Norway
Trondheim
Norway's medieval capital, built around a cathedral over a king's grave, with a student city grown up around it.
Trondheim was Norway's first capital, and the reason is still standing in the middle of it: Nidaros Cathedral, built over the grave of the king who Christianised the country and the end point of a pilgrim route that people still walk. The river loops around the old centre past rows of wooden warehouses on stilts, and a very large student population keeps a thousand-year-old town feeling young. It is compact, walkable and considerably less visited than the fjord cities.
Suggested stay
1–3 days
Language
Norwegian
Currency
NOK
Timezone
UTC+2
Why you'll love Trondheim
Nidaros a full Gothic cathedral with a carved west front, unexpected this far north, and still a pilgrimage destination
The river warehouses on wooden stilts line both banks, with the old bridge and the Bakklandet lanes behind them
Students tens of thousands of them keep the cafes, bars and cycling culture going in a small medieval city
Manageable everything worth seeing sits inside a river loop you can walk across in twenty minutes
Best time to visit
May-Sep
14-20° days
63.430° N, 10.395° E
UTC+2 · Europe/Oslo
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Weather & when to go to Trondheim
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best May-Sep
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Trondheim
Late autumn to early spring is dark, cold and often more slush than snow, and the daylight around midwinter is down to a few grey hours. Nothing closes and the city handles it well, but the riverside and the fortress hill are at their bleakest, and this is not a place with an aurora industry to make winter the point.
Top things to do in Trondheim
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Nidaros Cathedral
history 👍 PopularBuilt over the burial place of Olav Haraldsson, the country's national shrine and the northernmost medieval cathedral in Europe, with a west front covered in statues and a soapstone octagon behind the altar.
-
Bakklandet and the old town bridge
scenic 👍 PopularWooden houses in ice cream colours along narrow lanes on the far bank, reached by a red-painted bridge that locals call the portal of happiness.
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The wharves on stilts
history ⭐ Highly recommendedRows of tall timber warehouses standing in the river on wooden posts, built to load boats directly and now among the most photographed frontages in Norway.
-
Kristiansten Fortress
historyA white star fort on the hill above Bakklandet, built after the great fire to stop the Swedes taking the city again, with the whole river loop and the fjord laid out below.
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The bicycle lift
scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedA rail set into the road up the hill to the fortress that pushes cyclists to the top by the foot, the only one of its kind anywhere, and free to try if you can get the technique.
-
Munkholmen island
historyA flat islet in the fjord that has been a monastery, an execution ground, a prison and a fort, reached by a short boat hop and now mostly used for swimming.
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Stiftsgarden
historyThe royal residence in the city, and the largest wooden building in Scandinavia, a long yellow palace on the main street that still hosts the king when he visits.
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Rockheim
culture artsThe national museum of popular music, in a warehouse with a glowing box cantilevered over it, heavy on the interactive and genuinely fun even if Norwegian pop is unfamiliar.
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Ringve music museum and gardens
culture artsA collection of instruments from around the world in a manor house above the fjord, surrounded by a botanical garden that is worth the trip on its own.
-
The Ladestien coastal path
nature wildlifeA walking and cycling route round the headland north of the centre, past swimming spots, a ruined fort and views back across the fjord to the city.
Best areas to stay in Trondheim
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Midtbyen
First-time visitors $$Medieval grid inside the river loop
Explore hotels in Midtbyen →
Bakklandet
Prettiest streets $$Wooden lanes and cafes across the river
Explore hotels in Bakklandet →
Solsiden
Nightlife $$Converted shipyard, bars and terraces
Explore hotels in Solsiden →
Ila
Best value $Quiet residential edge of the centre
Explore hotels in Ila →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Trondheim
Getting to & around Trondheim
Getting there
Fly into Vaernes, with a train or airport coach into the centre in around forty minutes
Flight
Trondheim Vaernes (TRD)
Thirty-five km northeast along the fjord. Trains run from a station at the terminal into the city centre in about forty minutes, and the airport coach takes a similar time to the main hotels.
