HI - Tromsø Hostel

Finding the hostel can be a challenge. A tourist guide in town has the vandrerhjem nicely labeled on their map. This can be cross-referenced with another page with a bus route map. Good luck, and there is a good sign right out front. Best bet, just remember or write down to take bus #26 and get off at Åsgårdveien (ask the bus driver they know about the VH). From the airport use 40 or 42 and then use 26. It is a reasonable hike from the VH to town, but it can be walked if you need to (buses don't run on Sunday morning).

You have to buzz the receptionist to get in, and it would be bad if you arrive when reception is closed, since there isn't much to do around the hostel. It is very safe though.

Inside there are some tourist pamphlets (even some info in English). The rooms are dormitories during the school year, so all is functional (your basic hostel). A super plus, the laundry facilities are free and have plenty of soap. There is a nice guest kitchen, but no pots or pans. No food is served at the hostel, and there are no restaurants or shops next door.

The rooms are a nice size and the view is super-gorgeous. Travellers staying there are friendly, but the hostel is pretty quiet. There is a TV in the common room, and a puzzle too.

Tromsø has a lot of cool things to do. There's the Ishavskatedralen (ice cathedral), very beautiful with lovely midnight concerts. Fjellheisen is a lift to a great mountain lookout of the city. Polaria is an arctic aquarium. Tromsø is a great place to visit north of the arctic circle, home of the most northern university in the world, and good for the midnight sun in summer or northern lights in winter.

This VH isn't cheap, but nothing in Norway is, and it is one of the cheaper hostels in the country. All in all, it's worth the price.