Tromsø - Norway - page 375

bottom of the cable-car station and take the ride to the top for one of the most
panoramic views in the north of Norway.
FAST FACTS
The main post office is at Strandgata 41 ( & 81-00-07-10 ). If you patronize the
Amtmandens Datter Pub, Grønnegata 81 ( & 77-63-00-00 ), you can get
Internet access for 30NOK ($4.25) per half-hour. The pub, named for the
1830s novel by Camille Collett, is open June to August Monday to Thursday
noon to 1:30am, Friday noon to 3am, Saturday noon to 3am, and Sunday noon
to midnight. In off-season months, hours are Monday to Saturday noon to 3am
and Sunday 3pm to 3am. Keeping the same hours is Dark Light, Stortorget 1
( & 77-68-74-44 ), where it costs 45NOK ($6.40) per half-hour to use the com-
puters or 60NOK ($8.50) per hour. Coffee, mineral water, and sandwiches
are served, but no alcohol. To pick up a detailed map of north Norway, or an Eng-
lish-language book, head for Centrum Libris, Sjøgata 31-33 ( & 77-66-72-00 ).
2 Where to Stay
EXPENSIVE
Clarion Hotel Bryggen Built in 2001, this is a large-scale hotel in
Tromsø, with a harborfront position that's only a few steps from two of its com-
petitors (the Comfort Hotel With and the Rica Ishavshotel). The hotel has a
contemporary-style lobby, wide upstairs hallways, and big-windowed bedrooms
that are comfortably laid out, usually with a writing table. Bathrooms are tiled,
brightly lit, and very modern. Most of them only have showers, but about 40 of
them have tub/shower combinations. One of our favorite spots here is the out-
door hot tub on the rooftop terrace near the hotel's sauna. As icy rain falls, hot-
tubbers soak up the heat while admiring panoramas over the frigid waters of
Tromsø's harbor. There's a restaurant, the Astro, on the lobby level, open daily
for lunch and dinner.
Sjøgata 19-21, N-9152 Tromsø. & 77-78-11-00. Fax [phone]. www.choicehotels.no. 121 units.
Mon-Thurs 1,590NOK ($226) double; Fri-Sat 995NOK ($141) double; 1,719NOK-2,900NOK ($244-$412)
suite. AE, DC, MC, V. Amenities: Restaurant; bar; rooftop sauna with outdoor hot tub; laundry service/dry
cleaning; nonsmoking rooms; rooms for those w/limited mobility. In room: TV, minibar, hair dryer.
Radisson SAS Hotel Tromsø Built in 1965 and reigning today as the
grande dame hotel of Tromsø, this is the oldest and best established of the town's
large-scale hotels, and with 10 stories and almost 200 rooms, it's the largest in
northern Norway. Rooms are a bit smaller and the design is less dramatic and
cutting-edge than at such competitors as the Rica Ishavshotel, but this boxy-
looking staple has a larger array of food and beverage facilities and amenities
than any of its competitors. Also, much to the frustration of the other hotel
managers, it's the best signposted hotel in town. (Local building codes, just after
this hotel was completed, severely restricted the signage that newer hotels were
allowed to display.) Bedrooms are cozy, well furnished with a contemporary
“Scandinavian modern” decor, each with a tiled tub/shower combination. Its
most upscale restaurant (Grillen) and the most famous of its bars (Rorbua) are
all separately recommended within other sections of this chapter.
Sjøgata 7, N-9259 Tromsø. & 77-75-90-16. Fax [phone]. www.radissonsas.com. 195 units. Mon-Thurs
1,285NOK ($182) double; Fri-Sun year-round and mid-June to mid-Aug daily 950NOK-1,095NOK
($135-$155) double; year-round 2,200NOK-3,000NOK ($312-$426) suite. Rates include breakfast. AE, DC,
MC, V. Amenities: 2 restaurants; 2 bars; health club/sauna in big, well-furnished area on top floor; laundry
service/dry cleaning. In room: TV, minibar, hair dryer, trouser press.