Getting there
You can fly directly from London Gatwick to Tromsø. I paid £350 for a return ticket, and the flight time is approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes. I booked my flights through Skyscanner.
There are also direct flights from Bristol, which is much closer to me in Cornwall, but unfortunately these weren’t advertised until after we had already booked our London flights.
Getting around
As we planned to drive north for the orcas, we decided to hire a car for the three days we were there. We booked with Europcar in advance, and once we arrived we simply headed to the desk at the airport to collect the keys. The hire cost around £250 and we opted for full insurance cover which is always well worth it.
Time of year
We flew in on the 19th December – right in the middle of Norway’s Polar Night, when the sun doesn’t rise above the horizon in Tromsø. Because of this, you’ll still get a few hours of a bit of blue tinged light around late morning to early afternoon, but most of the day feels quite dark. It definitely felt strange at times like we should to be in bed, but it was still such an amazing time to visit – especially for spotting the northern lights.
Swimming with orcas
Wow – where do I even begin? This was truly one of the best experiences ever.
After picking up our hire car in Tromsø, we set off north towards Skjervøy. The drive took around four hours. There were quicker routes involving ferries, but we preferred not to depend on ferry schedules so we stuck to the road the whole way.
Where to stay
We stayed at Hotel Maritim, right in the centre of Skjervøy which cost £190 for the night. You can find the best price for this hotel on Skyscanner. We were only there for one night as we had our orca tour early the next morning. Skjervøy itself is very small, with limited shops and restaurants, and the ones that are there can be quite pricey – so come prepared (pot noodles aren’t a bad idea!).
The hotel was lovely and included breakfast which was delicious. Our room was spacious and had everything we needed for a one night stay. Another big bonus was that the hotel was within walking distance of the meeting point for the orca tour.
We also saw incredible northern lights just a walk away from the hotel which I’ll talk more about later in this post.
Orca tour
We booked our swim with orcas tour with Lofoten Opplevelser and it cost £272 per person. The day starts at 9am, meeting at their base for a full briefing before getting kitted up. Don’t worry about the cold – you’re given a dry suit, along with thermal underlayers, socks, gloves and a hood. The only things you need to bring are your own thermals and of course your camera. I also brought my own snorkel and mask.
You then head out onto the water to search for whales and we were incredibly lucky. We encountered multiple pods of orcas all around us as well as several humpback whales and even a couple of fin whales. It felt magical before we’d even entered the water.
When the orcas came close to the boat, we quietly and carefully slide into the sea to avoid causing any disturbance. As someone with a degree in animal welfare, I wouldn’t take part in an activity if I felt it could distress the animals and the team provides a thorough briefing on how to behave respectfully around the whales before you enter the water. Once in, you simply float and watch as the whales glide past – no swimming or chasing – which is absolutely incredible. We got in and out of the water several times, giving us plenty of opportunities to observe the orcas and we even swam alongside a humpback, which was amazing too!
The journey back to land is definitely a chilly one with the wind hitting your wet suit and face, but it’s completely worth it after such an unforgettable experience.
If you don’t fancy swimming with orcas but still want to see them, you can book onto a whale watching tour right from Tromso – which saves lots of travelling and time. You can book that via this link.
Tromsø
Where to stay
We stayed at Comfort Hotel Xpress, which was an ideal base as we could walk everywhere we needed to go. The stay cost £475 for two nights. The hotel doesn’t have on site parking, but we found a car park just up the road which cost £20 for both nights and was easily paid for via an app.
Our room had a lovely view of the mountains which was a nice bonus.
What to do
There’s plenty to see and do in Tromsø, and because it’s polar night, it’s important to plan your itinerary around the limited daylight hours.
Sauna: There are several sauna options around the harbour and we chose Pust Sauna which costs £15 per person. The facility has two different saunas, a changing area with open lockers (so leave valuables at home), a shower and a spot to take a plunge in the Arctic Sea.
I absolutely loved it here – it was definitely one of my highlights. Jumping into the icy water after a hot sauna session felt incredible and the views of the surrounding mountains were beautiful.
Fjellheisen Cable Car: This takes you up to Mount Storsteinen and is probably one of the most popular activities in Tromsø. It isn’t exactly cheap – a return ticket costs £44 per person – though you could climb up, it was snowy and very icy when we visited. It is also cheaper if you book it in advance rather than on the day like we did – you can book this HERE!
At the top, there’s a large viewing platform offering panoramic views of the city and surrounding fjords. There’s also a cafe, which like much in Norway, is on the pricey side – but the hot chocolate is a must try (it may look simple, but it’s absolutely delicious).
Visit the Christmas Markets: The Christmas markets in Tromsø are quite small compared to others and most of the stalls are focused on food – with only a couple offering other items. We didn’t eat here ourselves, but everything looked delicious and it was nice to wander around.
Landmarks: Two must see spots in Tromsø are Porten til Ishavet and the Arctic Cathedral.
Porten til Ishavet literally means the “Gateway to the Arctic” – a mosaic arch along the harbour that frames views of the iconic Arctic Cathedral – a great little photo opportunity.
The Arctic Cathedral is one of Tromsø’s most famous buildings – known for its dramatic design and large stained glass mosaic. You can easily stop by to see the cathedral on your way to the Fjellheisen cable car.
Famous Reindeer Hotdog: You’ve probably seen this all over social media when looking up Tromsø. They serve hot dogs and drinks from a tiny little building. The hot dogs are yummy with a variety of toppings to choose from. I couldn’t personally taste much difference between the reindeer and a normal pork hot dog, but it was delicious anyway. Be prepared for a wait – it’s very popular and I queued for about 45 minutes!
Northern Lights
We were very lucky to see the northern lights on two of the nights during our stay – once in Skjervøy and once just outside Tromsø.
Skjervøy Northern Lights: I keep an eye on auroras even when I’m in the UK, so I’m pretty familiar with using aurora apps and finding areas with minimal cloud coverage. On our night in Skjervøy there was around 60% cloud cover, but my app indicated a chance of seeing the northern lights – so we set out to find a spot with little light pollution anyway. The KP index was only 1.2 so we weren’t expecting a huge display.
We first went to the football pitch at the back of town which is a known good viewing spot. Some lights were still on as it was only 9pm, but we could see a faint green tinge in the sky. We decided to walk up the path to the headland which was much darker and wow – we were not disappointed. The sky was glowing and swirling with movement – it’s of course more striking on camera than in person but still so amazing!!
Tromsø Northern Lights: We had originally booked a northern lights hunting tour which are extremely popular in the area but ended up cancelling it. After seeing the display in Skjervøy, we felt confident that with a car we could try spotting them ourselves. The apps were showing a very high KP index of 4, so we drove about 50 minutes out to Grotfjorden – where cloud coverage was lower than in Tromsø which was showing 90% cloud.
We waited in the car until that glow appeared in the sky – then ran outside to start taking photos. The colours were incredible – bright greens and pink dancing above us. The scenery made it even better, with dramatic mountains framing the lights. We stayed out for several hours watching them and didn’t return to Tromsø until 2am as the northern lights continued to glow and move across the sky.
If you’d prefer to join a tour this would be a great one to join!
Summary
I couldn’t recommend this trip enough – it was full of bucket list moments and exploring everywhere was very easy. The only thing to note is that food and drink in Norway is not cheap – for two reindeer stews and two hot chocolates we paid £88! Even a petrol station hot dog can be pricey, so I’m not joking when I say it’s worth packing some snacks or pot noodles in your luggage.
Safe travels! I’m always happy to answer any questions you have.
Polly in Paradise 
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