Perhaps if we’d been a bit more certain with regards to footing in the snowy and icy conditions – and we’re never very certain as we’ve got a history of foot and leg-related injuries over the years – then we’d have tried to explore more of Tromsø instead of simply hitting the northernmost aquarium in the world then stopping for drinks from the northernmost brewery in the world (with some lovely scenic views along the waterfront and some great sculptural artworks too), but we’ll be back to this city a couple more times over the next few years so plenty of time to rectify that. And, in further defence of our decision-making, not everything is open in the winter months anyway. Who’d have thought?
So, after our lovely time crunching through snow, throwing the odd snowball (it’s the law), and finishing our time determining that Tromsø does beer well, we made our way carefully back towards where we’d need to jump on the shuttle bus back to the ship about four kilometres away. Four kilometres doesn’t sound like much but we knew from the trip out that it wouldn’t be the nicest of walks even in good weather, and the state of the pavements along the roads in winter outside the city centre didn’t encourage trying it either.
You’ll know from my previous two posts on our time in Tromsø – I’m pretending you’ve read them – and from our Travel Achievements page – I’m pretending you’ve had a good look around the site’s menu and all the different pages and navigational aids I’ve put in to help people looking for travel write-ups – that we like to spot things that are the most or least or smallest or biggest, etc., when travelling. Passing Tromsø Cathedral on our way to the bus, it was nice to note that this 19th century cathedral, in addition to being the only wooden Protestant cathedral in Norway, is regarded as the northernmost Protestant cathedral in the world. We’ll hopefully get to see inside it on a future trip to this part of the world, and it would be nice to check out the interior of the nearby Arctic Cathedral too to compare the architectural styles.
There was a memorial stone opposite the cathedral and outside the gift shop, dedicated to Richard With, born in the city and, in cruising-related news, the founder of Hurtigruten. They’re a line we’d be very interested in cruising with if we could just sort out inheriting vast amounts of money from a rich relative first.
A short walk around the corner and we found a bus already waiting to go, hopped aboard, and in very short order were back at the cruise port north of Tromsø city centre. A quick freshen up later and we decided to head up to the Observatory to start with for the lovely views of the surrounding area and a Kir Royale each as there was a little bit of time yet before we were due to sail away. We’d not left it to the last bus back because travel anxiety is real.
As the time for Ambience came to depart Tromsø I first made a circuit around the top deck for some views before heading down to our room and our balcony for more sailaway shots. I bumped into a couple of crew members on the top deck who were photographing the landscapes too plus each other, and I asked if I could grab one of them as well. Ambassador make a point of saying their crew are the friendliest at sea and we saw no evidence to counter this on this cruise.
The evening aboard Ambience mostly followed the usual pattern of trivia, music, food, and drink, culminating in a return to the Observatory late on for the disco.
While we were in the Observatory someone mentioned that the Northern Lights had become visible. We weren’t dressed for the cold temperature so only ducked out briefly, and we only had our mobile phones on us, but very faint aurorae could be seen with the naked eye and there’s some dodgy photography to prove it below. We’ve been lucky enough to have seen the Northern Lights many times now, with nothing getting close to the very first time we spotted them on a weekend break in Iceland in 2015. We always enjoy seeing them, though.
In the next post in this 2025 Arctic Circle cruise on Ambassador Ambience we reach the northernmost point of the cruise when we head off on a trip to visit the ice hotel in Alta.