About Tromsø
Tromsø – capital of culture and mountaineering
Situated at 69 degrees north, Tromsø is the largest and most culturally diverse city in North Norway. With its more than 60 000 inhabitants, plus almost 10 000 students from the college and the world’s northernmost university, the city’s vibrancy makes a profound impression on any visitor, summer or winter.
Flying into Tromsø, you cannot help being fascinated by the mountain-ranges encircling the island that makes up the main part of the city. In fair weather, you can also see the peaks of the Lyngen Alps rising in the east. The closeness to this dramatic scenery is the reason why mountaineering is very popular in Tromsø.
Along with a very strong cultural vibrancy, peaking with the Tromsø International Film Festival in January and Bukta - Tromsø Open Air Festival in July, our fascination with nature can often result in visitors seeing people enjoying a cold beer after a hike to a 3000 foot peak, still with their climbing boots on.
The midnight Sun – The city of light
In the city centre, you can see the midnight sun every year from 21 May to 21 July, if the weather treats us kindly.
Actually, it is possible to bathe in all night sunshine from around 15 May to the end of July if you scramble to the top of one of the many peaks around the city. You may also go by car to Sommarøya (Summer Island), which is about an hour drive to the southwest. A nightly trip to this old fishery community is anyway highly recommended if the weather is good.
The two months of uninterrupted light is matched only by the two months of darkness called “Mørketida”, From 21 November to 21 January, when the sun is below the horizon all the time, Tromsø is almost wrapped in darkness. Or rather, this is the perfect time to experience the wonderful shades of blue in the middle of the day or the Northern Light, Aurora Borealis, that casts its magic red and greenish hue across a clear night sky.
Climate – the city of snow
Even though Tromsø was earlier the usual starting point for scientific and commercial voyages into the Arctic, winters here are more about snow than about freezing temperatures. In 1997, we had a record amount of snow as late as 30 April. Want to guess how deep the snowpack was? 2, 40 meters or about eight feet of snow covered the city…
The Norwegian coastline’s strike of luck is the Gulf Stream, that warms up our waters making it possible to travel by boat all year round and keeping temperatures mild. If we had not been fortunate enough to be continually visited by the Gulf Stream, our coastline would be packed with ice during winter, as is the case with the Gulf of Bothnia and the White Sea in Northern Russia.
In June, at the time of the Tromsø Telemedicine and eHealth Conference, you can expect fair, mild weather and quite possibly a glimpse of the Midnight Sun. But you should also be prepared for chilly nights, so bringing a woolen sweater and a pair of mittens is never a bad idea.
More information about Tromsø
If you are interested to see what else Tromsø can offer, check out www.destinasjontromso.no for a list of attractions, current events and other tourist information. They have updated information in both Norwegian and English.
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