The 3 Best Things To Do In Tromsø, Norway
September 2026
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Tromsø has no shortage of tours and activities on offer, which can make deciding what to book pretty overwhelming, I did a lot of research on these before my own trip. Based on my trip experiences, below are three activities I'd recommend, covering wildlife, the Northern Lights, and Sami culture, three of the biggest reasons people travel to Tromsø in the first place.
My trip was during polar night, so each of the personal experiences below are during that time when the sun doesn’t rise above the horizon, but the experiences should be pretty similar for the full winter season, weather dependent obviously.
Tromsø, known as the "Gateway to the Arctic," is located around 350 km north of the Arctic Circle. This city in Northern Norway is located mainly on the island of Tromsøya, surrounded by dramatic fjords and steep mountains. It's one of the most accessible places in the world to experience genuine Arctic scenery, without needing to be a true polar explorer.
In this post on Visiting Tromso During Polar Night: What It’s Really Like, and in my Tromsø Winter Travel Guide, I talk more about polar night in Tromsø.
The 3 Best Things To Do In Tromsø, Norway
🐋 Whale Watching Cruise by Hybrid-Electric Boat with Brim Explorer
🌌 ✨ Northern Lights Tour with Photos, Hot Meal & Drinks with Arctic Circle Tours Tromsø
🦌 ❄️ Reindeer Camp and Sami Cultural Tour with Tromso Arctic Reindeer
1) Whale Watching Cruise by Hybrid-Electric Boat
Cruise the Arctic fjords to try and spot orcas and humpback whales in the wild, and maybe even another chance to see the Aurora Borealis / Northern Lights from the fjords.
This whale watching tour with Brim Explorer promotes responsible whale watching tourism which was an important consideration for me when booking; I wanted a chance to see whales, and particularly orcas, in the wild but not at the expense of the animals welfare. The tour is onboard a silent, hybrid-electric catamaran, which switches to electric power around the whales to minimise noise and disturbance for the animals.
It's a full day tour from Tromsø, sailing out further north, towards the feeding grounds near Skjervøy where orcas, humpback whales, fin whales and sperm whales, can often be seen. In addition to the wildlife spotting, the frozen Arctic landscapes of the fjords in the low winter light are stunning to see and photograph.
It takes around 3 to 3.5 hours to reach the feeding grounds near Skjervøy, and once there the boat stays for around 1 to 1.5 hours to watch the whales, before turning back to Tromsø. That being said, keep a look out on the way to the feeding grounds, because in addition to admiring the Arctic scenery, you might catch a glimpse of whales swimming past the boat on the journey too. The day I went, I saw a whale out the window, and at another point the boat stopped for a few minutes when the guides spotted a pod of whales in the area.
On the journey back to Tromsø, when night has fallen, you might also get a chance to see the Aurora Borealis / Northern Lights from the deck: if they are visible, the crew notify passengers so they can proceed out to the deck. Seeing the aurora out on the Arctic waters, away from light pollution, was a brilliant experience.
What to Expect on the Whale Watching Cruise:
The boat has heated lounges with panoramic windows on board, and outside decks where you can go out for an even better view. Wear layers, it is warm inside but very cold out on the deck and you won't want to go inside when you arrive at the feeding grounds! Along the way, the crew provide interesting information about the whales, the Arctic environment, the fjords and also share some stories.
Food and drink is available to purchase onboard (pastries, soup and sandwiches). The soup was nice and warming after being out on the deck watching the whales. Other snack options can be limited so I'd suggest also bringing some snacks with you as it is a full day tour.
Worth Knowing before the Whale Watching Cruise:
Orcas and humpback whales are generally found in the fjords in northern Norway from late October to late January, attracted by the migrating herring travelling through here. The linked activity provider, Brim Explorer, only runs the whale watching tour during this window, but if you are considering other tours, double check the timing when booking, as some tours run outside peak season as scenic fjord cruises rather than whale watching tours.
Whale sightings are never guaranteed, since it's genuinely wild wildlife, but the tour provider quotes a 95% success rate of spotting whales on their trips.
The day tour is a full day tour, between 7 and 9 hours, depending on the whales location on the day.
There are other versions of the tour where the journey is split between bus and boat rides to cut down on time spent on the water, which is worth looking into if seasickness is a concern.
My Final Thoughts on the Whale Watching Cruise:
This tour was one of my favorite parts of my Tromsø trip. The highlight of this tour for me was watching majestic orcas hunting in their natural habitat, diving beneath the water to catch their prey; it was a real bucket list moment.
2) Northern Lights Tour with Photos, Hot Meal & Drinks
On this small group tour, travel in a mini-van to 'chase' the Aurora Borealis / Northern Lights.
