When to go to Tromso – What is the best time

The big advantage of Tromsø is that you can go all year round. But it’s not that simple! Because every season, and even every month, brings Tromsø its own set of activities. And obviously, you can’t do everything at once, otherwise it would be too easy.

So in this article, I want to make your choice simpler. When to go to Tromsø, whether you want to see the northern lights, go hiking, see the snowy landscapes, head out on a boat to see the whales, and so many other options.

Because going at the right time means making the most of Tromsø, it means no nasty surprises, and it also means decent prices if you go off season.

But above all, and I really want to stress this, there is NO bad season! There is ALWAYS something to see, something to do. Landscapes, hikes, northern lights. Of course there are periods when the weather will be tougher, but that shouldn’t stop you, it doesn’t stop you seeing the northern lights if you’re willing to drive a few kilometres, you’ll still get the landscapes, the whales. Anyway, just go! 🙂

The best time to go to Tromsø, activity by activity

• NORTHERN LIGHTS
  • There are northern lights all year round. But you need darkness, so in Tromsø you can see the northern lights from early September to mid-April. It’s a bit possible before that, in late August, but there isn’t really any night so it’s very tricky. After that, it’s mostly a question of weather.
  • Find out how to choose your northern lights agency in Tromsø
  • Here are 11 places to see the northern lights around Tromsø
  • Recommendation:
    • Arctic Breeze
    • Wandering Owl
    • Greenlander

• WHALES AND ORCAS
  • You can see them over towards Skjervøy, east of Tromsø. They’re generally around from early November to late January. 3 months with plenty going on. Sometimes they stick around a bit longer in early February, but in that case you can only book a tour at the last minute.
    • Discover all the boats for whale watching in Tromsø
    • Recommendation: Brim Explorer

• DOG SLEDDING
  • Basically, to go dog sledding you need dogs, a sled and snow. That last one is the unpredictable bit. There’s usually enough of it from November to early April. But sometimes it arrives later (late December) or it melts away with a big thaw and comes back one or two weeks afterwards. The agencies are still based in spots where it snows more than average, like at Camp Tamok or Breivikeidet. But they’re all good.
    • Find ALL the dog sledding agencies in Tromsø
    • Recommendation: dog sledding facing the Lyngen Alps, at Breivikeidet

• MAKING THE MOST OF THE LANDSCAPES
  • To make the most of them, you need daylight. In November, December and mid-January the days are very short, so you’ll only have a few hours and you’ll need to make them count. I love February and March, loads of snow and plenty of light. April is great because of the superb colours! And after that there’s no night left, so needless to say you get the landscapes non-stop!
    • Discover Kvaløya with an agency

• BOAT TRIP IN THE FJORDS
  • If the whales aren’t there, or if you want a boat tour to discover the area around Tromsø, then this excursion is made for you and it has one big advantage: it’s doable all year round! As it isn’t very long (around 3 hrs), there’s no daylight or season constraint, you’ll always have enough light. And honestly, I did it in winter, the snowy landscapes are magnificent, while in autumn you get the superb colours
    • Find all the options to discover the Tromsø fjords by boat
    • Recommendation: the fjords with Polar Adventures

• CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING AND SNOWSHOEING
  • Two star activities in Tromsø. At weekends and after work, they’re all out there wandering around in nature, even in winter. There are dedicated trails in town but above all in some valleys like Kattfjordvatnet or Breivikeidet. So for this you need snow and decent weather. From November normally, but from February to April is a magnificent time for it!
    • Go snowshoeing with Wandering Owl

• HIKING
  • There are hundreds of gorgeous hikes around Tromsø. But in practice, hiking in the snow isn’t really straightforward, except for a few with a thin layer, those work. So for me, the best time for hiking is late May to mid-October, when there’s almost no snow left and you can make the most of the landscape. That said, some can be done with crampons if it’s icy (from October onwards in particular)

• This might come in handy: in the following article I’ve listed absolutely every agency and tour in Tromsø! 

