The List's 2023 Easter holiday guide for Trondheim and Trøndelag
A big perk of living in Trondheim is the luxurious Easter break. Everyone gets the Thursday, Friday, and Monday around the Easter weekend off here in Norway and many take the few days before to string together a 9-day holiday.
But how should you spend this time off? Most Norwegians will go to their holiday homes or take a trip abroad, so the city will feel quieter as most businesses will be closed. However, there’s plenty to do in Trondheim and Trøndelag if you decide to stay for Easter.
Cafés, bars, and restaurants tend to stay open (but double-check before venturing out) and many places have special Easter programmes. Here’s a small list, split up into a few categories, that we’ve gathered for you to check out!
Kids & Families
In Norway schools are closed for more than a week for Easter... how do you keep your tots entertained during that time? Take them to the many museums of Trondheim!
Sverresborg Trøndelag Folk Museum offers a great Easter programme from 11:00-15:00 every day during the Easter weekend, from Maundy Thursday (skjærtorsdag) to Easter Monday (andre påskedag). You and your family can learn more about Trondheim’s past while painting Easter eggs, making Easter chicks, and solving an Easter crime (påskekrim) of missing candy.
Rockheim offers a Children’s hour at 12:00 every day from Tuesday to Easter Sunday where kids get to search the rock’n’roll lions and participate in the fun activities on stage.
For animal-loving families, a Sunday visit to the farm animals at Voll Gård, April 2nd and 9th from 11:00-15:00, is the perfect outing.
Lamo Marked is also having a special Palm Sunday walk on April 2nd which is a mix of community-building volunteering and an Easter egg hunt that will begin at UFFA and end with a fun mask-making workshop at Havet.
Pirbadet is open every day for Easter for water enthusiasts of all ages. On Monday the water park will be open from 6:30-21:00, Tuesday from 10:00-21:00, and Wednesday from 6:30-19:00. It will also be open all Easter weekend (Thu-Mon) from 10:00 to 19:00.
Cinemas are also open over the Easter weekend. Prinsen and Nova Kinosenter have normal opening hours all through Easter and will show fresh new films like the Super Mario Bros Movie, Air, and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. It might also be the perfect time to visit Kimen Kino in Stjørdal’s impressive culture house. Kimen Kino is open from 11:00-21:30 Monday to Saturday, and 12:00-21:30 on Easter Sunday.
There's also a Mario Kart tournament on Wednesday, April 5th that will start at Outland around noon and then move over to Nova Kino at 17:15 for the finals.
Expand your mind
Most museums are open as normal Monday to Wednesday before Easter, for example, K-U-K and Kunsthallen where you can enjoy moving art exhibitions for free!
Rockheim is open during Easter and you can join a tour of its permanent exhibitions, The Time Tunnel, every day at 14:00 from Tuesday to Easter Sunday and the Rockheim Hall of Fame at 13:00. The Time tunnel exhibition is designed as a journey through contemporary Norwegian music and cultural history. You move from the emerging youth culture of the 1950s up to the current music scene. Artists, music and instruments are highlighted in light of the cultural history of the various decades.
Trondheim Kunstmuseum has two great museums in the city centre, Gråmølna and Bispegata. Lucky for you, both locations are open from 12:00-16:00 over the Easter weekend from Wednesday, April 5th to Sunday, April 9th.
Have you taken a tour of the Nidaros Cathedral yet? What better time to get better acquainted with the grand lady of Trondheim than during Christianity's Holy Week? You can delve into the Cathedral’s hidden rooms on Saturday or Easter Sunday. You can also check the opening hours here and enjoy the grand interior of Nidors Cathedral at your own pace.
Go outside!
For most Norwegians Easter is synonymous with outdoor activities like hiking and skiing. However, you don’t need to leave the city centre to enjoy the refreshing outdoors. Trondheim Kajakk offers daily kayak adventures all Easter down the Nidelva river to experience the heart of Trondheim from a whole new perspective. The winter kayak tour is available every day at 10:00, 13:30, and 17:00 On top of that, there’s also a kayak + sauna tour daily at 13:30.
Easter is also the perfect opportunity to enjoy one last skiing hurrah, either downhill at Vassfjellet Vinterpark, Oppdal, or Meråker, or exploring the vast cross-country skiing trails in Bymarka.
