A Guide to the Best Wellness and Fitness Experiences in Trondheim

Whether you want to swim, spa or stretch, Norway’s third biggest city has a range of wellness options for everyone. In Trondheim there are challenging fitness classes to push you to your physical limit, lavish spas in luxurious city centre hotels and tranquil yoga centres so you can keep fit and stay well as you enjoy this vibrant university town. With fjord views and rolling countryside just outside the city centre, Trondheim is also ideal if you’d rather stay active while sightseeing with hikes of all levels within easy reach.

It may have less than 200,000 residents but Trondheim has plenty of places to practise yoga, with several classes, specialist centres and teachers available for the benefit of both residents and visitors.

Zenit Yoga is one of the largest and oldest yoga studios in Norway. It was founded in 1992 by Lea Loncar, who brought yoga to Trondheim from Croatia. Now its airy studio is in Bakklandet near Solsiden, where hundreds of students a week enjoy different styles of yoga. Drop-in students are welcome and teachers are happy to instruct in English if you let them know at the beginning of class, though Alison and Ebru both teach some classes exclusively in English.

Yogaens Hus is located by the sea in Ilsvika overlooking the beautiful island of Munkholmen. Opened in 2017, the centre holds various classes, courses and workshops led by teachers with a range of specialist areas. The wellness centre also offers one-on-one yoga lessons tailored to your needs. “Yoga is a lifestyle, a mindset and a physical form of exercise,” says founder and owner Ingrid Loe Holand. “Yoga for me is certainly a tool to deal with everyday life, with all it entails.”

If you don’t fancy being stuck in the gym, make the most of the Norwegian countryside and get out into the fresh air with a forest workout. Led by trainer Jan Petter in the hilly Estenstadmarka forest, the two-hour high-intensity sessions need pre-booking and include burpees, squats and sprint training. “I promise you a high heart-rate and lots of fun,” says Petter, “After this workout, you’ll feel like you’ve had plenty of fresh air and that you have used your body.”

Go hard or go home with Spartan Workouts, which will get you lugging tyres, scrambling up hillsides and heaving logs if you’re brave enough to give it a go. Making the most of the local forests, anyone who hates the cold, mud or hard work should give it a miss. “We mix up circular workouts, intervals and obstacle courses,” says trainer and founder Kjell Røstum-Mårvik. “You get strengthened core muscle, stamina, endurance, motor skills and balance.”

Norway’s biggest indoor bathing facility, Pirbadet located on the city’s waterfront is idyllic with sweeping views of the fjord. “We have many different pools, slides, a climbing wall, a bathing shop, a café and loads of activities for children and adults,” says CEO Annikken Sandberg. Over in the wellness area, adults can enjoy the saunas, ice fountain, caldarium, jacuzzi and heated outdoor pool in peace. “The well-being pool is situated with a panoramic glass wall towards the Trondheim fjord,” says Sandberg.

Reopened in 2019 after an extensive refurbishment, the iconic Britannia is arguably Trondheim’s most revered hotel. Splurge on a treatment and you can enjoy the modern, elegant spa even if you’re not staying in the hotel. Unwind with its softly lit heated lap pool, three Nordic saunas, stream room, ice bath, mineral pool, gym, infrared cabin and tranquil treatment rooms.

Soothe your mind (and any aching muscles) at Trondheim’s very own hammam, first built with several tons of marble in 2012. Though there are now other spa treatments on offer, a hammam is a must-try. It starts with a steam bath, followed by a light massage, the ‘essential’ scrub and finally a hair wash and facial scrub to leave you squeaky clean and smooth all over.

Try floating therapy at Bare Flyt which has two centres in Oslo dedicated to floating and now a third outpost in Trondheim. Said to reduce stress and relieve pain, the centre also offers excellent massage treatments or you can just lie back in the soundproof pools and floating tanks to soak your stresses away.

If you feel your mind needs more attention than your body, the Trondheim Meditation & Yoga Centre is the place to go. This is the city’s oldest meditation centre and dates back to 2000, though its permanent base in the city centre only opened in 2019. Hoping to help you find harmony in yourself and in everyday life, the centre is a volunteer organisation offering guidance in meditation, breathing exercises, stress management and yoga. The centre offers free weekly meditation classes for all.

Make the most of the unspoilt scenery on Trondheim’s doorstep and take a 20-minute ride on the world’s northernmost tram to beautiful Bymarka. There you’ll find a huge reserve of wilderness, forest and lakes on the outskirts of the city. There are several well-marked trails across the reserve but all are on accessible forest paths and many offer spectacular views back over Trondheim.

Miss Organic was established in Trondheim in 2010 to sell a wide range of organic skin and body care products from leading European brands. Hoping to help create a cleaner and chemical-free world, they believe synthetic and harmful chemicals have no place in skincare. The store on Thomas Angells Gate stocks a wide range of products including makeup, a men’s line, ranges for babies and children and a wide selection of organic tea.

Don’t ruin all the hard work by gorging on unhealthy food after your workout. Kvikk is Norway’s first healthy fast food concept and serves wholesome spelt wraps and salads packed with superfoods; sushi, smoothies and protein shakes from its outlets in Solsiden Shopping Centre and Trondheim Torg. Even the dressings are made by hand to guarantee a low sugar and salt content. Fill up on nutritious food but be sure to save room for the chilli-chocolate avocado milkshake afterwards.