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- What it is: a regenerated former shipyard on the Nidelva, warehouse-loft apartments, a marina, a mall and a riverside strip of bars and restaurants.
- Who it suits: young professionals who want to live on the water next to the centre, in a new-build flat, and like the nightlife downstairs.
- What it costs: a new-build waterfront premium; no separate figure is published, so we show the Trondheim average of about 56,000 kr per m².
- What people complain about: weekend nightlife noise, and little green space or family life.
First impressions
Solsiden, "the sunny side", is Trondheim's Aker Brygge, the old Trondhjems mekaniske verksted shipyard turned into a waterfront quarter. Red-brick and steel warehouse lofts wrap the old dock basin on the Nidelva, with a marina, a sixty-shop mall, a strip of riverside restaurants and bars, and the flooded dry dock that becomes an ice rink in winter. The planning name is Nedre Elvehavn, but everyone calls it Solsiden.
It is polished, central and by the water, a new-build waterfront next to the old town, with the nightlife and the shops at your feet.
This is Trondheim's regenerated waterfront, and it is built for young professionals more than for families.
Who lives here, and what the streets look like
Solsiden is young professionals above all, with a broad age mix, drawn to the loft apartments and the waterfront life; over five thousand people live here. It is a new-build, apartment-and-nightlife district rather than a family one.
The streetscape is converted-shipyard polish: red-brick and steel warehouse lofts around the dock basin, a marina and a promenade, the mall and the restaurant strip along the water. It is flat, walkable and dense, and busy in the evenings.
Getting around
Solsiden is about as central as Trondheim gets. It sits right beside Trondheim Central Station and a short walk across the river from Midtbyen, flat and compact, with a waterfront promenade and the Blomsterbrua bridge linking it toward the centre. Buses run the central corridor alongside, and the station puts the airport train and regional services on the doorstep.
Typical weekday minutes from Trondheim S, with the icon showing how. Times via Google Routes API for a typical weekday around 08:00, measured from the neighborhood centre; the icon shows the fastest sensible way (walk, bike, transit or car)., 2026-08.
Daily life
Day to day, Solsiden is the mall and the waterfront. Meny sits inside Solsiden senter with the wine monopoly and a pharmacy, and the district gathers a sixty-shop mall, around thirteen riverside restaurants, a marina and offices, with the art academy across the street. It is polished and convenient, if oriented to the waterfront and the nightlife. For food delivery, Foodora and Wolt both cover Trondheim.
Local Places Worth Knowing
Independent and close by, chosen on merit. Nobody pays to appear here. Links are being confirmed.
A wood-fired pizzeria and bar on the waterfront at Beddingen, open since 2014, one of the anchors of the riverside restaurant strip.
The Solsiden branch of the Trondheim roaster that opened the city's first modern coffee bar, on the ground floor of Solsiden senter.
View on Google MapsA concert and culture venue for jazz, classical and world music in the preserved dockside building by the old dry dock.
View on Google MapsThe full supermarket inside Solsiden senter, the district's main grocery.
Checked August 2026. Places close and change, so tell us if something here is out of date.
Schools and families
Solsiden is an apartment and nightlife district rather than a family one, and school and kindergarten provision in the area itself is thin. The nearest lower-secondary is Rosenborg skole, and the nearest primary schools sit in the adjacent Østbyen neighborhoods, so families more typically settle in the quieter streets around. Norway publishes school results through Udir, but not at a per-district grain, so we do not rate schools here. Trondheim has free school choice, so it is worth checking admission before you sign a lease or purchase.
Kids Restricted. The mall and the flat waterfront are practical with young children by day, but the evening scene is bars and restaurants and in-area school and kindergarten provision is thin, so families tend to settle in the quieter surrounding Østbyen.
Pet Restricted. These are apartment blocks with an open waterfront promenade good for a walk, but it is a dense, paved district with little in-area green space and a busy bar strip.
Green space, leisure and eating out
Solsiden's leisure is the water and the venues. The old dock basin holds a marina and a waterfront promenade, the flooded dry dock becomes an ice rink in winter with concerts and a beer garden in summer, and the Dokkhuset concert hall and the Gråmølna art museum add the culture. Eating out is a dense riverside strip of restaurants and bars. The one gap is greenery: actual parkland in the area is thin and a walk away.
What it costs
Solsiden is a new-build waterfront, so it carries a premium over the city. No Solsiden-specific sale price is published, so we show the Trondheim city average of about 55 722 NOK / m² (about €5,100 / m²) ≈ $540 / sq ft, and this desirable waterfront runs above it in practice. Rent is set by the market rather than any first-hand system, so no local figure exists; the wider Trondheim two-room market runs around 11 850 NOK / mo (about €1,100 / mo) (SSB, 2025).
Weather and climate
Seasonal averages for Trondheim, one representative month per season. MET Norway 1991-2020 normals (Trondheim-Voll) via Wikipedia climate box.
The honest downsides
Nightlife noise. Solsiden is one of Trondheim's main bar-and-restaurant clusters, so residents on the strip trade central buzz for weekend-evening crowds and noise.
Thin on families and greenery, at a new-build premium. It is a dense, paved, higher-cost waterfront with limited in-area parks and schools, a place better suited to young professionals than to families.
Crime and safety
As one of Trondheim's busiest nightlife hubs, the everyday safety texture here is ordinary weekend disorder around closing time, noise and the occasional intoxicated crowd along the bar strip, rather than serious crime, and Norway does not publish neighborhood-level crime figures, so there is no local number. As in any central district you may occasionally see someone begging or rough sleeping near the mall and station. The fuller Trondheim picture is on the city safety page.
Is this you?
If you want to live on the water next to the centre and the station, in a warehouse-loft flat with a marina, a mall and the city's liveliest restaurant strip downstairs, Solsiden is Trondheim's premier waterfront address. If you want green space, quiet evenings and family life, the calmer streets of Østbyen or a leafy hillside will suit you better.
Want to know what homes here are actually worth?
Join the waitlistHow we source this
How we put this together. Gathered on the ground by our local field team and written up by the Apraiz research team. Every figure above carries its own source and date. The scores are not computed by the build; walking and transport will use open map and transit data first, then Apraiz's own model. We update prices quarterly, transport and amenities twice a year, and school data when the source publishes.
Sources: Krogsveen prisstatistikk, Statistics Norway (SSB), Leiemarkedsundersøkelsen, Wikipedia / VisitTrondheim, Statistics Norway (SSB), table 08487.
Safety and crime in Trondheim →Nearby: Bakklandet · Møllenberg · Singsaker