The best pubs and bars in Tromsø come down to three questions for most first-timers: where to go first, what a drink costs and what’s still open when a northern lights tour drops you back near midnight. Bastard Bar is where I’d send most people, for the live music. Ølhallen if beer is the thing you care about above everything else.
I went to Bastard twice in six days. The first time we had our coats on and were heading for the door when the band came on, which is the only reason we went back later in the week. Second night was the better one by a distance.
Nine places below, all within about ten minutes’ walk of each other, with opening hours on every one. Sunday is the day that catches people out here, and the pub you’d most want to be sitting in is the one that shuts first.
More of my Tromsø guides to help plan your trip
- Where to stay in Tromsø – Best hotels for all budgets, plus igloos and cabins outside the city
- Best restaurants in Tromsø – Where to eat, with a map and what you’ll actually pay
- How many days in Tromsø – A day by day itinerary, activity costs and what to skip
- Travel around by bus in Tromsø – How the buses work, tickets and getting to Fjellheisen
- Skiing in Tromsø – Alpinpark, lift passes and night skiing in the dark months
Ølhallen: Tromsø’s Oldest Pub
Step into Ølhallen and you’re walking straight into a slice of Tromsø’s history. Established in 1928, this venerable watering hole holds the crown as the city’s oldest pub. But don’t let its age fool you; Ølhallen is far from a dusty relic.
Ølhallen is Mack’s own taproom, and Mack has been brewing in Tromsø since 1877. There are 72 taps, which the pub reckons is the largest tap bridge in Northern Europe, pouring Norwegian beer from Mack, from the microbrewery next door and from smaller breweries around the country.
Seventy-two is more choice than anyone needs standing at a bar, so do what we did and order a tasting board. You get five beers in small glasses, either a set selection or your own pick from the whole range. It’s the sensible way to work out what you like before committing to a full glass.
The room is long wooden tables and low ceilings, old photographs on the walls and a stuffed polar bear by the door. It’s a beer hall rather than a bar, and the crowd is a proper mix of ages rather than just visitors.
Pick this if beer is the reason you’re out. Check the day before you go, though. It’s open until 00:30 Monday to Saturday, but on Sunday it shuts at 19:30, which is early enough to wreck an evening if you were counting on it. Storgata 4, next door to Mack’s beer shop Kjeller 5. Groups are asked to book a table by email.
Bastard Bar: Plenty of live music
If you like music, Bastard Bar is the one I’d send you to first. It’s a basement room on Strandgata that’s been putting bands on since 2009 and calls itself one of the most active live stages in the city, and there’s an open jam every Tuesday that anyone can get up and play at.
We went twice. The first time we’d got our coats on and were leaving when the band started, which was annoying enough that we came back later in the week and did it properly. Second night was much better.
It’s picked up a fair bit for a small room, including the city council’s culture prize in 2014 and a readers’ vote for best bar in 2016. None of that is stuck on the walls. It’s dark, it’s loud with a band on and nobody is dressed up.
My Top Tip! Check what’s on before you go rather than turning up and hoping. Bastard lists its upcoming gigs on its own site and Blårock puts its events on Facebook. We found that out the hard way.
Pick this if you want live music rather than a quiet pint. It opens at 18:00 every day and goes to 02:00, or 03:30 on Friday and Saturday, so it works as a late one after dinner.
Blå Rock Café: rock bar and burgers
Blå Rock has been going since January 1991 and it calls itself the only proper rock’n’roll place in Northern Norway, and nothing I saw contradicted that. Same owners as Bastard, a couple of doors along the same street.
We only stopped for one, so I can’t tell you about the food. The burgers are what people come for though, and they’re all named after bands: Ramones, Motorhead, The Clash, Dead Kennedys. The beef is Angus from a local butcher and the buns come from a Tromsø bakery, which is more thought than a themed burger usually gets.
