Tromso, Norway

It will be dark for all but 3-4 hours of the day.
But you may get a peak at the Aurora Borealis.
I hear there is tons of great food there and plenty of outdoorsy stuff to get into.

Tromso is beautiful. One of my favorite places in the world.

OP do you have family from there? Curious why you are planning a last minute trip there? I have a feeling you'll find out why the Russians drink so much vodka, but will most likely be a fun trip. I'd just make the most of it.

I was literally just there last week. In fact I was on the Lufthansa inaugral flight from Tromso to Frankfurt. However, we spent most of our time more north in Alta and Hammerfest.

We only saw Northrn Lights in Alta. Tromso is too big of a town to see any within the town so if you have a car you will have to drive out of town to have any chance at seeing them.

Until last week I know people were still going out Whale watching and seeing some Orcas. By the time you go - it may be too late. Tromso is famous for Aurora viewing and whale watching. You have to be lucky to be able to see the Aurora. 2/4 days we were there, it was too cloudy. You can make out the glow once you know what you are looking for on the clouds when its cloudy but that isn't anything compared to the real deal. So pray for clear skies.


It is a beautiful area. See if you can go dog sledding. Better yet, find a tour that goes hunting the northern lights in a dog sled. Since we were in such a remote town in Alta we could see the Aurora right in our front yard and didn't have to take any special steps.

By December, I doubt you will even find 3-4 hours of daylight. When we were there that was true but we saw 0 sun. Just a bit of daylight in the morning.

Driving is extremely safe as long as you are not being an idiot on the road. Driving through a snow storm in the dark in the remote parts gets kind of difficult as visibility is near 0 but go slow and have your high beams on and you'll be fine. They do an extremely good job at keeping the roads safe. Also - no amount of socks or gloves will keep your toes warm. Layer up your body with at least one layer of down and you should be fine everywhere else.

Norway is BY FAR the most expensive country I have been in. Ridiculously expensive. It took us $100 to fill up a sedan's gas tank!! "Cheap" meals are $20. A small coke is $3-$4.

Flying into Tromso Airport:



Wing-tip pic of Tromso:



Me with the pups (in blue). You can tell how cold it was:



The Aurora from our front yard:

No family there. My mom has always wanted to see the northern lights, and initially planned to go to Iceland, but decided to go to Tromso instead due to the higher likelihood of seeing them. We have a whale watching trip planned--the whales should still be in the fjords until mid to late January, and a couple excursions out of the city to find a better aurora viewing spot. Otherwise, no plans yet. Thanks for all of the advice!

Come back and post pics please!

Added to sticky....

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Way off topic, but how the hell do you live with 3-4 hours of daylight? If I worked there I'd do everything I can to not be working during that time. Work in the dark, live during the light. Its go to be so depressing.

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It's only a few weeks. After the first of the year, you start gaining sunlight again. Tromso is slightly above the Arctic Circle and gets polar twilight for a month or more. When light starts coming back it happens pretty rapidly.