Essential Tromso: Historical City Walk
Tromsø, Norway
Rating: 
Trip Type: Cultural Tours
Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes
An experienced guide will introduce you to the city of Tromsø and its century long history full of stories and anecdotes. You will encounter Tromsø's most important landmarks, including several northern superlatives and charming wooden houses from the city's time as central trade hub in the North. During our walking tour in the city centre, we will visit the Polar Museum, one of Norway's two most significant museums on the subject, and Ølhallen, Tromsø's oldest and most authentic pub.
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An experienced guide will introduce you to the city of Tromsø and its century long history full of stories and anecdotes. You will encounter Tromsø's most important landmarks, including several northern superlatives and charming wooden houses from the city's time as central trade hub in the North. During our walking tour in the city centre, we will visit the Polar Museum, one of Norway's two most significant museums on the subject, and Ølhallen, Tromsø's oldest and most authentic pub.In this walking tour, you will get acquainted with the city of Tromsø and its century long history. On the first leg of the tour, we will see the remains of medieval Tromsø, the market place with a monument to the fishermen that lost their lives at sea, and relics from the city's time as the central trade hub in the North.
A guided tour at the Polar Museum* is included in the price of the tour. The Polar Museum hosts a number of exhibitions on polar history, which is closely intertwined with the history of Tromsø. Your guide will lead you through exhibitions on Svalbard, sealing, well-known polar heroes such as Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen, as well as lesser-known polar heroes from Tromsø, such as the polar bear king Henry Rudi and Wanny Wolstad, the first woman to hunt on Svalbard.
After our visit to the museum, we will walk along the city's bustling pedestrian street, on which we will also encounter the spot with the highest density of sights in all of Tromsø. On this part of the tour we will not only see all of Tromsø's Art Noveau buildings (both of them), but also the world's northernmost Catholic and Protestant cathedrals. There we will also learn about the historical significance of the site of the Protestant cathedral, and about how its history is intertwined with that of the Mack Brewery and Tromsø's oldest pub Ølhallen, the next place we will visit on our tour.
Ølhallen used to be the gathering point for the Arctic hunters and fishermen and the centre of social life in Tromsø. The spirit of this time can still be felt in its halls today. Nowadays Ølhallen is the place in Tromsø with the largest selection of Mack beer from the world's northernmost brewery on tap, and they are also serving 50 different craft beers from Norwegian microbreweries – on tap! Their draught system is the
largest in Europe.
* - On some summer days the Polar Museum is overcrowded with tour groups from sometimes up to 4 cruise ships simultaneously. When that is the case, we will go to the Perspektivet Museum instead, which is also located in the centre of Tromsø and which hosts a number of changing exhibitions, which always have a local theme. This museum used to be the home of the Norwegian author Cora Sandel and hosts a permanent exhibition about her life and work.
A guided tour at the Polar Museum* is included in the price of the tour. The Polar Museum hosts a number of exhibitions on polar history, which is closely intertwined with the history of Tromsø. Your guide will lead you through exhibitions on Svalbard, sealing, well-known polar heroes such as Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen, as well as lesser-known polar heroes from Tromsø, such as the polar bear king Henry Rudi and Wanny Wolstad, the first woman to hunt on Svalbard.
After our visit to the museum, we will walk along the city's bustling pedestrian street, on which we will also encounter the spot with the highest density of sights in all of Tromsø. On this part of the tour we will not only see all of Tromsø's Art Noveau buildings (both of them), but also the world's northernmost Catholic and Protestant cathedrals. There we will also learn about the historical significance of the site of the Protestant cathedral, and about how its history is intertwined with that of the Mack Brewery and Tromsø's oldest pub Ølhallen, the next place we will visit on our tour.
Ølhallen used to be the gathering point for the Arctic hunters and fishermen and the centre of social life in Tromsø. The spirit of this time can still be felt in its halls today. Nowadays Ølhallen is the place in Tromsø with the largest selection of Mack beer from the world's northernmost brewery on tap, and they are also serving 50 different craft beers from Norwegian microbreweries – on tap! Their draught system is the
largest in Europe.
* - On some summer days the Polar Museum is overcrowded with tour groups from sometimes up to 4 cruise ships simultaneously. When that is the case, we will go to the Perspektivet Museum instead, which is also located in the centre of Tromsø and which hosts a number of changing exhibitions, which always have a local theme. This museum used to be the home of the Norwegian author Cora Sandel and hosts a permanent exhibition about her life and work.
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