The walls are the best of it if you like this sort of music. Signed posters and records from Johnny Cash, Nirvana, The Ramones and plenty more, plus a whole section of Frank Kozik gig posters.
Pick this if you want a burger and loud music in the same place. The kitchen is open until 23:00 and the bar goes to 02:00, or 03:30 at weekends. You can book a table online, worth doing on a Friday. Strandgata 14.
Skarven: A Waterfront view
Skarven sits right on the harbour and it’s five places under one roof, not one: a pub, a bar, a steakhouse, a seafood restaurant and a private dining room. The one you want for a drink is Skarven Kro.
We stopped here for a quick one and the view was the whole reason. You’re looking straight out over the water at the mountains on the far side, and in January that’s the low pink light in the middle of the day rather than anything you’d call daylight. Get a seat by the window.
It’s the most flexible place on this list for timing. Skarven Kro is open every day from 11:00 until 01:00 and doesn’t take table bookings, so you turn up and find a seat. Skarven Bar next door is a smaller room, opens later in the afternoon and is shut on Mondays.
Pick this if you want a drink with a view in the middle of the day rather than a night out. Strandtorget 1, down on the waterfront.
Verdensteatret: A cinema with cocktails
Verdensteatret is a working cinema with a bar in the foyer, and it’s the oldest municipal cinema in Norway still showing films. It opened in June 1916, the hall seats 216 and the walls carry murals painted by Sverre Mack in 1921 with scenes from Norwegian folk tales.
The bar has a full licence and keeps the same late hours as the rock bars: midday to 02:00, or 03:30 on Friday and Saturday. It’s in the foyer rather than a room of its own, so it fills up around screening times and empties out between them.
Pick this if you want somewhere quieter to drink that isn’t a pub, or if a film and a drink in the same building appeals. Storgata 93B, a few minutes north of the main cluster.
No 24: DJs and a dance floor
No 24 is the one on this list for a night out that involves dancing. It’s a pub on Strandtorget with DJs, a dance floor, live music and sport on five screens, which is a wider brief than most places here attempt.
It opens at midday and goes to 02:00 in the week, 03:30 on Friday and Saturday, so it’s still going when a lot of the city has stopped. There’s outdoor seating as well, more use in summer than in January.
Pick this if you want a dance floor, or if there’s a match you don’t want to miss. Strandgata 24.
Huken Brygg: Craft Beers
Huken Brygg is a small beer bar at Storgata 39, up the main street rather than down by the water with most of the others.
Check the address before you set off. Huken has traded under more than one address in Tromsø and Storgata 39 is the current one, so an old map pin can send you to the wrong end of town.
It’s a small room and it gets busy late, particularly on a Saturday. There’s no online booking, but they’ll take a table request by email.
Pick this if you want a small local bar with a beer list rather than a venue with a stage.
Bardus Bar: Cocktail Craftsmanship
Bardus Bar is where you go in Tromsø for a cocktail rather than a beer, and the one to order is the Arctic seaweed. The seaweed is harvested locally and it’s what the bar is known for, so it isn’t a gimmick bolted on to the menu.
The room is in a building from 1868 that started as a bakery and later became Tromsø’s first cinema. There isn’t a right angle anywhere in it, and the climb up onto the mezzanine is half the appeal.
They also do a northern traveller’s plate: lefse from Balsfjord, which is a soft flatbread, with cured lamb, reindeer and whale. Worth knowing what’s on it before you order if whale isn’t something you want to eat.
Pick this if you want a proper cocktail, or somewhere you can hear each other talk. It’s next door to Bardus Bistro, so you can eat there and move across after. Cora Sandels gate 4, open from 16:00.
Raketten: a beer outside by the fire
Raketten is a tiny wooden kiosk on Storgata that calls itself Norway’s smallest bar, and having stood at it, that’s hard to argue with. There’s no inside for customers at all. You order at the hatch and you drink outdoors.
