The polar night in Tromsø

Visit Tromsø describes the polar night as lasting approximately from 27 November to 15 January. For the 2026/27 season the sunrise data from MET Norway and the US Naval Observatory agree on the exact days. The last sunrise is on 27 November 2026, when the sun shows itself for twenty minutes, from 11:21 to 11:41. From 28 November to 14 January it does not rise at all. The first sunrise of the new year comes on 15 January 2027, from 11:35 to 12:12.

The word “night” is misleading, though. At noon on the shortest day the sun is only about three degrees below the horizon. Around midday there are a few hours of twilight. What changes is the colour of that light, and how early in the afternoon it fades.

What a day looks like

Visit Tromsø puts it simply: even though the sun does not rise during this period, it never gets completely dark here during the daytime. The brightest part of it is civil twilight, the time when the centre of the sun is no more than six degrees below the horizon. On 15 December 2026 civil twilight in Tromsø lasts from 09:25 to 13:54. On 21 December, the shortest day of the year, it runs from 09:31 to 13:53, so you still get about four hours and twenty minutes of soft light.

Outside that window the sky darkens towards night. The town does not go quiet, however. From mid-November the streets carry Christmas lights, and on the first Sunday of Advent the big Christmas tree in the centre is switched on. In 2027 the Polar Night Half Marathon starts on 9 January, and Visit Tromsø describes it as a race in the blue Arctic light that comes before the sun returns.

Pink, purple and deep blue

Visit Tromsø writes about tones of pink and blue across the winter sky in the middle of the day, and on its winter page about a sky shifting between soft pink and purple and deep blue hues.

The Arctic Cathedral in Tromsdalen is worth seeing in this season for a different reason. Store norske leksikon notes that in the dark period the light from inside the church shines out through the building, so the triangle of concrete plates on the far side of the bridge glows from within on dark winter days.

The weather can change quickly in the Tromsø region. A trip that starts in calm, clear conditions may look very different a few hours later, so check the forecast on yr.no on the morning of any outing.

The sun comes back, but not to the city centre at once

From mid-January the sun rises again, but the mountains around Tromsøya keep it out of the centre for a while. Visit Tromsø says it is usually not visible from central Tromsø until later in January. The town has picked 21 January as the day the sun is back, and marks it with “solboller”, sweet sun buns, and cocoa. On that day in 2027 the sun is above a flat horizon from 10:30 to 13:21.

The university in Tromsø has a tip for seeing the first sunlight: go to Telegrafbukta at the southern tip of Tromsøya between 11:00 and 12:30. City bus 33 stops at Telegrafbukta, an outdoor area with a sandy beach and coastal paths.

How to plan tours around the twilight

The rule for December and early January is simple: put the daylight trips in the middle of the day and keep the evenings for the northern lights. A fjord drive that leaves around nine and returns in the early afternoon catches the whole twilight window. One that leaves at noon spends its second half in the dark.

Driving yourself is possible, but Visit Tromsø recommends public transport or organised tours with transport included in winter, because icy roads carry a high level of risk. Grøtfjord on the outer coast of Kvaløya, one of the stops on the Kvaløya trip below, is about 36 kilometres from the centre, roughly 45 minutes by car. On some guided trips the guide chooses the photo stops by the light on the day.

A fjord cruise during the twilight hours shows you the same light from the water. The sightseeing catamarans of Brim and Rødne do not sail in these weeks, but the Arctic Princess below had departures on almost every day in December and January when we checked its booking calendar in October 2026. Calendars can change, so check the start time for your date. For a view from above, the Fjellheisen cable car takes four minutes from the lower station at 50 metres to Storsteinen at 421 metres. It runs every full and half hour from 09:00 until midnight, so you can go up while the sky is still blue and stay into the evening. Strong wind can stop the cable car at short notice, so check its website on the day.

For more boat trips into the fjords, see tromsofjordcruises.com.

Northern lights on the same day

The polar night is part of the northern lights season, which Visit Tromsø gives as late August to early April. The lights can appear at any time during the night and are often most active between about 20:00 and 02:00. With darkness falling soon after two in the afternoon, a day in December can hold a fjord trip in the blue twilight and an aurora tour after dinner. Visit Tromsø says that here you often get both on the same day. Our page on the northern lights in Tromsø covers clouds, forecasts and where to look.

To compare guided aurora trips from Tromsø, visit northern-lights-tromso.com.

Temperature and clothing

Statistically, February is the coldest month in town, not the polar night. The long-term average at the MET Norway station in Tromsø is −1.7 °C in December and −3.0 °C in January (1991–2020), and −3.3 °C in February. Temperatures vary between the city, the coast and inland areas, and Visit Tromsø advises preparing for anything from −25 °C to +5 °C on excursions. Our guide to what to wear in Tromsø lists the layers that work, and the month-by-month overview shows how quickly the light returns after January.