Botanisk Hage

Tromsø Arctic-Alpine Botanical Garden

Welcome to our unique and colourful botanical garden. The combination of rare plants from the Arctic and from mountains around the world gives it a distinctive character that cannot be found in any other botanical garden. International media and plant experts recognize the garden as one of the world's finest.

About us

In the garden you will find thousands of colourful plants from polar regions and mountains all over the world – from the Roof of the World to the northernmost lands towards the North Pole.

The plants are grown in rock crevices and boulders that have a natural cover of lichen and moss. The garden consists of 25 themed collections. Visiting international experts are particularly impressed by the garden's collections of saxifrages, gentians and primroses. The geographical exhibitions on the Arctic, the Himalayas and southernmost South America also attract great acclaim.

Local and international guests express great joy and amazement that there is such a beautiful and contrasting splendour of flora in arctic and alpine regions. In addition, the garden has a special collection of plants from old northern Norwegian gardens. Many of the species you see in the garden are not found in other botanical or private gardens.

A landscape of stone ridges and mounds has been constructed to give the garden the feel of mountainous and Arctic landscapes. The south-facing slopes receive a lot of solar heat, and alpine plants from Turkey, Lebanon, South Africa and Chile thrive here. A completely different flora thrives in the north-facing slopes, for example snow-bed plants from Svalbard. So, in just a few steps you can walk from Chile to Svalbard!

In the Svalbard collection you will find, among other plants, one of Europe's rarest species, Ranunculus wilanderi, which in the wild is known only from a single location in the world: Kapp Thordsen in Svalbard.

The garden also has one of the most impressive collections of the large-flowered species of the poppy genus Meconopsis, with the deep, blue-flowered species being a particular favourite for photography.

The flower season usually starts in the first days of May and lasts until the snow arrives in October. The garden has no gates and can be visited free of charge around the clock.

You can get highlights throughout the season through our "Highlights” newsletters, which you can find via the museum website or by following Tromsø Arctic-Alpine Botanical Garden on Facebook.

The garden has a cozy cafe which is open during the summer months, offering coffee, tea, waffles, cakes, ice cream and something to drink while you enjoy the view of the blooming garden.