Head out of Tromsø into the Arctic wilderness to find clear skies away from the city's light pollution. The tour is run by a local company, Arctic Circle Tours Tromso, with professional local guides who know the land, weather, and culture better than anyone. The expert guides utilize a smart Aurora tracking system to help find clear skies and the best chance of seeing the Northern Lights.
The night of my tour there was Aurora activity in the Tromsø area, so the guide only drove around 20 minutes outside of the city to a quiet area away from the main light pollution, but the tours do drive as far as Finland (c.2.5 hours) to 'chase' the Aurora activity and clear skies if needs be.
Once at the aurora viewing spot, the guide took individual professional photos of everyone in the group, with the aurora in the night sky as the backdrop. These photos, together with photos and time-lapses of the aurora taken by the guide during the tour were shared by email the following day.
The guide also set-up a campfire and chairs, and everyone in the group sat around the campfire, toasting sausages to make hot dogs, all under the glow of the aurora in the sky above. Hot drinks were also provided and the local guide shared stories of Arctic life around the campfire. The small group size makes for a more personal experience.
What to Expect on the Northern Lights Tour:
The mini-van has a live sky camera monitor so you can watch the sky on the drive to see any aurora activity, with the camera often picking up activity before the eye can see it. The guide will take professional portraits under the Aurora / northern lights, if conditions allow.
Dress warm and in layers since a large part of the experience is in the outdoors. Included in the tour price is the optional hire of a snowsuit, an extra layer of heat which was welcome in the freezing Arctic night.
At the end of the tour, the guide drops guests back to their hotels.
Worth Knowing before the Northern Lights Tour:
Like all Northern Lights tours, sightings depend on the weather and Aurora activity that night, this is nature after all and nobody can guarantee the lights will appear, however good the guide is.
Bring your passport incase the tour crosses into Finland when chasing the lights.
There are other tour options, including some where you travel in a full size bus as part of a larger group, rather than a mini-van, but I opted for the smaller, more personal experience.
My Final Thoughts on the Northern Lights Tour:
I had booked this northern lights tour before arriving in Tromsø, but then I seen the lights without even leaving the city on my first night, so wondered if I still needed to go on the tour. I went anyway, and I'm glad I did, seeing the Aurora / Northern Lights from out in the Arctic wilderness, around a campfire under an open sky, was a completely different experience.
3) Reindeer Camp and Sami Cultural Tour
Go to a traditional Sami camp, feed a herd of a few hundred reindeer and get an introduction to Sami culture, the indigenous people of the Arctic region, delivered by a Sami guide.
This is a half day tour from Tromsø, run by Tromso Arctic Reindeer. Board a bus down by the harbour in the city centre to travel out to the Sami camp. Once at the camp, enter a traditional Sami tent (lávvu), for a safety talk before heading out into the fields to meet and feed the reindeer.
The Sami provide buckets of food to feed the reindeer, and as you walk around the field holding the bucket the reindeer will approach you. Be prepared for the reindeer to fight each other to get their turn for feeding, as they use their antlers to push their way closer to the bucket. At one stage I even got an antler in the back, but when else would you get to experience this! Despite the cold, I enjoyed this experience so much that when my first bucket was empty, I went back for a second bucket of food for the reindeer.
After feeding the reindeer, go back inside the Sami tent, heated by campfire, for storytelling about Sami history, culture and reindeer herding, together with a joik performance (traditional folk song of the Sami).
I'll admit, I did a lot of research before booking this experience, animal welfare is something I care about, and I wanted to be confident I was making a responsible choice. The area the herd of reindeer were in was spacious. Yes, it's fenced off, but that's because the Sami herd the reindeer into the camp for winter to protect them from the harshest elements of the Arctic winter. During the winter months, reindeer can struggle to find their own food under the heavy snow and ice, and are more vulnerable to their predators (mainly wolverine and golden eagle in this region) at this time of year. In fact, the reindeer are released back into the wild when the seasons change, and from what I saw, they looked well cared for and healthy.
What to Expect on the Reindeer Feeding and Sami Cultural Tour:
You might expect this activity to be more geared for children, but when I went there actually weren't any children at all, it was all adults living out their childhood dreams and feeding reindeer in a snowy winter landscape.
After feeding the reindeer, a warm lunch is served inside the Sami tent (typically a Sami stew or vegetarian alternative) plus cookies and hot chocolate. Once the lunch and storytelling is finished, board the bus back to Tromsø city center.
Worth Knowing before the Reindeer Feeding and Sami Cultural Tour:
The Sami are indigenous people in the Arctic regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Their current population is estimated as approx. 80,000, about half of whom live in Norway. During large parts of the 1900s, the Sami in Norway were forbidden from speaking their own language and were forced to learn Norwegian under strict assimilation policies. As a result, slightly less than half of Sami in Norway speak a Sami language today. The Sami people received an official apology from the Norwegian government in 1999 for these policies, and today tourism is a way for the Sami to promote and raise awareness of their culture.
