The Fjellheisen cable car in winter

Fjellheisen was built in 1961 by the shipping company Brødrene Jakobsens Rederi and opened on 22 February that year. The lower station stands at 50 metres above sea level in Tromsdalen, on the mainland. The upper station, Fjellstua on the Storsteinen ledge, is at 421 metres. In April 2016 the cable car reopened with new gondolas and new machinery, and today each cabin carries up to 28 people along a 752-metre cable. The ride takes about four minutes.

Opening hours and wind

The gondola runs every day from 09:00 to midnight, with departures every full and half hour. The café at the top is open from 09:00 to 23:30. The operator publishes no separate winter timetable. Visit Tromsø warns that the cable car may close at short notice in strong wind or difficult conditions. Check the Fjellheisen website on the day, and leave room in your plans for a second try.

Building works at the lower station

Fjellheisen is being rebuilt as “Nye Fjellheisen”, and the cable car stays open during the work. Two things change for visitors. There is currently no parking at the lower station, so drivers have to use a car park at Solstrandvegen 30, about five minutes away on foot. And for the duration of the construction, the operator can no longer offer wheelchair access. No end date for the works has been published.

Getting to the lower station

The lower station is at Solliveien 12 in Tromsdalen, across the sound from the city centre. You have three options.

• Take city bus 26 from Torgsenteret and get off at the stop “Fjellheisen”. Buses take no cash, so pay in the Svipper app or by Visa or Mastercard on board.
• Walk. Fjellheisen gives the walk from the centre as about 45 minutes. Visit Tromsø splits it into about 20 minutes across the bridge to the Arctic Cathedral and another 15 minutes to the lower station, so plan 30–45 minutes depending on your pace and the ice.
• Take a taxi, which Fjellheisen puts at about 10 minutes from the centre.

The Tromsø Bridge is closed to ordinary car traffic until November 2026, but pedestrians and cyclists can cross it at all times. If you walk, the Arctic Cathedral is on the way and makes an easy combined visit.

The Sherpa Stairs in winter

In summer you can climb instead of riding. The Sherpa Stairs (Sherpatrappa) have more than 1,200 stone steps up to Storsteinen and were built by Sherpas from the Khumbu region of Nepal. Visit Tromsø gives at least 40–60 minutes for the climb in the snow-free season, usually from late spring until autumn. In winter the stairs are not officially closed, but Visit Tromsø does not recommend them when they are covered by snow or ice, since the steep steps become very slippery and parts disappear under the snow. Its advice is to take Fjellheisen instead.

Daylight or dark

When you go up decides what you see. During the polar night, from about 27 November to 15 January, the sun stays below the horizon, but Visit Tromsø points out that it never gets completely dark during the day. On 21 December, the shortest day, civil twilight lasts from 09:31 to 13:53, and the sky around midday often turns pink and blue. If you want to see the landscape rather than the city lights, ride up in that window. By 1 March the sun is up from 07:11 to 16:43, which leaves plenty of time for a daylight visit.

After dark you look down on the lit bridge and the streets of Tromsøya. Since the cabins run until midnight, you can do both on the same day with the return ticket in the list below, which is valid all day.

Northern lights from the top

Fjellheisen promotes itself as the best place in Tromsø to see the northern lights. According to the operator you can see them from September to April when it is dark and clear, most often between 18:00 and 02:00. The last cabin runs at midnight, so a clear evening gives you several hours at the top. For tours that drive away from the lights altogether, see our guide to the northern lights.

If the sky over the city is cloudy, the guided chases on northern-lights-tromso.com drive to wherever it is clearer.

Snowshoes and New Year’s Eve

Fjellheisen also runs a guided three-hour tour at the top, of which about one hour is spent on snowshoes along the snow-covered trails.

Longer snowshoe hikes outside the city are compared on tromsosnowshoe.com.

On 31 December, Visit Tromsø suggests watching the fireworks from the cable car. We found no official fireworks programme for 2026 yet, so look at the Fjellheisen website for opening times that night.