Sámi culture in Tromsø

In winter you can meet Sámi culture in Tromsø in two very different ways. The university museum has the country’s largest collection of Sámi objects and two permanent Sámi exhibitions, and in early February Sámi Week fills the streets with markets, concerts and reindeer racing. In between, several tours take you to reindeer herds with Sámi guides.

The Sámi exhibitions at the University Museum

The Arctic University Museum of Norway, founded in 1872 as Tromsø Museum, has the largest collection of Sámi objects in Norway. Two permanent exhibitions are dedicated to it: “Samekulturen”, about Sámi culture, and “Sápmi – en nasjon blir til”, whose title translates as “Sápmi, a nation comes into being”.

In the winter season 2026/27 the museum runs a guided tour of the Sámi exhibitions in English every Friday at 13:00, from September 2026 to May 2027. The museum stands in Folkeparken at the southern end of the island, about 2.5 kilometres from the centre. Bus 40 stops outside at “Tromsø Museum”. In winter it is open Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 16:30 and at weekends from 11:00 to 16:00, and visitors under 18 get in free. More on the museum and its neighbours is on our page about sights and museums.

Sámi Week and the reindeer race

Sámi Week (Samisk uke) is held every year around Sámi National Day on 6 February. In 2027 it runs from 31 January to 7 February. The Midnight Sun Marathon Foundation has organised it since 2004, with lectures, concerts, lasso throwing and a traditional market, and Visit Tromsø mentions a varied cultural programme around the city.

The week ends with the Norwegian championship in reindeer racing, which draws thousands of spectators into the city centre. In 2026 the reindeer raced head to head in heats and then a final, on a 201-metre sprint course along one of the main streets. The exact day and street for 2027 were not published when we checked, so look at the programme before you travel. On National Day in 2025, the University Museum hosted an evening celebration. Our events calendar lists the other winter festivals.

A Sámi Christmas market

Among the small Christmas markets in November and December there is a Sámi one. In 2025, Juovlamárkanat Romssas took place at Bankhjørnet Rødbanken on 28 and 29 November. The dates for 2026 had not been announced in October. See our Christmas in Tromsø page for the other markets.

Bidus and reindeer on the menu

Reindeer meat is the starting point for many traditional Sámi dishes, and bidus (also written bidos) is one of the best known. It is a soup of carrots, potatoes and reindeer meat that is cooked for a long time, typically served at Sámi weddings and other celebrations. You can taste it on some of the tours below: the evening reindeer trip includes a three-course dinner built around bidos, and the ice-fishing tour on Ramfjord offers bidos or fish for lunch. Our page on food and drink covers the rest of the northern Norwegian kitchen.

Reindeer camps with Sámi guides

The reindeer tours differ in what they put first. At one camp a Sámi guide introduces a herd of around 300 reindeer, and you choose a 10 or 20 minute sled ride when booking. The same operator offers a visit with feeding, talk about Sámi life and lunch but no sled ride. For an evening out of town, a trip to a Sámi camp in the Tamok valley combines storytelling, reindeer feeding and a hot meal, with about 90 minutes on the bus each way.

If you would rather stay in town, a Sámi culture bearer leads a 2.5-hour walk through the centre that mixes the history of Tromsø with Sámi mythology. It starts outside Storgata 95.

Every reindeer tour from Tromsø, with sled times and camp locations, is compared on tromso-reindeer.com.

A lavvo by the harbour

One more place shows how Sámi tradition turns up in modern Tromsø. Pust, the floating sauna in the historic harbour, has a Lavvo Sauna inspired by the traditional Sámi lavvo. It is open every day of the year from 06:00 to 23:00, and you need swimwear and two towels.