Daylight in Tromsø, polar night and midnight sun

Because Tromsø sits right at the top of Europe, day length and light vary enormously from season to season. It’s nothing like the equator, where the sun rises at 6am and sets at 6pm all year round and sunset lasts five minutes. Up there, you discover the absence of night, the midnight sun, the polar night when the sun stops showing itself at all. And a sunset lasts two hours, no less.

• No night at all
  • Basically, in Tromsø it never gets dark from mid-April to the third week of August. That doesn’t mean there’s sun the whole time, but it does mean there’s light the whole time. It’s surprising! Your body copes well with it though, and it lets you pack in far more activities
• Midnight sun
  • that’s when you genuinely see the sun all night long, when it doesn’t set. It’s disorienting but fun. You have a drink outside in the sunshine and then realise it’s 3am. That’s from late May to late July, bearing in mind that 21 June, the summer solstice, is the longest day (and a good excuse for a party)
• Very little light
  • The light disappears fast! You really notice the difference in November especially. By early November the days are getting properly short, and you lose something like 15 minutes of daylight a day. There’s little or very little light from early November to late January
• Polar night
  • This is when you don’t even see the sun any more, it no longer clears the horizon. So it’s the exact opposite of the midnight sun. Officially it runs from 27 November to 15 January. But since mountains can block the view, in some spots the polar night starts on 21 November and lasts until 21 January.
    During the polar night it isn’t pitch dark. It’s a sunset that stretches out over four to eight hours, a long drawn-out twilight. That’s enough to do all the activities (dog sledding, whale watching…) but if you want to see the landscapes around you, you’ll have to be efficient!

Accommodation prices in Tromsø

Staying in Tromsø can cost an absolute fortune in high season. And it’s not just accommodation — you can also work out the cost of your trip to Tromsø here. So depending on what you want to do and see, it can be worth avoiding the very peak tourist season. Accommodation prices still vary by a factor of three, and even at those rates everything books up pretty quickly.

• Peak tourist season and very high prices
  • From early November to mid-March, accommodation prices go through the roof. You can end up at €300 a night in a good hotel that would normally cost €120.
    Those good hotels, like the Scandic or the Radisson Blu are full at those times anyway. Some are normally cheap, like the Enter Backpack or the Smart Hotel but even there it shoots up fast at that time of year.
  • The week between Christmas and New Year in Tromsø is very touristy, and the snag is that a lot of agencies are closed, and a lot of shops too.
  • The BUSIEST tourist period runs from January until early March. That’s when you need to book reaaally early for accommodation and car hire

• Low tourist season
  • In spring: April and May are an in-between, there aren’t many tourists because there’s less snow and no visible northern lights, but nature is beautiful. So you’ll have no trouble at all finding somewhere to stay
  • In summer: June to August is very, very good for nature and walks, and yet it isn’t touristy. Everyone heads to the Lofoten Islands, so that’s great news because it means even in summer prices are fairly low in Tromsø!
  • In autumn: September and October, a season I love but that’s not touristy at all. So you’ll have no trouble finding cheap accommodation, prices are two or three times lower than in high season. Honestly, brilliant!

So as you can see, going off-season really will make your life, and your accommodation budget, a lot easier. There are big savings to be made.

But clearly, if you want snow AND the northern lights, then it’s high season, and you’ll need to book your accommodation really early to avoid paying top whack.

And if you’re not on a big budget, have a look at September and October, it’s a genuinely lovely time of year, beautiful colours, northern lights.

• In the following article you’ll find the best places to sleep in Tromsø

4 recommended places to stay in Tromsø

Find your dream accommodationwith Booking !

