Tromsø is known as the gateway to the Arctic and is a starting point for many expeditions to the North Pole. It is also called the Paris of the North. It is the 7th largest city by population in Norway and most of it is located on a small island connected to the mainland by Tromsø bridge and also a tunnel under the sea. Food and fishing production is a large employer and Tromsø is lucky to have a good climate because of the Gulf stream and although they have snowy winters it is warmer than other places at the same latitude.

There are several museums to visit, one called the Defense museum cost 40 Krone about £4.00 and was open varying times depending on the time of year. The cable car or Fjellheisen cost £10.00 and is open from April to September, it is across the bridge near the Arctic Cathederal about 2km from the city centre. Mont Storsteinen is 1,378 feet high and providing the weather is kind you can get good views of the town, sea and mountains.

The Polaria centre was very interesting and after watching a lovely film about the arctic we went a tour of the museum and learned more about the wildlife and weather conditions and enjoyed watching the bearded seals who put on a marvellous display for everyone but were very difficult to capture on film! The shop had lots of gifts that were lovely to look at but extremely expensive to purchase. The glass display building housing the Polstjerna, a seal hunting vessel was closed due to refurbishment but has now re-opened. There is a charge for this if you haven’t been in the Polaria museum. Nearby was the Polar Environmental centre where studies are done about the Polar region. Whilst walking back to our coach we saw the little train which takes visitors around the city.

We arrived on a cruise ship but there is an airport in Tromso and you can fly from the UK. There are also frequent buses that run around the town, cheaper than taxis. There is a good choice of hotels from big groups like the Radisson to smaller guesthouses. Fortunately for us a lot of Norwegians speak English so it makes life easy for us to enjoy the area.

The tour guide was keen to point out that Norway had won the Eurovision Song Contest and Tromsø was hoping to host the contest. The people are said to be very social and love to have fun, in summer they party all night enjoying the fact the sun doesn’t set, in winter the long hours of darkness can be depressing and so they have lots of functions and enjoy eating out at the many restaurants. I was surprised to see lots of barbecues in evidence and we were told once the temperature is above 12 degrees people are out barbecueing!