The websites that deliver bouquets north of the Arctic Circle.
Site listing
Tromsø, with around 78,000 inhabitants, is the largest city in northern Norway and lies some 350 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. Nicknamed the Gateway to the Arctic, it is a genuine university and port city rather than an outpost: it is home to the northernmost university in the world, a regional hospital, a nineteenth-century wooden cathedral and the well-known Arctic Cathedral across the bridge.
The heart of the city sits on the island of Tromsøya. Storgata, the main pedestrian street, runs through the centre; around it lie the island's residential areas, with Kroken and Tromsdalen on the mainland across the Tromsø bridge, and Kvaløysletta on the island of Kvaløya to the west, reached by the Sandnessund bridge. All three are part of the municipality but require a bridge crossing: enter the exact postal code, which determines whether the address falls into the day's round.
This is the thing to understand before ordering: the further north you go, the more delivery depends on having a partner florist on the spot. Tromsø has them, which is not true of every locality in Nordland and Troms. Sites that ship by post from continental Europe, on the other hand, add an extra leg here, and a lead time quoted for "Norway" does not always hold for the far north. Before confirming, enter the recipient's postal code: that is the moment, and not before, when the site shows the real lead time for Tromsø.
The polar night runs from late November to mid-January: the sun does not rise, and the city spends several weeks in blue twilight. Conversely, the midnight sun lasts from late May to late July. That sharp alternation explains why flowers matter locally in winter, as a note of colour in a dark season, and why so many are sent for 21 January, the day the sun returns, which the city celebrates. The reference hospital is the University Hospital of North Norway, on Tromsøya.
The rates shown in our table are national with the florist networks. A distance surcharge for the north of the country is still possible depending on the provider; it appears when the postal code is entered, before payment.
It is when the site works with a Tromsø florist, and much less so when the order leaves a warehouse abroad. That distinction is the most useful one to make here — more so than price.
In midwinter, temperatures regularly fall below freezing and a bouquet left outside freezes within minutes. Choose hand delivery, provide a phone number and, if you can, an address where somebody is in during the day.
These areas are part of Tromsø municipality and are generally covered, but they involve crossing a bridge. Check at the postal code stage, and allow some margin if you order late in the day.
