20260612 Friday, June 12, 2026 Tromsø, Norway

20260612 Friday, June 12, 2026 Tromsø, Norway

As the ship eased into Tromsø Harbor, it slipped past the National Geographic Resolution Expedition ship, which is in a very similar class to the Viking Polaris and Octantis Expedition ships. What the ship was doing was a bit unclear because it was just station keeping just outside the navigation channel and not docked or conducting any tender operations.   

The Viking Neptune tied up at a prime berth on the Tromsø waterfront, spinning itself 180º before setting the mooring lines.  We had breakfast in the World Cafe before meeting up with Mark and Jan to go ashore and wander a bit around Tromsø’s waterfront.  

We ended up doing a self-guided tour, stealing an itinerary from Tours By Locals and combining this with Wikipedia descriptions of each site. 

 

Tromsø Protestant Cathedral

Tromsø Library

Tromsø Catholic Cathedral

Tromsø Public Library

Tromsø Storgata shopping district

Tromsø Polar Museum

We started at the Protestant Cathedral, wandered down Storgata, which is the historic main business street, visited statues of Roald Amundsen and King Haakon VII and other sculptures, peeked inside the Tromsø Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady, wandered around the remains of the ancient fortress Skansen, through the old Vervet shipyard, which is actually still being used as a dry dock, around the Polar Museum, which was closed at that hour, and then out to the jetty of the marina, where we found great views of the ship and the Arctic Cathedral.  

Jan and Janet did some window shopping and found some free postcards for souvenirs while Ben walked along the waterfront trying to get a photo of Doug and Sandy who had chosen to climb up the Sherpa’s Stairs to have lunch at the Fjellstua Café at the top of Mount Storsteinen.  These are stone stairs built by Nepalese Sherpas to the top of Mount Storsteinen from the Arctic Cathedral.

The peak is 421 meters above sea level and provides a spectacular view, but the 1,200 steps can be hard on the knees.  

A leisurely lunch was enjoyed in the World Cafe before meeting up again for our scheduled 1:10 p.m. excursion “Panoramic Tromsø”.  Doug and Sandy were making their way back from their hike, and it looked like they might have made the excursion, but they ended up stopping short, opting to relax on the waterfront rather than sprinting the last block to the bus. 

 
The “Panoramic Tromsø” tour did take us well beyond walking distance from the ship, starting with a tour of historic houses and buildings in the foothills behind Tromsø, then heading north along the east side of the island that Tromsø is situated on.  

We could see the huge Celebrity Apex cruise ship docked several miles north of Tromsø’s city center in front of the University and Science Center.  

The bus unloaded us at the Tromsø Planetarium.  There is a lot of “Furthest North” stuff in Tromsø including the Protestant and Catholic cathedrals, and the University and Planetarium.  We were treated to a planetarium show highlighting the Aurora Borealis through the lens of a famous Tromsø filmmaker and photographer.  

There was video of some amazing displays of the northern lights, as well as some explanation of the science behind the northern lights.  Of course, with the very comfortable fully reclining chairs and mesmerizing music, it wasn’t hard to “rest your eyes” for a bit during the show.  

Of course, being north of the Arctic Circle during the summer means it is impossible for us to view the Aurora Borealis on this itinerary during the midnight sun, so it was nice that they gave us the opportunity to experience the Aurora Borealis in the planetarium setting.  

We were then taken through some amazing underwater tunnels to the Arctic Cathedral, which is quite a landmark across the Tromsø Bridge from the city center.  It is made of 11 aluminum-sheathed concrete panels, a little like the Sydney Opera House but with a more pyramid-like form.  The huge crucifix on the western face gives the building the shape of a tall masted ship, while the eastern face features one of the largest and most monumental glass mosaics in Europe.  While the church was completed in 1965 (designed by Jan Inge Hovig), the mosaic was created by Victor Sparre in 1972.  The church hosts over 500 concerts annually.

In a nod to Norwegian historic stave churches, which almost all feature a hanging votive model ship to give thanks for surviving the sea, the pipe organ in the church features elements reflecting a sailing ship in the abstract. 

 
Since we were in the neighborhood, we took a brisk walk to see if we could get a peek at the Sherpa’s stairs because the trail starts right behind the Arctic Cathedral, but the first part of the trail is just a gravel path.  The actual stone steps begin about 1km from the church, so we didn’t have time to actually see the start of the steps.

The bus took us back through another tunnel running under a hillside which contains an underground roundabout lit up like a disco club.  There is actually a huge underground parking lot and shelter space that is used as an event venue, but was originally built as a Cold War-era shelter for Tromsø residents.  

That was pretty much the end of the tour, which delivered us back to our ship.  
We enjoyed a bit of relaxation in the thermal spa after returning to the ship.  We even had some time for a nap before dinner.  

Janet had managed to nab us reservations in the Chef’s table to try the California menu, although they were for 8 p.m.  She was able to get that moved up to 7:15 p.m. so we could enjoy the evening theater show featuring the Cruise Director Philip Morgamon doing some Broadway and other songs.  

After our ship pulled away from the dock in Tromsø, the National Geographic Resolution fired up its motors and headed in to dock where we had been without a single passenger visible on deck.  It was probably preparing to take on a new load of passengers to begin a voyage out of Tromsø.