Location: Norway

Tromsø

I visited Norway in the winter of 2014 for new year. The company I used to do this tour can be found here. I flew from the UK to Oslo and then stayed overnight, before making my way north to the city of Tromsø where the tour would start properly.
Tromsø is inside the arctic circle so the sun doesn't rise above the horizon in the middle of winter and is a great for viewing the Aurora Borealis(northern lights). We checked into the hotel and had some free time before waiting for our pickup in the evening for dog sledding into the Norwegian forest. Special warm and windproof clothing was provided as we were pulled along by 5 huskies. We finished the day in a Sami tent and ate some stew before been transferred back to the hotel.

The following morning we had some more free time to explore the city properly. So I took a bus to the other side of the Tromsø bridge and went up the Fjellheisen(Cable car) to get a great wide shot of the city. In the evening the cruise pulled up right outside our hotel and we spent new years eve on board watching the fireworks in the distance.

View of Tromsø.

My video from Tromsø can be found here:

As the cruise went even further north we stopped at the port of Honningsvag. We took a land excursion to one of the most northern points on mainland Europe called Nordkapp(North cape). This is just 1,306miles from the north pole. In the summer months you can watch the sun at midnight here as it does not set. In the winter however it is very dark and windy. We then headed back down the hill escorted by a snowplow to the cruise waiting for us.

Arriving at the port of Honningsvag.

The cruise continued east onto the small town of Kirkenes in the far north east of Norway. This town is very close to the borders with Finland and Russia and has a population of just 3,500 people.

We transferred our suitcases from cruise to coach and made our way to try out some snow mobiles. This was great fun and drivers and passengers swapped half way across the frozen fjord.

Another main attraction here is the snow hotel which is built from scratch every year, and that is where we would spend the night. The room temperature was around -4°C and we were given a balaclava to keep our face warm during the night.

Entrance to the snow hotel.

My video from Kirkenes can be found here:

The following morning we had the chance to feed a few reindeer's, before been transferred to the small airport for our flight back to Oslo. This time in Oslo we had a free day to check out the city centre. I had a walk around and watched the sunset, the temperature was around 0°C because the water was starting to freeze near the small boats in the harbour.

My video from Oslo can be found here: