Trondheim

Trondheim grew up where the Nidelva makes its last loop before the Trondheimsfjord, and the old centre, Midtbyen, still sits on that tongue of land with water on three sides. At its south end stands Nidaros Cathedral, built between about 1150 and 1300 over the grave of Saint Olav, the king killed at Stiklestad in 1030. For most of the Middle Ages it was the most important place of pilgrimage in Scandinavia. It's the largest cathedral in Norway, and after a fire in 1531 its nave stood roofless for more than 300 years.

Today this is a student and research city, built around NTNU, the technical university, and the research group SINTEF. In South Sámi it is Tråante. The Norwegian name comes from Old Norse Þróndheimr, home of the þrœndr, the people of Trøndelag. In 1930 the city was renamed Nidaros, but after a bitter quarrel it was Trondheim again a year later.

Local knowledge: saga tradition says Olav Tryggvason founded the town in 997, and his statue on a tall column on Torvet is the pointer of a huge sundial. The moment that shaped the centre came in 1681, when Trondheim burned almost to the ground. The king sent General Johan Caspar de Cicignon north to plan a modern fortified town with broad, straight streets. Munkegata runs dead straight from the cathedral to the harbour at Ravnkloa and points on to Munkholmen out in the fjord. In 1718 a Swedish army marched on the town, and Norwegian troops burned Bakklandet themselves so the enemy couldn't use it. The defences held, and about 3.000 Swedish soldiers died in a snowstorm on the retreat.

Born here: Erlend Loe (born 1969) wrote Naive. Super, translated into more than 30 languages. Ingrid Kristiansen (born 1956) started as a cross-country skier here and went on to hold the world records in the 5.000 metres, the 10.000 metres and the marathon at the same time.

Visiting: the pin points to the tourist information in the Trondheim Torg shopping centre on Kongens gate, open Monday to Saturday. From there walk to Gamle Bybro, the Old Town Bridge from 1861, whose red carved portals are called Lykkens portal, the gate of happiness, after a waltz about the river. Across it lies Bakklandet, the first suburb, with cobbled streets, cafés and old wharves along the water. On a rainy day there's the cathedral, or Pirbadet, Norway's largest indoor water park. Parking a camper in the centre is hard. Trondheim Parkering runs two motorhome sites, at Dora and Lade, closed in winter and booked per night in advance, and for a short stop you can use streets with parallel parking, such as Fjordgata and Bispegata.

Fact sheet

• Other official names: Tråante (South Sámi)
• People: 202.397 in Trondheim, 218.460 in Trondheim municipality
• County: Trøndelag
• Town since: 997 (founded, by saga tradition)
• Typical industries: research (SINTEF and NTNU), engineering firms and architects, the university and other education

Population on 1 January 2026, from Statistics Norway. Typical industries are the ones with a much bigger share of the jobs here than in Norway as a whole (Statistics Norway, 2025).