For those not born with skis on their feet, Bymarka is also a wonderful place for beautiful hikes. Visit Trondheim has made the roundup of accessible hiking routes in and around the city.
For urbanites looking for an easy hike close to the city, you can walk the Ladestien and have lunch at Ladekaia whilst taking in the views of the fjord and the Fosen ‘alps’. Another great place for a hike is to begin Ila — a cosy little neighbourhood close to the centre — and follow Ilabekken up to Theisendammen to enjoy great views of the city and fjord. If you want to really get your heart rate up, you can make the climb up to Våttakammen, which is also a short hike from Ila.
If the weather is nice, you might see some pretty spring flowers at Ringve Botanical Garden, which is always open and always free. Or if it’s really nice, Easter might also be the perfect time for the first yearly ‘utepils’ — a modern Norwegian tradition which simply involves enjoying your beverage of choice outside.
Live music & nightlife
The end of the winter jazz series will be celebrated in style at Olavshallen on Palm Sunday, April 2nd. We Take Requests Trio featuring the Emmy-nominated Benny Benack III will take the stage at 19:00 and you can grab tickets here while they’re still available.
Kafé Larssen on Fjordgata will host a series of live performances on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday for those who’d like to enjoy live music along with ice-cold pints.
If you really want to get the full musical Easter experience, then a Good Friday concert at Nidarosdomen is definitely the way to go. The works of Joseph Haydn and Henry Purcell will be performed in the chamber version for a vocal ensemble and a string quartet. The concert starts at 18:00 on Friday, April 7th, and is free to enter.
Easter isn’t just classical music though — the bass will keep thumping in Trondheim over the long weekend.
Tyven, Lokal, Bar Circus, Havet, and many other places will stay open as normal during Easter. So you can easily burn off the chocolate calories on the dance floor.
Those hungry for some clubbing can join UNTERVVELT at Lokal on Friday night. Then the Easter weekend brings an extra night of partying as Bar Circus’ annual ‘Afterski’ party will take place on Sunday night, April 9th. Bar Circus will stay open two hours longer than usual and you can throw on your ski clothes and let yourself be carried away by the madness in the basement.
For a chiller vibe, you can check out DJ Pedro Sanmartin on Saturday, April 8th. Pedro Sanmartin plays a laidback set at HEIM, the café and bar at Havet. This should be a perfect way to rest after a round in the sauna and an ice bath — especially if the sun comes out! There will also be DJs in the saunas from 16:30-22:00 on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Explore the region
In Trondheim, you are never far away from either the mountains or the sea. The days off during Easter can be a great opportunity to explore more of the Trøndelag region that Trondheim is a part of.
Only a short train journey away you find the mountain town of Røros, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walking through the preserved wooden houses of yesteryear puts you right back in time to when Røros was a sprawling mining community. Learn more about this history by joining a guided walk. The tour takes you 50 metres down below ground and 500 metres into the mountain to Bergmannshallen.
On the coast, at picturesque Stokkøya in Åfjord, you can check out the 12th annual Easter Jazz at Strandbaren from April 2nd to 4th. The performers are all Trondheim jazz legends who make their way out to Stokkøya every year to offer a unique experience where you can enjoy jazz along with a special two-course ‘jazz lunch’.
Further south, at the Coastal Heritage Museum in Stadsbygd, you can travel back in time to 1866 and learn about the proud maritime traditions of the region through the eyes of Jacob Aasan, a Lofoten fisherman.
Or venture even further out on the Trondheim fjord and visit the island of Hitra. The Coastal Museum in Fillan invites children can discover the mouse hole in the exhibition “The People of Flatvika” or run around in the playpen in the fishery.
For the unconventional...
If you want to get a better sense of local sensibilities and experience a, dare we say a little less holy, Easter tradition – watch or join the motorcade from Trondheim to Åre in Sweden on Maundy Thursday, April 6th. The parade starts at Shell in Sluppen, travelling northeast on the E6 motorway.
Unlike Norway, Sweden does not close stores during the Easter holidays, hence why many Norwegians throughout the years have taken the opportunity to go shopping in Sweden.* Eventually this became more of an event like it is today, with organized motorcades crossing the border on Maundy Thursday, dressing up in costumes, blasting music and showing off their cars, all over Norway.
*Norwegians bargain shopping in Sweden is a year-round phenomenon, known as “harryhandel” - “harry” being used as a derogatory term for something tacky or out of touch in Norwegian society.