tromso museum

A bit out of town but unmissable, this museum is a short bus ride away from the city centre, and on the way you'll pass some great beaches - even if they're almost freezing. The museum's collection is very impressive and is amazingly organised, with detailed information on every aspect of life in the city and surrounding areas. The wildlife, Sami culture and religion sections were the highlights of the visit. The museum was basically empty - which made for a better visit; a perk of travelling in low season.

Interesting and engaging but not so easy to get to by public transportation. Had we known we'd have taken a taxi. The explanations for the various exhibits were not always in English or were only briefly summarized in English. After all it is Norway; I should neither expect nor want English to dominate. Still, sometimes I didn't get as much out of the exhibit because, for me, the explanation was limited.

A joyful bike away from the city center, this museum is full of wonders for you to explore the incredible Sami Culture. Artifacts, clothes and of course a very nice souvenir shop will keep your attention for at least an hour or two.

I took the city bus to/from and had no difficulty getting to the Tromso Museum. I found most of the exhibits interesting. I spent about 2 hours there and read a great deal of the information provided. It was well worth the visit.

This museum is quite a way out of town so worth getting the bus no. 37) or face quite a long walk (around 3km).The content of the museum is varied and interesting. At the top of the stairs on the first floor none of the displays are in English and this theme continued throughout half of the museum. In areas there were some laminated cards which provided some information on the displays in English and the newer exhibition areas were also translated which helped appreciate the content. The interactive displays were very good.This museum is worth a visit despite the limited English translation.

The museum is outside the city but very interesting. You can learn a lot about the saami culture and living.

Great for natural history and Sami culture. Great displays and heaps of info in a variety of languages. The displays on Sami culture were definitely the highlight. You can get a ticket that covers both of the University museums, being this one and the Polar Museum. Much cheaper than getting tickets for each place. Bus 37 will get you there.

A treasure trove! Unassuming from the outside but what a revelation once inside! Excellent scenes and displays of life in the old days and of the first Arctic explorers. Around every corner was another little staircase up to yet another interesting room! Dark room with amazing illuminated photos. Good little shop for books, DVD's etc. Don't miss it!

I enjoyed my visit, even though the museum is not very big. There are two sections: downstairs is dedicated to Biology, with a lot of info about arctic species of birds, mammals, etc. there are lots of displays with information in Norwegian and English. The upstairs section is dedicated to history and anthropology, and although there is a lot of information on the early days of humans in the region and the Sami people, the displays are very dated and look old, with very little information in English on them (although you can use a guide booklet for that - I didn't because I only found it on my way out!). Also, there is a very educational short film explaining how the Northern Lights happen, a must-see as it is one of the highlights of the region. Since the museum is quite far from the town centre, it is a long walk (specially if the streets are absolutely covered in snow). There is a bus that will take you there, and although it says "Tromsø Museum" on the display, that is not the final stop! Learn from me and don't think the bus is going to turn around at some point, as it's a circle line and it will go back into town! When you see the museum, get off, and it's a short walk from the bus stop. A nice bonus is that the admission is included in the ticket for the Polar museum, and it doesn't need to be on the same day.

At this museum, visotors can learn about the local area through a variety of ways: visual, audio and tactile.As in a lot of museums, there's a wildlife section containing stuffed animals and a local history section with plenty of artefacts. What makes this museum special, however, is its exhibition on Sami culture, which is an integral feature of Tromso itself. Visitors can learn about the Sami lifestyle past and present - from the old days of reindeer herding to the recent integration into modern Norwegian society. One of my favourite parts was the feature on the Northern Lights, with its clear, easy-to-understand explanation of what causes them, along with a video showing them at their most spectacular.The cafe is only open at weekends - I think it would be nice if it were open on weekends too!

Various displays, some more interesting than others. A few were in Norwegian and Russian, and some had English translations but the standard varied and some looked a bit dated.

We enjoyed the Norwegian wild life, 16th century religious, long house, Sami and historical exhibits, as they gave us an excellent taster of all things Norwegian.

The Tromsø Museum is actually the Tromsø University Museum. It's a good with worthwhile exhibits on Sami culture, Sami identity and Arctic fauna. Some of the other reviews complained about lack of English - it's true, some don't have English but they provided English (and German) sheets for the areas that don't have English on the walls. I think the exhibits and learning are well worth a visit. There's also a small exhibit on the Northern Lights and how they're generated. There's evening a machine where you can create your own northern lights.

Not a lot to see here. I think the Polarmuseet was a lot better in content. Was ok but just very generic. The Sami culture exhibit was good that they had on display. Just not enough content relating to the area and all the history.

The Tromsö University Museum (catch bus no. 37 from Tromsö center) has a small informative exhibition explaining the physics of the Northern Lights. The gift shop offers a large selection of Polar Light books.