My Final Thoughts on the Reindeer Feeding and Sami Cultural Tour:
This tour feels meaningful, since it centers on learning about a living culture and the people who call this Arctic landscape home.
It was also such a wholesome and magical experience getting to see the beautiful, graceful reindeer up close and feed them.
Which Activity Should You Prioritise?
If you have the time and budget, I'd genuinely recommend doing all three, they cover completely different sides of what makes Tromsø special.
If you can only fit in one, it honestly depends on what you personally want to see most. If I had to choose only one, I would go with the whale watching, as it is a genuine wildlife encounter you can only witness in a few locations around the world (although no guarantees you will definitely see them as the animals are in their natural habitat in the wild).
On the other hand, a lot of people associate a Northern Lights tour as the true bucket list Tromsø experience: you may have the opportunity to see the lights from Tromsø city centre, the Fjellheisen Cable Car, or on the whale watching tour as I did on my trip, but if seeing the lights is top of your bucket list, a dedicated Northern Lights tour is probably your best bet on maximising your chances to see the lights since you leave the city to chase them.
The reindeer feeding and Sami tour is the most reliably rewarding of the three, since you're guaranteed to meet the reindeer and learn about the Sami culture, regardless of what the sky or sea decide to do that day.
If you are looking for something different again, you could consider snowmobiling: explore the snow covered landscapes around Tromsø on a guided snowmobile tour. There are a variety of tours available, with different routes, through valleys, forests and/or mountain landscapes, with potential views of Arctic wildlife.
Another activity option is snowshoeing: hike through the mountains in the Arctic wilderness. Again there are a variety of tours available, in different locations around Tromsø, and of varying duration (from 2 hours to 8 hours).
For more on Tromsø city itself and when to visit, check out my full Tromsø Winter Travel Guide.
Where to Stay in Tromsø?
Staying in the city center of Tromsø is ideal if you want to be in walking distance of restaurants, cafes, the main street, harbour and many activity meeting points.
I stayed in The Dock 69 39 by Scandic which was only newly opened when I visited (December 2025). It is a modern but cosy hotel, just what you want when stepping in off the cold wintry streets. It is ideally located just a few minutes walk from both the main street of the town, and the water's edge, with a view across the water to the Arctic Cathedral. The hotel had the added benefit of having a 12th floor rooftop terrace from which you could watch the aurora in the night sky or stargaze, while also taking in a 360 degree view of Tromsø. On the rooftop there are also igloos which can be reserved in advance for meals or drinks. Fun fact: the hotel name gives a nod to the co-ordinates of Tromsø: 66°33'39" of latitude.
The Clarion Hotel The Edge sits at the opposite end of the main street, down by the harbour where the boat day trips leave and although I wasn't in the hotel it also looks like a nice hotel and has good reviews online.
If you want to stay somewhere unique and off-the-beaten path, and are renting a car during your trip, you could consider somewhere like Aera Glass Cabins, and be able to watch the northern lights in the sky as you lie in bed.
What to Pack for Winter in Tromsø?
If you are visiting Tromsø in winter, pack warm clothes and layers! It is freezing outside and warm clothing is needed especially on the activities above when you will be outside for extended periods of time, but once indoors you won't be long warming up.
Choose your footwear wisely as the footpaths can be very icy and slippery. I packed my hiking boots and wore these as they had good grip, and that was enough for me, but there are a lot of shops in the town where you can purchase spikes for your shoes if it makes you more comfortable walking around with the extra grip.
A few specifics I packed which I found great and would recommend are:
thermal layers;
merino wool socks;
hat, scarf and gloves; and
hand warmers (here) and foot warmers (here), these were great, especially for any trips you may be doing where you will be outside in the cold and elements for extended periods of time.
Practical Tips for Visiting Tromsø:
Currency: Norway uses the Norwegian Krone (NOK). Card payments are widely used and accepted, I didn’t come across anywhere on my travels that specifically required cash.
Language: Norwegian is the main language, though English is very widely spoken.
Pack warm as winter temperatures regularly drop well below freezing. Layers, a proper coat, gloves and decent footwear make a big difference.
If you can, try and get a window seat on the plane to see the snowy Arctic landscapes before landing.
Book day trips or activities in advance as they can sell out.
If you're planning on visiting several attractions in the city center such as the cable car, museums and Polaria, it's worth looking into the Tromsø Pass, which bundles entry at a discounted rate.
Check out my full Tromsø Winter Travel Guide.