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TromsA?
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TROMSA?
was once known, rather preposterously, as the "Paris of the North", and though even the tourist office doesn't make any pretence to such grandiose titles now, the city still likes to think of itself as the capital of northern Norway. Certainly, as a base for this part of the country, it's hard to beat. It's a pleasant, small city set in magnificent landscape - dramatic mountains and sea and surrounded by almost bare wilderness. With two cathedrals, a clutch of reasonably interesting museums and an above-average (and affordable) nightlife, patronized by a high-profile student population. In the centre of town, the
Domkirke
(June-Aug Tues-Sun noon-4pm; free) reflects the town's nineteenth-century prosperity, the result of its barter trade with Russia. From the church, it's a short walk north along the harbourfront to the most diverting of the city's museums, the
Polar Museum
(daily: mid-May to mid-June 11am-6pm; mid-June to Aug 11am-8pm; rest of year 10am-3pm; 30kr), whose varied displays include skeletons retrieved from the permafrost of Svalbard and a detailed section on the daring deeds of the polar explorer Roald Amundsen. On the other side of the water, over the spindly TromsA? Bridge, the white and ultramodern
Arctic Cathedral
(May & mid-Aug to mid-Sept daily 4-6pm; June to mid-Aug Mon-Sat 10am-8pm, Sun 1-8pm; 15kr) is spectacularly original, made up of eleven immense triangular concrete sections representing the eleven Apostles left after the betrayal. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Norway,
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