And now the journey begins. After much anticipation, it finally began on
December 28th, 2024
in Düsseldorf. Eurowings offers a direct flight from Düsseldorf to Tromsø. Here is our plane at the gate at Düsseldorf Airport:
The flight lasted just over 3 hours and took off with a slight delay shortly after 15:00. The flight itself was pleasant. At around 18:00 we could see the lights of Tromsø as we approached.
At the airport, we picked up our previously booked rental car, a Toyota RAV4 hybrid 4x4 from Hertz, and drove with it to our centrally located hotel “Quality Hotel Saga Tromsø”.
Our rental car was equipped with spiked winter tires and its four-wheel drive made driving very easy and safe despite the icy roads. Although snow plows are in action practically non-stop in Tromsø and the surrounding area, the roads were covered with a layer of ice almost everywhere due to the frequent snowfall. It is therefore highly recommended that you choose a four-wheel drive rental car.
The Quality Saga Hotel is centrally located in the city center of Tromsø. We had very nice rooms on the top 7th floor with a wide view of the city, which is illuminated around the clock during the polar night. The hotel also has an underground parking garage, the breakfast buffet was exceptionally rich and should be highly recommended.
After we had “installed” ourselves in our rooms, we walked around Tromsø a bit and in search of a location for our dinner we ended up at the Blå Rock Café, a very cool place. We finished off the evening with delicious burgers, salad, beer and wine.
On the way back to the hotel, we passed the harbor and enjoyed the view of Tromsø’s landmark mountain Storsteinen. The bright building at the top is the mountain station of the Fjellheisen cable car, from where we planned to watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks. You can also see the famous Arctic Cathedral on the far left of the picture.
Then the long day came to an end and we fell into bed tired.