Where should you stay in Tromsø, which part of the city, and is it worth going outside town to see the northern lights? My advice to everyone is to stay in the city centre for most of your nights, it is small enough to walk across and the tours we booked picked up from the Radisson Blu, then spend a minimum of one night somewhere with no street lights at all, a cabin or a glass hut.
I did six nights in winter, two of them in town without a tour booked, and on those two nights in town we saw nothing, while the one night in a glass hut 90 minutes out we saw the lights several times from the bed. It was well worth it.
The price of a Tromsø hotel moves more with the month than with the hotel, and there is one crucial booking window that can save you a lot of money, I share that in detail below.
Not sure how many nights to give it? My guide to how many days in Tromsø has 2, 3 and 5 day itineraries.
More of my Tromsø guides to help plan your trip
- How many days in Tromsø – A day by day itinerary, activity costs and what to skip
- Best restaurants in Tromsø – Where to eat, with a map and what you’ll actually pay
- Best pubs and bars in Tromsø – Where to go after a day out in the cold, with live music options
- 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
Where to stay in Tromsø: quick picks
If you are short on time, these are my quick picks. The write-ups and the reasoning are further down, along with the rest of the options.
- Best value: Home Hotel Aurora, breakfast, afternoon waffles and an evening buffet are all included
- Best if you have booked tours: Radisson Blu, the main pickup point for most operators in the city
- Best for families or groups: Skaret by Vander, apartments on the main street sleeping up to six
- Best for northern lights: North Experience Basecamp, a glass igloo 90 minutes away where we saw the lights from bed
Where to stay in Tromsø: Best area
Nearly everything worth booking is in the city centre, and it is small. Tromsdalen is the mainland across the bridge, quieter and cheaper, with the Arctic Cathedral and the cable car.
Kvaløya is the big island to the west, darker and more remote, where most of the northern lights tours head.
My Top Tip! When people say Kvaløya is good for the lights they mean the fjord villages, not the suburbs by the bridge.
Disclaimer: This article features affiliate links. If you click these links, and choose to book with that hotel or company, I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I appreciate the support that allows me to continue providing this information
City Centre
The centre is where I recommend first-timers stay, especially if you are booking tours, because the pickups are in town and the walk to any of them is short. It is the most expensive area, but for good reason. Don’t assume you’ll see the lights from your hotel window here, it’s very rare.
Tromsdalen
Just across the bridge from the city centre, Tromsdalen is where the Arctic Cathedral and the Fjellheisen cable car are. Pick it if you want a quieter street and a cheaper room and do not mind a walk or a bus over the bridge to get to the pickups.
Kvaløya
Kvaløya is the island west of the city, joined by the Sandnessund bridge next to the airport. The bridge is about 15 minutes from the centre, the fjord villages where the aurora tours stop are about 35 minutes, and Sommarøy at the western tip is over an hour. Pick it if the lights are the whole point of the trip and you are hiring a car or booking a transfer, because you will not be walking to anything.
Map of the best hotels in Tromsø
The best hotels for all budgets
For a first trip I recommend staying close to the centre, especially if you are taking tours. The prices below are typical nightly rates in NOK with GBP in brackets, averaged across room types and the whole year.
Two things move the price more than which hotel you pick:
Season. February costs two to three times what July does at the same hotel. If you are coming for the lights, budget for the top of that.
Booking window. My biggest tip of the article, prices are cheapest about two months ahead, and booking late costs you roughly a third more. So plan accordingly.
Home Hotel Aurora
- Booking.com rating: 8.4
- Cost: typically around NOK 2,770 (£202) a night
Formerly Clarion Collection Hotel Aurora, renamed in February 2025. Pick this if you want dinner sorted without thinking about it. Breakfast, afternoon waffles and an evening buffet served 18:00 to 20:00 are all in the room rate, and eating out in Tromsø is not cheap, so the room rate is better value than it looks. The rooftop hot tub is booked separately and charged extra, and there are only 12 parking spaces, so reserve one when you book if you are driving. Room cleaning is on request rather than daily.
Enter St. Elisabeth Suites & Spa
- Booking.com rating: 8.7
- Cost: typically around NOK 3,470 (£253) a night for a two-bedroom suite sleeping five
Pick this if you are a family or a group who want space rather than two hotel rooms. Enter St. Elisabeth is the apartment hotel with the spa: an indoor pool, sauna and hot tub, and a kitchen in every unit. The larger suites sleep four to five adults, or a family, with a separate living area. It sits on Mellomveien, a short walk south of the centre, so it suits a longer stay where you plan to cook rather than eat out every night.