We went on our first day, before we’d done anything else, and stood by the fires with a beer getting a feel for the town. We went back again later in the week. It’s the only drink in this guide you have standing in the snow, and it’s the one I’d tell you not to skip.
The kiosk has been on the square since 1911, put up on the initiative of an 18-year-old called Margit Løkke, and it’s now a protected cultural monument. It’s been licensed as a bar since 2014.
Opening hours move about. They open from midday most days, but the weather decides: a good day and they stay out into the evening, a bad one and they shut up early. Mulled wine in winter, local beer year round and the hot dogs, which I’ve covered in my restaurants guide.
Map of the pubs and bars in Tromsø
Tips for Bar-Hopping in Tromsø
Best Areas to Explore
Most of the best pubs and bars in Tromsø are concentrated in the city centre, particularly around Storgata (the main street) and the surrounding area. This compact layout makes bar-hopping a breeze – you can easily walk between venues, even in the chilly Arctic weather.
Local drinking tips
A few things worth knowing before you go out.
Prices are the shock. A 0.5L beer cost me between NOK 110 and 140 (£9 to £11), and a glass of wine NOK 120 to 180 (£10 to £14). There’s no way round it, so budget for it rather than being caught out on the first night.
Buying your own is cheaper but the rules are strict. Supermarkets sell beer only, and only until 20:00 on weekdays and 18:00 on Saturdays, whatever time the shop itself shuts. Anything stronger comes from Vinmonopolet, the state off-licence, which closes at 18:00 in the week and 16:00 on Saturdays and doesn’t open on Sundays. Miss it on a Saturday and you’re waiting until Monday. I’ve put the Tromsø branch locations in my guide to the best restaurants in Tromsø.
The legal age is 18 for beer and wine and 20 for spirits, but plenty of bars set their own door age higher, at 20 or 22. Carry ID whatever age you are.
Skål is the Norwegian cheers. Make eye contact round the table as you clink.
You won’t need cash. Card and contactless work everywhere.
Getting back at the end of the night
The centre is small enough to walk between everything on this list, and most nights that’s what you’ll do. If you’re staying further out, or it’s properly cold, there are two options.
Taxis. Tromsø Taxi on 03011 and Din Taxi on 02045 are the two main firms, and there are ranks at Stortorget and at the Prostneset harbour terminal. Uber works here too.
Buses. There’s a city bus network if you’re outside the centre. I’ve covered tickets and routes in my guide to travel around by bus in Tromsø.
Pubs and bars in Tromsø: common questions
What time do pubs and bars close in Tromsø?
Closing time in Tromsø is 02:00 Sunday to Thursday and 03:30 on Friday and Saturday at most pubs and bars, including Bastard Bar, Blå Rock, Verdensteatret and No 24. Skarven Kro closes earlier at 01:00 every night. Ølhallen is the outlier and shuts at 00:30 in the week, 19:30 on a Sunday.
Last orders are usually a little before closing, so allow for that if you’re arriving late after a northern lights tour.
Which pubs and bars in Tromsø are open on a Sunday?
Sunday opening is normal across Tromsø’s bars, though the hours shift later. Blå Rock, Verdensteatret and No 24 all open at 13:00 and serve until 02:00, Bastard Bar opens at 18:00, and Skarven Kro keeps its usual 11:00 to 01:00. The exception is Ølhallen, which shuts at 19:30.
Shops are the bigger problem on a Sunday. Supermarkets can’t sell beer at all and Vinmonopolet is closed, so a drink out is your only option.
Do you need to book a table at bars in Tromsø?
Booking is rarely necessary in Tromsø. Skarven Kro doesn’t take table bookings at all, so you turn up and find a seat, and the smaller bars work the same way. Blå Rock takes online bookings and is worth reserving on a Friday. Ølhallen and Huken Brygg handle group tables by email.
If you’re a group of more than six on a Friday or Saturday, book something.
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