Hotels in Trondheim, Norway

A little about Trondheim...

Trondheim is a city and municipality in the county of Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. The city of Trondheim was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipalities of Byneset, Leinstrand, Strinda and Tiller were merged with Trondheim on January 1, 1964.

Although the region had been inhabited for thousands of years, the city of Trondheim was founded in 997. It was frequently used as the seat of the king, and was capital of Norway until 1217. In the Middle Ages, Trondheim was the site of several battles, including the battle between King Sverre and Erling Skakke, in 1179. The city has experienced several major fires - the most devastating in 1651 and 1681. The 1651 fire destroyed 90% of the buildings in Trondheim, and the 1681 fire led to a total reconstruction of the city.

Trondheim is a Norwegian center of education, technical and medical research with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and SINTEF located in the city. NTNU has about 25,000 students. With 161,730 inhabitants (as of 2006), Trondheim is Norway's third largest municipality, as well as the centre of the fourth largest urban area, with a population of approximately 152,800. As of 2006, the Trondheim Region, a statistical metropolitan area, has a population of 246,751.

Trondheim is home to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet, NTNU) with its 20,000 students, as well as Sør-Trøndelag University College (Høgskolen i Sør-Trøndelag, HiST) with 6,000 registered students. Both NTNU and HiST receive thousands of students from all over the country, which means that the actual population of the city is somewhat higher than the official number.

Transportation: Trondheim Airport, Værnes, situated in Stjørdal, is Norway's fourth largest airport in terms of passenger traffic. In 2006, the airport had 3,167,816 passengers. Scheduled domestic flights are offered by four airlines to 16 destinations, while four operators offer nine international destinations.

Major railway connections are the northbound Nordlandsbanen (to Mo i Rana 1942, Fauske 1958, Bodø 1962), the eastbound Meråkerbanen (opened 1882) to Sweden via Storlien, and two southbound connections to Oslo, Rørosbanen (opened 1877) and Dovrebanen (opened 1921).

The Coastal Express ships (Hurtigruten: Covering the Bergen–Kirkenes stretch of the coast) call at Trondheim, as do many cruise ships during the summer season. Since 1994 there is also a fast commuter boat service to Kristiansund, the closest coastal city to the south.

Trondheim also boasts the northernmost tramway line in the world: the Gråkallbanen, the last remaining bit of the Trondheim Tramway is an 8.8 km (5.5 mi) single-track route which runs from the city centre, through the Byåsen district, and up to Lian, in the large recreation area Bymarka. Trondheim boasts the world's only bicycle lift, Trampe.

The bus network, operated by Team Trafikk, runs throughout most of the city and its suburbs. Bus service starts at about 05:00 and the latest service is around midnight. In addition, the Nattbuss (Night Bus) service ensures cheap and effective transportation for those enjoying nightlife in the city centre during the weekends. E6 passes through Trondheim.

Sports and recreation:
Trondheim is the home town of football team Rosenborg Ballklub (colloquially known as RBK), a successful team nationally as well as internationally playing in the UEFA Champions League for the 11th time in 2007. The team's name, and initially most of its players, came from an east-end borough.

The city is also known for its active winter sports scene, with cross-country skiing tracks in Bymarka and a ski jumping arena in Granåsen, as well as nearby alpine skiing facilities at Vassfjellet. Trondheim hosted the 1997 Nordic skiing World Championships, held World Cup ski sprint races in the city centre in February 2004, and hosted the 2006 National Biathlon Championships. In March 2007, Trondheim lost the bid to Tromsø to be the Norwegian candidate in the contest to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Trekking and cross-country skiing are popular among Norwegians. In Trondheim, people often go to the hills surrounding the city - Bymarka in the west and Estenstadmarka in the east - to engage in these activities. Many kilometers of prepared skiing tracks are available during the winter, as are a few establishments serving food and beverages in the middle of the forested skiing areas.

Mountain hiking is also popular, and several mountain ranges are within short distance from the city. Trollheimen is located to the southwest, Dovrefjell to the south and Sylane to the east. There is an 9-hole Golf course bordering Bymarka, Trondheim Golfklubb, and an 18 hole course at nearby Byneset.

Salmon fishing is a popular activity. The record in Nidelva is 31.8 kg. Gaula, one of the best salmon rivers in Europe, empties into Gaulosen at Leinstrand in Trondheim municipality, south of the city center.