Skaret by Vander
- Booking.com rating: 8.7
- Cost: typically around NOK 2,270 (£165) a night
Pick this if you are a group or a family and want a kitchen. Skaret is a 147 apartment block on Storgata, the main street, not a boutique hotel: every unit has a kitchen, housekeeping is weekly rather than daily and there is no breakfast. That trade-off is the point, you are paying for space and a fridge rather than service.
Moxy Tromsø
- Booking.com rating: 8.6
- Cost: typically around NOK 2,510 (£183) a night
Pick this if you have an early flight or a late arrival. The Moxy is by the airport, a ten minute drive from the centre, with 18 square metre rooms, a top floor Sky Bar that doubles as check-in, parking at NOK 170 (£12) a day and breakfast charged extra. For a stay built around tours from the city, being out here costs you a taxi each way.
Enter Backpack Hotel
- Booking.com rating: 8.4
- Cost: typically around NOK 1,480 (£108) a night
Pick this if you want the cheapest central bed that is still a proper room. There are no dormitories at Enter Backpack hotel: rooms are single, double and triple, with a private or shared bathroom, plus a shared kitchen and a laundry. No breakfast, no lift, and parking is NOK 350 (£26) a night.
Smarthotel Tromsø
- Booking.com rating: 7.8
- Cost: typically around NOK 1,580 (£115) a night
Pick this if you want one of the cheapest hotel rooms in the centre and nothing more. Smarthotel is the lowest average price of any hotel in this list, and it sits a short walk from the main street. Rooms are compact. If you are out on tours all day and only need a bed, this is the one.
Comfort Hotel Xpress Tromsø
- Booking.com rating: 8.1
- Cost: typically around NOK 1,940 (£142) a night
This is where I stayed for my last night after the glass hut, and it was the right call. The rooms are small but neatly designed, and check-in and check-out are quick. The same person who checked us in was setting out the breakfast and snacks in the morning, which tells you that it is a budget friendly hotel. We paid about NOK 2,550 (£186) for that one night in late January, peak season pricing with a last minute booking. Clean, central and still a good price against the rest of the city. Pick this if you are out on tours all day and just need a good bed.
Home Hotel With
- Booking.com rating: 8.6
- Cost: typically around NOK 3,010 (£220) a night
Formerly Clarion Collection Hotel With. Pick this if you want the Aurora’s benefit of included dinner but would rather be right on the water. Same deal: breakfast, afternoon fika and dinner every day included in the room price, on the pier facing the Arctic Cathedral. It is typically a little more expensive than the Aurora as you pay for the location.
Quality Hotel Saga
- Booking.com rating: 8.3
- Cost: typically around NOK 2,620 (£191) a night
Pick this if you want a mid-range room a few minutes’ walk from everything and are not fussed about a sea view. Nothing here is a headline feature, which is why it sits below the harbour hotels on price.
Enter Viking Hotel
- Booking.com rating: 8.1
- Cost: typically around NOK 1,770 (£129) a night
Pick this if you want a cheap room with a kitchen. Enter Viking is a 25 room budget hotel with apartments as well as rooms, free tea and coffee round the clock, no breakfast, and parking at NOK 350 (£26) a day.
Scandic Ishavshotel
- Booking.com rating: 8.3
- Cost: typically around NOK 3,060 (£223) a night
Pick this if you are arriving on the airport express or leaving on the coastal ferry. The airport bus stops right outside, the ship shaped building sits on the quay, and it is a short walk to the tour pickups. It has some of the best views from your room in the area.
Clarion Hotel The Edge
- Booking.com rating: 8.6
- Cost: typically around NOK 3,530 (£258) a night
Pick this if you want the smartest central hotel and a room with a view. The Edge has 295 rooms over 12 floors on the harbour, a sky bar at the top, and it is the city’s largest conference hotel, so check for events if you want a quiet stay. The restaurants are The Social Bar and The Social Tromsø. Breakfast is included on some rates and not others, so check before you book. Family rooms come with a bunk bed. Parking is outdoor beside the hotel from NOK 40 (£3) an hour with an indoor car park 300 m away, and the gym is a free pass to Feel 24 next door.
Thon Hotel Tromsø
- Booking.com rating: 8.1
- Cost: typically around NOK 3,250 (£237) a night
Pick this if you want a reliable chain room just off the main street. Thon Hotel Polar is across the road and near identical, so book whichever has the better rate on your dates.
Radisson Blu Hotel, Tromsø
- Booking.com rating: 8.5
- Cost: typically around NOK 3,420 (£250) a night
Pick this if you have booked tours, because this is where ours picked up from and where a lot of them start. 269 rooms, two restaurants, a sauna and a gym on the 10th floor. There is no sky bar here, the one nearby is at The Edge. Breakfast is NOK 239 (£17) extra, parking is off-site at NOK 450 (£33) a day and children stay free.
