Polaria

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Polaria is a Science Museum and Zoo at Hjalmar Johansens gate 12, 9007 Tromsø, Norway

Polaria is an Arctic experience centre and aquarium on the Tromsø waterfront, in northern Norway. You will spot the building before you reach it. Its design is famously odd, a row of great tilted panels leaning against one another like ice floes shoved up onto the shore by the sea. Inside, the star attractions are the bearded seals, fed and trained in a large tank that visitors can watch through underwater windows, alongside cold-water aquariums of fish and other creatures from the Barents Sea. Exhibits explain the ecology of the Arctic and the challenges facing it, and a panoramic cinema screens sweeping films of Svalbard and the northern landscape, the aurora among them. It is very much an indoor attraction, a warm and family-friendly stop for a cold or rainy day. Displays here set the scene nicely for the real Arctic waiting outside.

WebsitePhone: +47 77 75 01 00

Where to find Polaria?

69°38'37"N, 18°56'57"E

Aurora hunting in Tromsø?

The aurora season here runs from September to March, with the best chances of seeing the Northern Lights in September, October, February and March. Polaria makes for a great daytime activity while you wait for darkness and the aurora.

What do people think of Polaria?

  • 4.4

  • Seal show is worth seeing. It's better to find a good spot 5 mins before it starts. Especially if you want to take pics:)

    Victoria V14 March 2013

  • Feeding the animals is a wonderful experience!!!

    SELMA B28 December 2010

  • Really small but otherwise good to pop in and learn something if it’s snowing hard outside. Well-stocked souvenir shop.

    Yarn L11 February 2019

  • I was the Mayor more than 1 year ! Wonderful place but don't try the cookies recipe, i did and they weren't pretty good ;-)

    Benoît30 June 2012

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