Tromsø - Norway - page 373

13

Tromsø

T romsø, the gateway to the Arctic, is
a North Sea boomtown—both a trade
and a financial center. The surround-
ing snow-topped mountain peaks
reach 1,800m (6,000 ft.), and moun-
tain plateaus have good fishing lakes
and birch forests.
With 63,000 inhabitants, Tromsø is
the administrative center of the
county of Troms, a trade center and
the site of one of Norway's four uni-
versities. It serves as the capital of
northern Norway, and it's the coun-
try's fourth-largest finance center.
Lying 400km (250 miles) north of
the Arctic Circle, Tromsø gets the
midnight sun from May 14 to July
30—but not one ray comes through
from November 25 to January 21.
The climate has a heat record of 88°F
(31°C) and a low of -4°F (-20°C).
The title of “Paris of the North” is a
bit much, but Tromsø surprised
even 19th-century visitors with its

sophistication. (Apparently, they had
expected polar bears to roam the
streets here.) A church was established
here as early as the 1200s, and Tromsø
was a thriving community in the Mid-
dle Ages.
Its city charter wasn't granted until
as late as 1794, however. This trading
station and fishing port attracted sea-
men who trafficked in polar bears,
seals, and arctic foxes. Many famous
explorers, such as Roald Amundsen,
set off from Tromsø on their famous
expeditions to the Arctic ice cap.
The city limits of Tromsø, the
largest municipality in Norway,
extend for 2,558 sq. km (987 sq.
miles), though most of the area is
hardly built up. Home to some
63,000 residents, 9,000 of whom are
students at the world's northernmost
university, Tromsø is about the same
size as Luxembourg in terms of land
mass.

1 Orientation
ARRIVING
1,744km (1,084 miles) N of Oslo; 566km (352 miles) N of Bodø
BY PLANE Flights from Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim arrive at Langnes Air-
port, 13km (8 miles) west of the center of Tromsø. Flights from Oslo take 1
hour, 40 minutes; flights from Bergen take 3 hours, 10 minutes. Tromsø also has
air links with Trondheim in central Norway and such far-northern outposts as
Alta, Hammerfest, Honningsvåg, and Kirkeness. Tromsø is served by such carri-
ers as SAS ( & 81-52-04-00; www.scandinavian.net), Widerøe ( & 81-00-12-
00; www.wilderoe.no), and Braathens ( & 81-52-00-00; www.sasbraathens.no).
For general information, call the Tromsø Airport at & 77-64-84-00.
BY TRAIN There is no rail link. The nearest connection is via Narvik (see
p. 405 in chapter 14). From Narvik, you'll have to go the rest of the way over-
land by bus (see below).