Here we have gathered some practical information for onsite participants. This page will be updated as more information is available. You may also wish to read the following:
The 19th Munin Conference on Scholarly Publishing 2024 will take place onsite on Tromsø campus. The plenary sessions will be streamed – the streaming links will be posted on the Programme page closer to the conference.
Registration for on-site participants closed on 11 November. There is no registration for those who wish to follow the streaming.
Follow us on Mastodon (@MuninConf) or X (@MuninConf) and engage with our hashtag #Munin2024. We encourage you to share your thoughts, impressions and ideas before, during and after the conference!
About Tromsø
Welcome to Tromsø! Tromsø is the gateway to the Arctic – the major town in Arctic Norway, a communication hub, an administrative centre and historically also the point of departure for Polar expeditions, and sealing and whaling vessels. Today, Tromsø is a thriving modern town of over 77,000 inhabitants, supplemented by about 17,000 students. In addition to the university itself, Tromsø has a modern university hospital and is also host to a number of other research institutions, most notably the Norwegian Polar Institute.
Conference venue
The conference venue is on the university campus in Tromsø, Teorifagbygget 1, Auditorium 1 & 2.
The poster session will take place in the hall Solhallen (the Sun hall), outside of auditoria 1 & 2. The workshops will take place on the upper floors of Teorifagbygget 1: you can get there from Solhallen by lift or stairs. Here is an interactive map of the campus, with the conference venue plotted in.
This video shows how to get from the UiT bus stop to the conference auditorium. In the photos below you can see the bus stop “UiT” and an entrance from which it is easiest to get to the venue.
We have also prepared a Google map with the most necessary points on campus and in town plotted in.
Wi-Fi access on campus: we have Eduroam, but we also have a conference network that you will get access to at the conference.
Accommodation
Most of the hotels in Tromsø are situated in the city centre, a 10–15 minute bus-ride from campus. As of end of October, there are some rooms available at Scandic Ishavshotell: single room – NOK 2400, double room – NOK 2700.
If you wish to stay close to the campus, you may consider Pingvinhotellet (bookable through websites like booking.com or hotels.com). This is a hotel first and foremost for the patients of the university hospital, but it is also open for other guests.
Transport
Getting to Tromsø might be easiest by plane. There are several daily flights in each direction between Tromsø and the bigger Norwegian cities such Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim. You can also fly directly from several airports outside of Norway – see the website of Tromsø airport for more information.
The nearest train station is 3 1/2 hours drive from Tromsø (bus service), and it is connected to the Swedish, not the Norwegian, rail network.
Here is the general information on bus fares and ticket prices and on how to buy bus tickets in Tromsø. You can use this travel planner to plan your bus route, with departure times and bus stops.
For taxi, you can use Tromsø Taxi. Calling within the Norwegian network: 03011. Calling from a non-Norwegian phone number: 00 47 77 60 30 00.
To the city centre
Most of the hotels are in the city centre, so this is probably where you will be going to first, when you arrive in Tromsø.
The Airport Express Bus (Flybussen) stops at several hotels in the centre (see the airport express bus schedule); travel time 10–15 minutes. One-way ticket (adult category) for the express bus costs NOK 125, return ticket – NOK 200. There are other prices for students and seniors, ask the driver. You can pay with a credit card on the express bus. The bus stop for the express bus is right outside of the arrival hall. Ask the driver where to get off for your hotel.
There is a taxi stand outside the arrival hall. Travel time 10 minutes.
You can also take the local city buses (numbers 40 and 42) – the bus stop is a 3-minute walk from the airport, on the other side of the parking lot. Travel time 15–20 minutes. Buses have the direction written in front. Nr 40 is “mot Tromsø museum via sentrum” (to Tromsø museum via centre), and nr 42 is “mot Stakkevollan via sentrum” (to Stakkevollan via centre). A single ticket for a local bus is NOK 44. You can buy tickets at a ticket machine near a bus stop (not all bus stops have ticket machines) or in the Svipper app. It is not possible to buy a ticket on the bus. Ask the driver (or your co-passengers) where to get off for your hotel.
Some of this information is also available at the airport’s website.
From campus to the city centre, you can take buses nr 20, 21 and 33. If you are in doubt, check whether it says “via sentrum” on the bus.
To the university campus
If you are heading to the campus directly from the airport, the campus-bound airport express bus departs from the platform outside of the arrivals hall. Departure times in the morning are 7:50, 8:50, 9:25, 9:45 and 10:15. Get off the bus at the stop called “UiT”.
For city buses, the bus stop by the airport is called Tromsø lufthavn. The shortest way to get to the bus stop is to take the elevator down to the Parking lot and walk across the parking lot towards the road – the bus stop you need is on the western side of the road (the one closer to the sea). From Tromsø lufthavn, take bus 40 or 42 to Giæverbukta. At Giæverbukta, change to bus 33 (the bus will have “mot UiT-UNN via Giæverbukta” on its front), and get off the bus at the stop called UiT.
