Doris Visits Tromsø, Norway and sees the Northern Lights

Doris Visits Tromsø, Norway and sees the Northern Lights.

At last, we reached Tromsø, and the sky was alive with green. Curtains of aurora rippled overhead, filling the night with an eerie, electric glow. It isn’t the farthest north we’ve been—Alta still claims that honour—but Tromsø is the world’s northernmost city, and it feels every bit the gateway to the Arctic.

It’s well worth downloading the public bus app before you arrive. A ticket purchased online is valid for a couple of hours, so if the shuttle queue at the port is long, you can simply walk the short distance to the nearby bus stop instead. From there, the city opens up easily: you can tour the town, visit the war museum or the Arctic Cathedral, or just wander and soak in the atmosphere.

There’s a well-known photo spot, as Jean will show you, but be warned—the wind howls viciously around that corner. It’s far more pleasant, and often less windy, to stroll across the bridge instead, where the views back toward the city are just as striking.

If you’ve seen the Arctic Cathedral before on the model railway world at Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, it’s still worth seeing the real thing up close. That said, the interior is surprisingly plain. The older cathedral on the island—the one known for its midnight services—has a different character altogether, though it’s less focused on public tours.

Let Jean walk you around first so you get your bearings. She’ll point out where the science museum and the Arctic–Alpine Botanical Gardens are, along with the bandstand, shops, and other landmarks that make Tromsø such an engaging place to explore on foot.

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