Pete

I want to visit the Arctic Circle, or north of it. I want to do it just to
do it. Rovaniemi would do, but I'm too old for Santa Claus' village.
What about Tromsø? It is a small town, but is it a fun place to visit?
(I'm too old for college bars, too) What would be a comparable
town in Sweden? I intend to visit the Arctic Circle in the summer,
by the way. Probably this town must have an airport nearby, as I
will almost certainly fly from Copenhagen/Oslo/Stockholm/Helsinki.
With your suggestion, please add comments on activities and sights
to see.

Pete

Henry

Pete <> wrote:

    > I want to visit the Arctic Circle, or north of it. I want to do it just to
    > do it. Rovaniemi would do...

If you're doing it just to do it, why not take a few days and go all the
way...to Nordkapp--'the End of the World' (well, the end of Europe,
anyway). Fly into Rovaniemi and hire a car. (Or, you could fly even
closer, to Ivalo, but I'm not sure about the car options there.) From
Rovaniemi to Nordkapp is a day and a half of leisurely driving, through
the haunting emptiness of the northern tundra.

The Midnight Sun shines at Nordkapp from mid-May to the end of July, but
the earlier you go, the better, because it is a popular tourist
destination and there are crowds in the high summer. We were there the
first week in June and neither swarm--human or mosquito--had yet
arrived.

cheers,

Henry

Mpprh

Hi

One way is to fly to Lulea, then rent a car and drive to the North
Cape.

Peter

Phil

Pete wrote:
    > I want to visit the Arctic Circle, or north of it. I want to do it just to
    > do it. Rovaniemi would do, but I'm too old for Santa Claus' village.
    > What about Tromsø? It is a small town, but is it a fun place to visit?
    > (I'm too old for college bars, too) What would be a comparable
    > town in Sweden? I intend to visit the Arctic Circle in the summer,
    > by the way. Probably this town must have an airport nearby, as I
    > will almost certainly fly from Copenhagen/Oslo/Stockholm/Helsinki.
    > With your suggestion, please add comments on activities and sights
    > to see.
    >
    > Pete
    >
    >

I was in Tromsø three years ago and loved it. It is a university town
and the home of Norwegian stand-up comedy. The people were incredibly
friendly and all seemed to speak English fluently. They also follow
English football, particularly Manchester United which was a bit of a
surprise.

The place has an air of fun about it. I can only think this is because
it takes a rather extraordinary sort of person to choose to live in the
Arctic. I spoke to a number of people who had travelled extensivly and
lived and worked all over the world, that had all decided that Tromsø
was best.

There is also a chance of seeing the Northern Lights and, at some times
of year, ski.

It is however extraordinarily expensive, the prices will have your
eyebrows in your hair. I seem to remember £7 for a packet of cigarettes.

Phil

A.Spencer3

Phil <> wrote in message
news:405fe513@212.67.96.135...
    > I seem to remember £7 for a packet of cigarettes.

Well, they're now close to £5 in UK :-((
And when I was last in Jordan, the *same* pack was 40p :-))

Surreyman

Tim Challenger

On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 07:19:46 +0000, Phil wrote:

    > Pete wrote:
    >> I want to visit the Arctic Circle, or north of it. I want to do it just to
    >> do it. Rovaniemi would do, but I'm too old for Santa Claus' village.
    >> What about Tromsø? It is a small town, but is it a fun place to visit?
    >> (I'm too old for college bars, too) ....
    >>
    >
    > I was in Tromsø three years ago and loved it. It is a university town
    > and the home of Norwegian stand-up comedy. The people were incredibly
    > friendly and all seemed to speak English fluently. ....

I was in Tromsø back in the late 80s, and that about sums up how I remember
it as well. Lively, and very freindly. Hire a car and drive around the
fjørds and do a bit of fishing or walking. Lovely.
When you get poured out of the bars it'll still be light. Very
disconcerting.
Not much chance of seeing the northern lights in summer though, I think.

There is an airport in Tromsø - also used by the military - so no photos
on landing and take-off.

Markku Grönroos

"Phil" <> wrote in message
news:405fe513@212.67.96.135...
    > Pete wrote:
    > It is however extraordinarily expensive, the prices will have your
    > eyebrows in your hair. I seem to remember £7 for a packet of cigarettes.
A pack [of cigarettes] costs 2.5 euros in Spain, 2.85 in Luxembourg, 3.7
euros in Belgium and more than 7 euros in the UK and Norway. This piece of
information is derived from a BBC article dated on 5th January 2004. As a
non-smoker I suppose this is a sort of medium price for packs holding the
same number of cigarettes.

Bjorn Olsson

"Pete" <> wrote in message news:<FLO7c.34696$%>...
    > I want to visit the Arctic Circle, or north of it. I want to do it just to
    > do it. Rovaniemi would do, but I'm too old for Santa Claus' village.
    > What about Tromsø? It is a small town, but is it a fun place to visit?
    > (I'm too old for college bars, too) What would be a comparable
    > town in Sweden?

There isn´t really any. The only town above the circle is Kiruna, but
I think you´ll have more fun in Tromsø. Of course, this also depends
on what amuses you, for instance if you prefer college bars or iron
ore mines.

I guess Lulea offers some fun, good beaches (I´m not joking) and a
busy (by arctic standards) airport, but it is located slightly below
the circle, unfortunately.

Bjorn

Bill Moore

In article <FLO7c.34696$%>,
Pete <> wrote:
    >I want to visit the Arctic Circle, or north of it. I want to do it just to
    >do it. Rovaniemi would do, but I'm too old for Santa Claus' village.

Whoa. There really is a Santa Claus at the North Pole?
Blow my mind ;-)


    >What about Tromsø? It is a small town, but is it a fun place to visit?
    >(I'm too old for college bars, too) What would be a comparable
    >town in Sweden? I intend to visit the Arctic Circle in the summer,
    >by the way. Probably this town must have an airport nearby, as I
    >will almost certainly fly from Copenhagen/Oslo/Stockholm/Helsinki.
    >With your suggestion, please add comments on activities and sights
    >to see.
    >Pete

Frank F. Matthews

You can fly in & out of Kirkeness pretty easily. Or you might fly to
Kirkeness & take the boat along the coast. The boat has an easy day
trip to NordKappe. For that you need to go in June or later. The trips
in late May can be chancy. FFM

Pete wrote:

    > I want to visit the Arctic Circle, or north of it. I want to do it just to
    > do it. Rovaniemi would do, but I'm too old for Santa Claus' village.
    > What about Tromsø? It is a small town, but is it a fun place to visit?
    > (I'm too old for college bars, too) What would be a comparable
    > town in Sweden? I intend to visit the Arctic Circle in the summer,
    > by the way. Probably this town must have an airport nearby, as I
    > will almost certainly fly from Copenhagen/Oslo/Stockholm/Helsinki.
    > With your suggestion, please add comments on activities and sights
    > to see.
    >
    > Pete
    >
    >