To get to the conference from the city center, you can take buses nr 20, 21 and 34 – the bus stop in the city center for all of them is called Smørtorget. Get off the bus at the stop called UiT. If you are arriving on campus by taxi, ask the taxi driver to drop you off at the Mix kiosk (marked on the Google map).
To the conference dinner
The venue for the conference dinner on the 27th of November is on campus, at the restaurant of the university hospital. We will be going on foot from the conference venue to the dinner.
If you are arriving to the dinner from the city centre or the airport, follow the same directions as “To the university campus”, but get off at the stop called “UNN”.
To and from the conference reception
The conference reception on the 26th of November will take place in The Arctic University Museum of Norway, Lars Thørings veg 10. To get there from the city centre, take bus nr 40 to the stop “Tromsø Museum” (2-minute walk to the museum). Another bus that can be taken from the city centre is bus nr 33: get off at “Telegrafbukta” (5-minute walk to the museum). Here is a link for bus schedules from a city centre bus stop “Bankgata”.
If you decide to stick around on campus after the conference and go to the reception directly from the conference venue, you can use bus nr 34 – get off at “Telegrafbukta”.
After the conference reception, in order to get to the city centre, you will need to take bus nr 40 from “Tromsø Museum”, or bus nr 33 from “Telegrafbukta” (on the side of the road that is closer to the sea).
To the airport
In order to get from campus to the airport, you can use regular city buses, but you will need to change buses at Giæverbukta. From UiT bus stop, take bus 34 to Giæverbukta. In Giæverbukta, change to buses 24 or 40 to Tromsø Lufthavn (airport). Total traveling time will be 14–20 minutes.
If you prefer to use a taxi, you can arrange for the taxi to pick you up in front of the Mix kiosk. For taxi, you can use Tromsø Taxi. Calling within the Norwegian network: 03011. Calling from a non-Norwegian phone number: 00 47 77 60 30 00.
Social program
Conference reception
On the 26th of November, at 7 pm, we invite conference participants to the reception in The Arctic University Museum of Norway, on the southern end of Tromsø island – Lars Thørings veg 10.
You will be able to walk around the exhibitions, and drinks and light finger food will be served. (Please note that drinks can only be enjoyed on the first floor of the museum, whereas food cannot be taken out of the cafe into the exhibition area.) There is no fee for the reception, as it is covered by our sponsors.
Conference dinner
The conference dinner will take place on the 27th of November, at 5 pm. The venue for the dinner is restaurant Adelie, which is located on the university campus, in the building of the university hospital. There will be a Norwegian-inspired tapas buffet. The fee for the dinner is NOK 850. We will walk to the dinner venue right after the last talk on the 27th of November. If you require assistance, please inform the conference committee by email.
Weather
The temperature at the end of November in Tromsø usually fluctuates between -5 and +5 degrees Celsius. It may rain and/or snow. You will need shoes that can handle icy pavements (at the conference venue we will have a cloakroom where you can change into indoor shoes).
The Polar Night in Tromsø starts at the end of November, but the twilight can be surprisingly bright during the middle of the day.
You may consult this weather forecast service. The current weather can be followed from an on-campus weather station with a live web camera facing south.
Things to do and try
If you want to chase northern lights, go whale-watching or fishing, or ride a husky sled, see the tourist information website Visit Tromsø that provides information about tour operators organising these and a number of other tourist activities in Tromsø and outside. Whale-watching trips are in the middle of the day, when there is still some light. Northern lights trips can turn out to be late (you can be back at your hotel at 4 am), as the tour operators can drive far if it’s cloudy in Tromsø. So, we do not recommend you go aurora-chasing the night before the conference.
If you don’t have time to go outside Tromsø, this map of good aurora-watching spots helps you to find places within the city with limited light pollution and a more or less unobstructed view of the sky.
If you are up for a swim in the water that will be between 4 and 9 degrees Celsius, consider visiting the Pust sauna – a floating sauna in the centre, where you can take a dip in the sea. You need to reserve a spot and buy a ticket in advance – and don’t forget your swimsuit. Another swimming opportunity is provided by Tromsøbadet – a swimming pool complex that includes a warm outdoor pool and a cold plunge pool, among other things.
The dark season is often a social season with lots of people meeting at restaurants to eat seasonal food. Noteworthy Norwegian foods for the pre-Christmas and Christmas season are lutefisk, pinnekjøtt and rakørret. We dare you to try them if you have a chance! Here is a list of restaurants in Tromsø that serve Norwegian(-inspired) specialties:
With the typical Norwegian food of the season goes good beer and aquavit. The local brewery Mack (the world’s northernmost brewery) makes a pleasant lager. Some of the local pubs have a good selection of good beers from Norwegian micro-breweries – if you like beer, try them out.
We hope you will enjoy your stay in Tromsø!