The Dock 69°39 by Scandic
- Booking.com rating: 9.1
- Cost: typically around NOK 4,270 (£312) a night
Pick this if you want the newest hotel in the city. The Dock 69°39 by Scandic opened in June 2025 in Vervet, the redeveloped shipyard on the harbour, with 305 rooms over 12 floors, a rooftop bar, a restaurant on the 10th floor, a sauna and a heated rooftop running track.
If you are struggling with availability, or don’t like the look of any of these, you can find more options in Tromsø here
Staying outside the city for the northern lights
My advice in every Tromsø article is the same: spend most of your stay in the city and do a minimum of one night in the middle of nowhere. It is a very different experience and it gives you a far better chance of seeing the lights. On our two nights in town without a tour we saw nothing. From the glass hut we saw them several times without leaving the bed.
North Experience Basecamp
Booking.com rating: 9.3
This is the night out of town I would book first. The camp is at Hatteng, about 90 minutes from Tromsø, and the Aurora Hut glass igloos sleep two at about NOK 4,700 (£342) a night including meals. We booked it as a package with the coach transfer and snowmobiling, and the lights came out that night and kept coming. The transfer leaves the city late afternoon and gets you back the following evening, so it costs you an evening and most of a day, and it was still the best thing we did. What the night involves is in Day 4 of my itinerary.
Aera Glass Cabins
Booking.com rating: 9.0
Pick this if you want a glass roof closer to the city than Hatteng. Æra’s glass cabins sit about half an hour’s drive from Tromsø on the Malangsveien with open views and an aurora alarm in every cabin, and there are several cabin types, from two person glass cabins to one and two bedroom family cabins, so check which one you are booking. The operator recommends a hire car and quotes a taxi from the city at NOK 1,000 to 1,400 (£73 to £102) each way. Check current rates, they move a lot with the season.
Yggdrasil Farmhotel Retreat
Booking.com rating: 9.1
Pick this if you want a farm stay with a hot tub rather than a glass roof. Yggdrasil Farmhotel is on Kvaløya, 45 minutes from the centre, sleeps 20 in single and double rooms with the food cooked on the farm, and has a wood-fired sauna and a jacuzzi looking over the fjord. The restaurant is open 19:00 to 21:00. A private transfer from the city is NOK 1,200 (£88) for two, or regional bus 420 goes from Prostneset.
Getting from the airport to your hotel
The airport express bus takes about 15 minutes to the centre and stops outside several of the hotels above, and a daytime taxi (or Uber) is about NOK 300 (£22), more in the evening and at night. City buses 24, 40 and 42 also go in, with tickets in the Svipper app. Fares, timetables and how the buses work are in my guide to getting around Tromsø by bus.
FAQ on where to stay in Tromsø
What is the best area to stay in Tromsø for the northern lights?
Stay in the city centre and book a tour. The tours drive you out to dark skies and change location based on the forecast, which beats any fixed view from a window. If you want to watch from your own bed, you need the fjord villages on Kvaløya or a cabin further out, and that means a car or a transfer.
Is it better to stay in a hotel or an apartment in Tromsø?
Take an apartment if there are more than two of you, or if you are staying more than three nights. Tromsø has several aparthotels in the centre with proper kitchens, and cooking a few meals saves a lot in a city where eating out is costly. Take a hotel if you want breakfast and daily housekeeping.
Where do the northern lights tours pick up from?
Most of them pick up in the city centre, and the Radisson Blu is the main meeting point, with the harbour hotels all within a few minutes’ walk. If you have booked several tours, staying near the harbour saves you a cold walk in the dark twice a day. It is worth checking the pickup point before you book a hotel.
How far ahead should I book a hotel in Tromsø?
About two to three months ahead. That is where the best prices sit across the city, and leaving it later costs you a third or more at the same hotel. If you are coming in the northern lights season, book earlier still, because February is the dearest month of the year and July the cheapest.
Is Tromsø expensive to stay in?
Yes, and the month you pick matters more than the hotel you pick. A budget room in the centre is typically around NOK 1,500 to 1,800 (£110 to £130) a night, and a mid-range harbour hotel around NOK 3,000 to 3,500 (£220 to £255). The same room can cost three times more in February than in July.
Do I need a hire car to stay in Tromsø?
Not for a city stay built around tours. The pickups are in the centre, the airport bus takes about 15 minutes, and the centre is small enough to walk. You do need a car, or a paid transfer, for Æra and Yggdrasil. If you are not confident on snow and ice, book a transfer rather than hiring.
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