10 Best Sights in Tromsø, Northern Norway

Tromsø's signature structure was designed by Jan Inge Hovig to evoke the shape of a Sámi tent as well as the iciness of a glacier. Opened in 1965, it represents northern Norwegian nature, culture, and faith. Also called the Arctic Cathedral (although not a cathedral at all, but rather a parish church), the building is globally recognized for its interesting structure and how different it is from the Tromsø Cathedral, a wooden church in the center of the city.

The immense stained-glass window depicts the Second Coming. The cathedral itself seats around 600 people. The glass mosaic on the eastern side was created by Victor Sparre, a Norwegian painter, in 1972. In 2005, the church received an organ from Grönlunds Orgelbyggeri.

There are midnight sun concerts in summer, starting at 11:30 pm.

To get a sense of Tromsø's immensity and solitude, take this cable car from the mainland, just across the bridge and behind the cathedral, up to the island's mountains. Storsteinen (Big Rock), rising 1,386 feet above sea level, has a great city view. In summer, a restaurant is open at the top of the lift.

Housed in a striking modern building by the harbor, the adventure center Polaria examines life in and around the polar and Barents regions. Explore the exhibits on polar travel and Arctic research, then check out two panoramic films, Svalbard—Arctic Wilderness and Northern Lights in Arctic Norway. The aquarium has sea mammals, including bearded seals.

Inside a customs warehouse from 1830, Polarmuseet documents the history of the polar regions. There are exhibitions on famous Norwegian polar explorers like Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen as well as the history of seal hunting and surviving in this often hostile climate. Part of the University of Tromsø, the museum opened in 1978, on the 50th anniversary of Amundsen leaving Tromsø for the last time, in search of his missing explorer colleague Umberto Nobile.

Dating from 1872, northern Norway's oldest scientific institution is dedicated to the nature and culture of the region. Learn about the northern lights, wildlife, fossils and dinosaurs, minerals and rocks, and church art from 1300 to 1800. Outdoors you can visit a Sámi gamme (turf hut), and a replica of a Viking longhouse. The pretty Arctic-Alpine botanical garden is the northernmost in the world, at roughly the same latitude as Alaska's north coast.