Tromsø month by month

• January:
  • pro: there are whales, usually snow, the days are getting longer, and the northern lights of course
  • con: the days are very short, it’s polar night for 3 weeks, and the weather might not be up to much
• February:
  • pro: the days are getting longer, a very good time for the lights, usually loads of snow for the activities
  • con: maybe the whales stick around for a week, but no longer, very touristy
  • you’ll find in the following article all the winter activities in Tromsø
• March:
  • pro: gorgeous colours, a very good time for the northern lights, snow, it’s a really nice month for activities too
  • con: it’s still touristy so accommodation is expensive, and by the end of the month the days are very long so it’s less obvious for the lights
• April:
  • pro: the very start of spring, but with snow, superb scenery, still the northern lights for a few days, and it’s getting cheaper
  • con: the night disappears, which is nice, but the lights are no longer visible from the second half onwards
• May:
  • pro: the snow disappears, light all the time, you can go back to doing lovely hikes
  • con: the weather can be in between (between snow and rain), and there are no more snow activities and no more northern lights
• June / July:
  • pro: great time for hiking, midnight sun, accommodation isn’t especially expensive, it’s not very touristy
  • cons: honestly I can’t see any. It can be rainy but otherwise it’s brilliant for nature
  • and by the way, if you’re looking for ideas, here are some itinerary ideas for Tromsø (and Norway) in summer!
• August:
  • pro: it’s still nature with cheap accommodation, no night until the end of August, and the northern lights start up
  • con: maybe a bit touristy, but nothing like winter, it’s very local tourism
• September / October:
  • pro: autumn, the colours are magnificent, it’s a very good time for the northern lights, and yet it’s absolutely not touristy, and you can go hiking. In the following article I explain why Tromsø is one of my favourite destinations for a September trip
  • con: it can rain more or less regularly
• November / December:
  • pro: there’s usually enough snow for activities like dog sledding, there are whales, and in early November there’s still light and a bit of sun.
  • con: on the other hand, the end of December is really dark! You lose the light really fast. And the weather can be pretty temperamental, more cloud, more rain

Practical information about Tromsø

• How long to stay
  • I recommend a week in Tromsø to really make the most of it and have enough time to see the northern lights and do the main activities
• What activities to do in Tromsø
  • Obviously there are the winter staples like dog sledding, trying out a snowmobile, seeing the reindeer on a farm. But there are also some great hikes in Tromsø!
• The most beautiful places to see in Tromsø
  • You absolutely have to explore the island of Kvaløya! Especially Sommarøy and Grøtfjord. But also the Signaldalen mountains, Breivikeidet, the Lyngen Alps… anyway, you won’t be short of inspiration!
  • If you want to go further afield, there’s this itinerary between Tromsø, Senja and the Lofoten Islands.
• Renting a car
  • If you drive, I recommend renting a car so you can be independent, explore the landscapes, go chasing the northern lights. So go for it, it isn’t especially expensive, driving in Tromsø isn’t too difficult in winter. You need to compare. Personally I regularly go through Rental Cars, and also very often with Discover Cars where I made my last bookings.
• 5 places to stay I recommend
  • The Radisson Blu
  • the Scandic Ishavshotel
  • The low prices at Melishome on Kvaløya
  • The Viking Cabins in the Lyngen Alps
  • The Crush apartment in Ersfjord

Map of Tromsø

Now that you know when to go to Tromsø, let me give you this map with all the most beautiful places around Tromsø, the spots to see the northern lights, the essential information. You’ll also get all the operators, the whales, the places to stay. Basically, absolutely everything!

You can also click on the map to open it 🙂

In conclusion

There you go, now you know everything!

So the right period really depends on what you want to see. Whales, northern lights, great hikes, or snow-covered landscapes. Each of those has its own season.

Obviously, if you struggle with serious cold, don’t forget that autumn in Tromsø is a great time and far less touristy, so cheaper too.

But I’ll say it again, choose your period carefully depending on what you want to do and above all, there’s no bad time to go, there’s always something to do, something to see, something to enjoy!

• Everything you need to know about Tromsø
• Tromsø and Norway in summer
• Things to do in Tromsø in winter
• The essential map of Tromsø
• Dog sledding in Tromsø
• Snowmobiling in Tromsø
• Seeing orcas and whales
• Exploring the fjords by boat
• Where to stay in Tromsø
• Discovering the island of Kvaløya
• Seeing the northern lights with an agency
• The best places to see the northern lights
• Visiting Tromsø without a car
• How to pay for tolls and ferries in Norway
• Which payment methods should you use in Norway?

If you need more information, don't hesitate to ask me by clicking here 🙂How can I help you ?