Trondheim Audio Tours

Trondheim is old in the way that matters in Norway. Founded around 997 CE by King Olaf Tryggvason at the mouth of the Nidelva River, it was the country's capital for centuries and the place where Norwegian kings were crowned until 1906. The Nidaros Cathedral, built over the tomb of Saint Olaf, is the northernmost medieval cathedral in the world, and standing inside its nave, with the rose window throwing colored light across the stone floor, you understand why pilgrims walked hundreds of miles to get here.

The city has a student energy that softens the historical weight.

NTNU (the Norwegian University of Science and Technology) makes Trondheim one of the youngest populations in Norway, and the neighborhoods around Nedre Elvehavn hum with cafes and bars. The old timber wharfhouses along the Nidelva are now restaurants and galleries, painted in reds and yellows that glow particularly well in the long summer evenings when the sun barely sets.