were deported from Tromsø. 16 died in 1943, and 1 died in 1945.
Smørtorget
This is an old square from the times when Tromsø was an active market down. Called The Butter Market when translated to English, it was a place where farmers came with butter and dairy products to sell. There were plenty of different businesses, though – a bakery, butcher, pharmacy, hotel, barbershop, textiles and souvenir shops. This was also where Tromsø’s first roundabout was – the streets in town were so narrow and horses with carriages needed room to turn. Here the square was wide enough, so they would take a lap around the square before returning home. Nearby were small cottages that were used as a shelter for people coming from afar for church on Sundays, but eventually they became permanent homes of artists and tenants.
While Smørtorget survived during World War II, the fire destroyed some of the houses, and development in the 1970s destroyed some more of them. There is a cafe in the square called Smørtorget that has some lovely photos and information boards inside. It also doubles as a secondhand shop, so it’s worth going inside for a look!
Sjøgata 6 (Green Timber House)
Sjøgata 6 is a green timber house that was built in the mid-19th century and was owned by the Austad family, a wealthy merchant family who owned many properties in Tromsø. For a while, the property was divided into four different apartments where different merchants and traders lived. It became a florist in the mid-1970s and still is today.
Dreyergården
This is another example of a 19th-century merchants house – typically merchants houses end in ‘gård’ which means farm or tenement. Dreyer Gården was built in 1837 for Jørgen Dreyer, who had been brought to Tromsø as a servant. He received a merchant licence and, in collaboration with his old employer, formed the company “Killengreen & Dreyer”. Within a few years, they had one of the city’s largest commercial houses, co-owned several shops and exported goods. The son, Christian Frederik Dreyer joined the company and renamed it “JC Dreyer & Son”. After his father’s death, Christian moved into the building. He had spent several years in Russia and had some good contacts within the Pomor Trade. He became known as “Russe-Dreyer” and was one of the largest merchants of Pomor products from the White Sea.
Aunegården
Aunegården is another merchant’s house, built in 1860 for the merchant Hilmar Holmeboe. From 1878, it was the home of the local butcher. The butcher operated for 120 years until the business closed down in 1995. Today, it is a restaurant on the lower floor and a hub for Tromsø’s local guides on the upper floor. It was one of the few buildings to survive the 1969 fire.
*2022 update – the building is no longer used by the guides.
Bus 26 Stop: Arctic Cathedral & Cable Car
Once you reach the Peppes Pizza, you have reached the bus stop for the bus that will take you over to the Arctic Cathedral and Tromsø’s Cable Car. There is a ticket machine at the stop, so buy a ticket and then take BUS 26 to:
- Arctic Cathedral: Ishavskatedralen
- Tromsø Cable Car: Fjellheisen
It takes 5 or so minutes to reach the Cathedral, and then the Cable Car is another 10 minutes away. It is possible to do the cable car within the four hours Hurtigruten is in Tromsø.
Kystens hus
You’ll find a fish market inside this building. This is a place where you can buy the stockfish or perhaps try some whale meat. On the walls they have a nice historical photograph and some information about the old fishing business.
Old Fishing Warehouses
Here we are on Tromsø’s old harbour! These warehouses were built in the early 20th century after a fire from 1902 destroyed the previous buildings. Originally they would’ve gone out into the water; this walkway was added recently. On the buildings, you can see where the hooks to lift up the barrels of fish used to be, and the wide windows were once openings to put the barrels into the building.
Polar Museum
Located in the old customs house from 1830, the Polar Museum is a fascinating museum about Arctic hunting, life, and exploration. The lower floor focuses on Arctic hunting, while the upper floor focuses on the Arctic explorers. It’s a great museum worthy of a visit; allow for 40-60 minutes depending on how much reading you want to do. Nice little souvenir shop, too!
Old Customs Building
Across from the Polar Museum, you’ll see a green house with a bust of Roald Amundsen out the front. This is an old customs building and served as the customs house for around 100 years. It was in use until the 1970s and since 1992 has been the administration building for the Polar Museum.
Skansen
Skansen is a well-known 13th-century fortification that was built by King Håkon Håkonsson (who also built Håkons Hall in Bergen). The ramparts were built using stones and peat and were constructed as a defence against attacks from the Karelians (from Karelia, an area between the White Sea and the Gulf of Finland) and Russia. Today Skansen is a circular mound with a marked raised outer periphery and a diameter of 50 metres. It’s especially hard to see in winter.
Knudsen gården
Knudsen Gården was built in 1822 for the customs officer, and from 1843-1858 the building served as the post office. Well-known 19th-century novelist Bernt Lie lived here during the 1880s. The building has the last city private garden; the others have disappeared throughout the years due to development.
Aargard Gården
This was the home of the wealthy and well-known Aargard family, who sold “fish, hides, skin, salt, grain and colonial goods”.
Ingvald Jaklin statue
Ingvald Jaklin was a Norwegian politician for the Labor Party who also served as mayor of Tromsø after World War II.
Seafarers Home
This beautiful building was built in 1860 as a merchants house but later went on to serve as a hospital. Since 1926, it was a retirement home for seafarers.
The mine out front is a collection box to gather money for seamen who were made homeless after the submarine wars of 1916. The caption reads:
“ditt troll – du var sjømannens skrækk sank ham nu klingende mynt i din sækk”. It’s written in Old Norwegian, but it roughly means “You troll (referring to the mine), you were the seafarers fear, sinking him to get coins in your pouch”
Perspective Museum
The building was built in 1838 as a large commercial house for the export of cod and fish products and trade of grain, colonial goods, manufacturing and factory products. Today it houses the Perspective Museum, a free exhibition full of photographs of old Tromsø. When I visited, it had exhibitions on LGBT rights and religious history.
Verdens Theatret
This is Norway’s oldest cinema that’s still in use, and it dates back to 1915. Inside you can see signs for the Tromsø International Film Festival, which is held in January and includes an outdoor cinema!
Skancke Gården
This yellow timber house (now a shop called Nille) is an old merchants house from the early 19th-century.
Bispegård
The building on the street corner is Bispegård, or the bishop’s residence. It has been the Catholic bishops residence since 1860. When Pope John Paul II visited Tromsø in 1989, he spent the night here on the 3rd of June.
Option: If you want to see the world’s northernmost Catholic church, head up the street behind Bispegård. When I did it in February, I found it very icy to the point that I didn’t make it as far as I wanted to (hence the subpar photos). But if you’re doing this in summer, it’ll be fine!
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church was built in 1861 and is the world’s northernmost Catholic Episcopal seat with the world’s most northerly Catholic bishop. The church is also the geographical centre of Tromsø!
You can see that the church is connected to Bispegården, which reveals itself as a truly large building.
Løkkekiosken
The little hot dog stand is Løkkekiosken, a treasure of Tromsø. Meaning ‘Onion Kiosk’ in English (even though it’s just named after the owner and not for the shape), this was built in 1911 for 18-year-old Margrit Løkke, who wanted to sell goods from the stall. It was listed as an important cultural monument in 2009.
World's Northernmost Burger King
I mean what else can you say about it? Why not go in and get a burger from the world’s northernmost Burger King!
* It’s actually the second-northernmost Burger King because there’s another one at a shopping mall a few kilometres north. But still, this is close enough
Tromsø Cathedral
Tromsø Cathedral is Norway’s only wooden cathedral. It was built in 1861 and seats 600 people. It’s believed that it is built on the site of the previous churches, possibly all the way back to 1252 when the first church was built here. The stained glass windows on the cathedral were designed by Gustav Vigeland and were installed in 1960.
