5 Hidden Gems in Trondheim

September 2, 2026

Nidaros Cathedral gets, and deserves, most of the attention, but these 5 finds are worth building extra time into your trip for.

1. The Krana lookout

Between Nedre Bakklandet 10 and 18, a short lane leads to Krana, the best viewpoint over Bakklandet’s famous row of colorful old wooden warehouses leaning over the Nidelva. Most visitors photograph the wharves from the riverbank; the Krana angle is quieter and, honestly, better.

2. The Archbishop’s Palace sculpture museum

Everyone visits Nidaros Cathedral. Fewer visitors realize the adjacent Archbishop’s Palace (Erkebispegården), a 12th-century fortress-residence that once held ecclesiastical authority over Norway, Greenland, Iceland, and several Scottish island groups, houses both Norway’s crown regalia and a separate museum of the cathedral’s original medieval sculptures. It’s a genuinely quiet stop right next door to one of the city’s busiest.

3. The Donjonen tower museum at Kristiansten Fortress

Kristiansten Fortress itself draws a steady stream of visitors for the view, but its central Donjonen tower has quietly operated as a small museum since 1997, and most people who climb the ramparts never go inside. It’s a small detour with a direct line to the 1681 fire that reshaped the whole city.

4. The Trampe bicycle lift

Installed in 1993 near Bakklandet’s Brubakken hill, the Trampe was the world’s first bicycle lift: cyclists rest a foot on a footplate that pushes them up a steep, 20% grade at 1.5 to 2 meters per second, for free. Around 20,000 to 30,000 cyclists use it every year, but plenty of visitors walk right past it without realizing what it is.

5. NTNU’s tech-city texture

Trondheim’s medieval-capital image tells only half the story. NTNU, Norway’s leading science and technology university, hosts more than 35,000 students, roughly a fifth of the city’s population, and anchors a real tech cluster including the SINTEF research institute and a growing startup scene. It’s worth a wander through the university district or a stop in a student café to see the livelier, younger side of a city that can otherwise read as purely historic.

Getting to these

All 5 sit within Midtbyen, Bakklandet, or a short bus ride of the center, none require a special trip or booking. Pair the Krana lookout and Trampe lift with a Bakklandet wander, and the Archbishop’s Palace and Donjonen museum with your main cathedral and fortress visits.

For the headline sights these pair with, see our things to do guide , and for the best angles to photograph them, see our photo spots guide .