Train
Trondheim S
The line from Oslo crosses the mountains in around seven hours, and the northern line continues from here to Bodo, above the Arctic Circle
Ferry
Trondheim quay
The coastal steamer calls on its run between Bergen and the far north
Coach
Trondheim bus terminal
Long-distance buses from across central Norway and into Sweden use the terminal beside the station
Getting around
Walking
The whole old centre sits inside a river loop, and crossing it end to end takes about twenty minutes
Free
Bus
A dense network with a couple of high-frequency trunk routes, and the way out to the museums and the coastal path
TBC
Bicycle
A serious cycling city with city bikes, wide lanes and the famous lift up the fortress hill
TBC
Tram
One surviving line, claimed as the world's northernmost, running from the centre out to the forest
TBC
Ferry
Short crossings to the island in the fjord and to the communities across the water
TBC
Day trips from Trondheim
Munkholmen
Half dayFortress island
A monastery, prison and fort in one small island, with swimming off the rocks and the city skyline behind you.
Getting there
ferry
10 min by boat from the quay
Roros
Full dayWooden mining town
A copper mining town of blackened timber houses on a high plateau, preserved almost whole and inscribed by UNESCO, and bitterly cold in winter.
Getting there
train | car
2 hr 30 min by train southeast
Stiklestad
Full dayBattlefield & pilgrimage
Where Olav Haraldsson was killed in 1030, the event that made him a saint and Trondheim a pilgrimage city, now a heritage centre and open-air theatre.
Getting there
train | car
1 hr 30 min by train or car northeast
The Trondheimsfjord and Inderoy
Full dayFarmland & food route
A loop of fjord-side farms, cider makers, cheese producers and galleries on a peninsula known for its food trail.
Getting there
car
1 hr 30 min by car north
Bymarka
Half dayCity forest
The forest and lake country right behind the city, walked in the light months and skied on floodlit trails through the dark ones.
Getting there
bus | car
20 min by tram or bus west
A little history of Trondheim
Olav Tryggvason founded a settlement at the mouth of the Nid in 997, and for the next two centuries Nidaros was the capital of Norway. Its status came from a grave: Olav Haraldsson, killed at Stiklestad in 1030, was declared a saint, and the church raised over his burial place grew into Nidaros Cathedral, the greatest medieval building in Scandinavia and the end of a pilgrim route from as far as Oslo.
The Reformation ended the pilgrimage and the fires kept coming, and after the worst of them in 1681 the city was rebuilt to a new plan of very wide avenues intended as firebreaks, which is why the centre feels so open for a medieval town. Sweden held it briefly in 1658. The cathedral was restored over more than a century from 1869, Norwegian kings are still blessed in it, and the pilgrim path has been revived and walked again since the 1990s.
Olav Tryggvason founds Nidaros at the mouth of the river
Olav Haraldsson is killed at Stiklestad and is declared a saint the following year
Work begins on the cathedral over the saint's burial place
The city is ceded to Sweden and recaptured within months
After a devastating fire the city is rebuilt on a plan of wide firebreak avenues
Trondheim marks a thousand years since its founding
Know before you go
Payment
Cards everywhere
English
Everywhere
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type C / F
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+47
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
FAQs about Trondheim
▸ How many days do you need in Trondheim?
One full day covers the cathedral, the wharves and Bakklandet comfortably. Two lets you add the fortress, a museum and the coastal path, which is about the natural length of a visit.
▸ Is Trondheim worth a stop between Oslo and the north?
Yes, and it is the obvious one. It sits on the line between Oslo and Bodo, it is the last major city before the Arctic, and the cathedral alone justifies breaking the journey.
▸ Can you climb the cathedral tower?
Yes, by a narrow spiral stair in the main tower, with a view over the river loop and the fjord at the top. Access is seasonal and limited, so check on the day.
▸ What is the pilgrim route?
A network of medieval paths to Nidaros, the longest running from Oslo over the mountains and taking around a month on foot. It was revived in the 1990s and walkers arrive at the cathedral throughout the light half of the year.
▸ Is Trondheim expensive?
Norwegian expensive, but the student population takes the edge off: there are cheap eats, cheap beer in the right places and a lot of free walking, which is not true of every city in the country.
More in Norway
Bergen
A Hanseatic wharf, seven mountains and the fjord boats, all leaving from the same small harbour.
✓ best May-SepKristiansand
Norway's own summer coast: a beach in the middle of town, a wooden old quarter and a thousand skerries offshore.
✓ best May-JulLofoten (Svolvaer)
Granite peaks straight out of the sea, red fishing cabins on stilts, and a road that runs the length of it.
✓ best Jul