Our trip to Tromsø — Day 5
On our fifth day, we had booked a dog sled ride, departing at 8:45 from the hotel area in Tromsø. We would have preferred the tour departing one hour later (9:45), but this was already completely booked by the time we started planning our trip in January.
We had booked with Tromsø Villmarkssenter, where they offer a variety of activities, including Northern Lights Camp Stays, Hiking, Snowshoe trips, and Dog sledding, which we had booked.
Dog sled ride (and lunch)
Upon arrival at the Tromsø Villmarkssenter, we were given a quick introduction to the site (e.g. where to find bathrooms, and off-limits areas) and an overview of the plan. Next, we went to the shop at the site, where thermal suits were handed out. Although we had dressed in many layers, we opted to wear thermal suits as well since we figured we would likely get quite cold sitting down for the dog sled ride with a duration of around 45 minutes. Some of us ended up getting too warm, but it was really easy to zip down the thermal suit during the ride to let in some cold air, allowing for easy temperature regulation. Adjoining the shop, there was a room with space for putting on the thermal suit and leaving bags, since bags and other loose items could not be brought on the dog sled ride.
When everyone was done putting on the their thermal suit, we gathered outside, paired up for the sled ride, and met the musher (driver of the dog sled) for each of our sleds. We had booked the ride driven by a guide, not the self-driven version. It was a bit of a challenge for us to find guide-driven dog sled rides. Since we had younger kids with us, we wanted to be on the safe side and not rely on ourselves learning to drive a sled and be able to drive it for 45 minutes.
Once everyone was settled in their sleds, all dog’s leashes untangled, and all the sleds neatly lined up, we sped off. While not scary-fast at all, the dog sled ride was substantially faster than the reindeer sleigh ride we had been on the previous day. The higher speed made the ride more fun, and the dogs were quite a lot more energetic than the reindeer with evident distinct personalities. Two of the dogs pulling our sled interacted with each other a lot, while others were more quiet. At one point, during a sharp turn, our sled tipped on it’s side. The musher driving our sled was very quick to check on us (nothing at all happened, except for a few extra laughs), and get us going again. Throughout the ride, we enjoyed watching the fascinating views and lively dogs. About half-way through the ride, all the sleds stopped for a picture taking opportunity. The mushers offered to take pictures for us, and we got a lot of really nice photos of the dogs pulling our sled and ourselves. We then continued on, enjoying the last half of the ride.
During the photo-stop, some of us were curious to see how bright it really was, and took of our ski goggles. This made it obvious why the instructions for what to bring for the ride include ski goggles, as our eyes quickly got sore from the sun’s brightness and reflections from the snow and ice everywhere.
After the sled ride, some time was planned for us visitors to learn about and meet the dogs. Our group gathered, and our guide described how they make sure the dogs are well cared for, and interesting details about the breed. We were happy to hear that they have an adoption program so that older dogs, that no longer enjoy running, can be adopted, and how they follow up on the adoption to check that adopted dogs are doing well.
After meeting the dogs, there was a bit of time before we were supposed to meet for lunch. To much enjoyment for both kids and adults, large plastic-coated mats were available for sledding down a small hill nearby. We, and a few other families, had a lot of fun sledding down the hill.
Lunch
Lunch was served in a Sami-style hut, which was really warm, so it was easy to warm up after having been outside for the past hours. We had the traditional Sami stew based on reindeer meat, Bidos, that we had also enjoyed the previous day on our visit to a Sami camp. Hot drinks, with choices of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate were served with the food, and refills offered several times. To finish off, a delicious chocolate cake was served.
After lunch, everyone got back on the bus for the return trip to Tromsø.
Dinner at Huken Brygg
Same as the other days, finding a place to have dinner turned out to be difficult since a lot of restaurants were closed due to Easter. We ended up going to Huken Brygg, which had a lot of good reviews on TripAdvisor. There was a ground and an upper floor. After ordering at the bar on the ground floor, we took our drinks and went upstairs to the upper floor, which had a really special, a bit old-fashioned, atmosphere. The lighting was quite dim, and the furniture in a baroque-like style, with no two chairs or tables the same. All the tables were big, heavy, and made of wood and the upholstered chairs were all different colors, from dusty pink to forest green. We really enjoyed the atmosphere and looking at the decorations while we waited for the food.
Unfortunately, the wait for the food was quite long. And when the food finally arrived, only one of the dishes was warm. The three other dishes were cold to the point that the fries were room temperature and not at all crispy.
This is probably a good place to hang out with friends and sip drinks, but we would not go there for food again.
Summary
The dog sled ride and visit to the Tromsø Villmarkssenter was a really great experience, and all the staff and guides were very welcoming and helpful and clearly enjoyed being there, taking care of the dogs, and giving tourists like ourselves a glimpse of life in the arctic in close connection with nature.
You might also be interested in going to the post giving an overview of our trip to Tromsø, which also includes links to more details of each day we were there.
