Trondheim...

Day 45: Friday 12th June, 2026

Aunoya to Trondheim

Duration: 7 hours

A lovely settled day with lots of blue sky and more mesmeric scenery...as we headed up Trondheimsleia...

...the sight of Agdenes Lighthouse announced the turn southeast into Trondheimsfjord...

...and as we made our way inland we passed the Hurtigruten (the 'Fast Route') ferry and strips of flatter fertile arable ground...

...and then noticed the skies getting progressively darker...with lightning in the mix...

...electronics switched off - just in case - the Captain had to do some old school steering, and happily before too long, the skies brightened once again...

...and Trondheim came into view...

...Past Mulkholmen island with its varied historical past...- a Viking execution site; then one of the first Benedictine Monastaries; then fortress and state prison; German anti-aircraft station in WW2; and now a place of summer retreat for locals and tourists alike...

...The city's marina looked very busy...so we motored on past...

...and easily found space on the finger pontoon into the main guest harbour..so tied up and hooked up, (electricity wise!) and went ashore to amble round the city...

Trondheim is Norway's third largest city, and is instantly likeable.

In the year 997 'Nidaros (Trondheim's Viking name ) was proclaimed Norway's capital, and was the epicentre for the spread of Christianity by King Olav Tryggvason. In the 11 Century the world's northernmost Gothic Cathedral was built for the royal coronations - Nidaros Cathedral...

Today Trondheim is a vibrant, colourful and dynamic city - home to NTNU, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research - it has a booming tech community and is a place of green initiatives and innovation.

The city is known for maritime, technical and not least medical research - in fact the latter resulted in a Nobel Prize when May-Britt and her husband Edvard Moser won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their brain research in 2014.

We loved its varied architecture and ecclectic cosmopolitan air- one street would feel North American, the next would transport you to a Parisian street...and then back to traditional Norway with the old wooden warehouses that sit on stilts on the Nidelva River in the Bakklandet area, with its cobbled caféd streets behind...

..We crossed the 'Portal of Happiness' (both ways just to be sure!) -the Gamle Bybro bridge which was originally built in 1681, and sits over the Nidelva River ...

...then strolled around the 'Midtown' area with its colourful shops and residential streets...

...into the leafy Hospitalslokkan area ... where the old Trondheim hospital stands which is the oldest health and social institution in Scandanavia...

...and then past odd historical landmark like the former prison which is now the Justice Museum...

...and the bronze statue of 'The Last Viking' who pays tribute to all the brave Norwegian seafarers of the past - inspired by a novel, it aims to 'immortalize the bravery, courage and resilience' of those who have braved the perilous waters of the Norwegian Sea - the seriousness of its aim somewhat weakened by the cheeky seagull shitting and sitting on his head!

..and with that, we felt it time to return to the boat, where we managed to get a pizza delivered to the pontoon and settled in for the night....