Tromsø - Norway - page 387

hiking, kayaking, and even winter dog-sledding are just some of the activities
available. The dog-sledding is pursued November to May, costing 1,200NOK
($170) per person, including pickup and drop-off at your hotel
On one jaunt, you can visit Tove and Tore, two of Norway's most experienced
dog-sled racers. You can see their home and hang out with 130 huskies. The trip
takes 2 1 ⁄ 2 hours and is conducted during the summer, at a cost of 350NOK ($50)
per person, including transport.
Kayaking is one of the more popular summer sports here, allowing you to
paddle along cold, racing waters against a mountain backdrop. Sometimes, if the
weather is right, groups take time out to harvest sea mussels. Tours leave daily
May to October 9am to 4pm, costing 1,000NOK ($142) per person, including
transport and lunch.
Mountain hikers are taken to Store Blåmann at 1,044m (3,425 ft.), the
tallest mountain on Kvaløya outside Tromsø. This is not like climbing the Mat-
terhorn, and the fairly athletic can handle the challenge. The season begins in
June and lasts until the first snowfall. Tours are daily 9am to 6pm, costing
800NOK ($114) per person, including transport and one meal.
Also from June until the first snowfall, glacier gliding is the rage here;
it's conducted daily 7am to 10pm and costs 1,200NOK ($170) per person,
including transport and two meals. After a 1-hour drive and a 2 1 ⁄ 2 -hour walk,
you'll reach the dramatic Steindals Glacier in Lyngen. The actual trip across the
glacier lasts 3 to 4 hours.
In the unlikely event that you're in Tromsø for winter skiing, call the Tromsø
Alpine Ski Center ( & 77-60-66-80 ), the best place for downhill skiing. There
is also an array of cross-country skiing trails, some 70km (43 miles) in all.
Because of the pitch blackness, nearly three dozen of these trails are floodlit.
Horseback riding across rugged terrain can be arranged by calling
Holmeslet Gård at & 77-61-99-74.
6 Shopping
Bianco Footwear This shop is Tromsø's exclusive distributor for the
footwear of the most hip and cutting-edge shoe manufacturer in Scandinavia,
Denmark-based Bianco Footwear. When a bevy of blonde and buxom female
beauties failed to promote consumer interest in the company's line of footwear,
Bianco's art department opted for an all-male lineup of cross-dressing (and not
particularly pretty) models, sassily sporting Bianco's women's line of shoes and
clothing. Today, on oversize posters prominently displayed both inside and out-
side the shop, you'll be exposed to the most controversial ad campaign in recent
Scandinavian history. Be reassured that if you happen to be male and not into
cross-dressing, the company markets conventional men's clothing and shoes as
well. The store owners call their campaign “extreme art based on solid commer-
cial profits.” The Norwegian marketplace seems to agree. Strandgate 26. & 77-65-
61-90.
Hekle-Kroken Early in their childhoods, many residents of Norway's far
north learn different ways to while away the long winter nights. Many of them
turn to arts and crafts. If you're interested in seeing what's available in terms of
quilting, embroidery supplies, and knitting patterns, head for this grandmoth-
erly looking repository of all the ingredients you'll need to engage in some of the
most popular hobbies in the region. The setting is a plank-sided antique build-
ing in the heart of town. Storgata 91. & 77-68-17-87.