Arctic experience in Tromsø

Its corona of snow-topped peaks provides arresting scenery, excellent hiking in summer, great skiing and dogsledding in winter.

Although the city lies almost 400km north of the Arctic Circle, its climate is pleasantly moderated by the Gulf Stream. The Polarnight season is offset by round-the-clock activity during the perpetually bright sunny days of summer.

The main part of city stretches along the east shore of the island of Tromsøya, linked to the mainland by a gracefully arched bridge.

With that being said, the PolarNight Marathon is the race to do!!

PolarNight Marathon is an annual running competition that has been organized since 2004 in Tromsø, Norway. It takes place in the beginning of January, during the Polar night-period, when the sun does not rise above the horizon. It is renowned for its torch-lit route and the chance of running underneath the Aurora Borealis.

You can choose between 42km, 21km, 10km and 5km. The marathon is not the race for beginners since you have to prove that you have done the distance less the 4 hours the last two years to sign up.

If you’re looking for that wild and unique challenge for your bucket list, this is it!! Runners from all over the world have discovered the Arctic and the city of Tromsø where Aurora Borealis is often up in the sky from September to end of March.

This year on the 4th January nearly two thousand runners had their first race for the 2025. Runners from over fifty countries took part in one of four distances during the PolarNight Marathon.

The weather in January can be unpredictable and the running conditions can be very hard with snow- and ice-covered roads. During the race the running conditions were the very best you could dream of in winter. With –10º Celsius and nice clear sky you could enjoy running. Many runners choose to run with spikes to avoid slipping on the ice.