Let me start by dispelling the long, cold, and dark day night of Winter in Norway! Brr! Coming from Minnesota, we found winter in Norway to be mild and really quite comfortable. If you pick the right month, Norway can be an amazing winter experience. This “off season” is a great way to experience the sites that are crowded in summer, and really have the time to relax into a visit – whether that be a train ride through the interior, a warm sauna on the fjord or northern lights above the Arctic Circle on the Norwegian Sea. Seriously! You can experience it all in Norway in one trip, North to South!
How Much of Winter is in Norway? What is the temperature?
Traveling to Norway in winter is all about choosing the right month… for there are a few things to factor into your experience: daylight and temperature. Traveling above the Arctic Circle, the polar region of Norway sits away from the Sun during the winter. These high Northern areas on the “day side” of Earth do not receive typical sunlight, and the Sun stays below the horizon. Take a look at this great Polar Night infographic>> Are you scared yet?
You’re going to want to watch the day length in this Sunrise Calendar>> Seriously, this is how we chose WHEN to travel. By studying the day length of each month we recommend late February and early March for travel dates. Better yet, prices are phenomenal at this time too!
Weather in Norway in Winter is fairly temperate (says the Minnesotan) because of the Norwegian Sea. Think Seattle in Winter. A lot of the Norwegian Coast is jammed in between water and mountains. The interior of the country and higher elevations will of course have snow, but the coast is more mild and not as bone chilling as say interior of AK or CAN. With that in mind you’ll wear layers accordingly. [Stay tuned for more info on that] A great weather app for the country is from The Norwegian Meteorological Institute>>
A North to South Epic Itinerary for Norway in Winter
This itinerary is just a sample of the route of the places to visit in Norway in Winter. Bonus, it doesn’t require a car rental, either! Nor does it only have to be a winter itinerary for Norway, this route can be a summer itinerary in Norway, too. Chucks of this trip can be used for a 5 day or 7 day itinerary, note that I don’t count travel days within these trips. Whichever direction you choose, sit back and enjoy some of the most unique and picturesque transportation that is Norway’s best!
Day 1: Arrival + Overnight Oslo
Our flight route was MSP> AMS> OSLO. Given the time of year and the possibility of weather disruption, I did not want to risk the additional in country flight up to Kirkenes. This gave us an afternoon lay over in Oslo, and not enough to check off my entire list of the city but left us wanting more time to explore more.
I went into more detail on this afternoon and what we DID NOT get to see in my blog post, One Day in Oslo>>
Day 2: Fly Oslo to Kirkenes
Staying at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Oslo Gardermoen made it super easy to hop on an airplane the next morning and fly for Kirkenes. We were so early, the ticket agent hadn’t even arrived. I highly recommend the customer service and the benefits of flying SAS. Let alone the skill of the pilots, I wouldn’t want to land a plane on a snow packed runway!
We had an early flight that would have us missing our hotel breakfast, buy buying into the SAS airport lounge with our ticket provided a breakfast smorgasbord!
Note: arriving more than 2 hours before your flight in Norway, the auto bag check will not take your luggage because you are too early! Usually an attendant will help, but in the smaller airports, a 2 hr window before departure is enough.
Snowhotel Kirkenes, Sleeping in the Snowhotel
Did you ever want to sleep in that snow cave you made as a kid? What about try winter camping? If you have the time, and a small spirit of adventure – I highly recommend an overnight in the Snowhotel in Kirkenes. A two night stay will allow one night in the Snowhotel and a second in the Gamme Cabins.
The Lodge itself is winter wonderland – and a place to experience in the summer, too. Situated inland on it’s own fjord harbor there are activities and dog sledding for everyone. The food (and wine) are excellent!
It is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience. Read more in my post here>> Snowhotel Kirkenes – To Sleep or Not to Sleep and you can decide!
Day 3: Snowhotel Kirkenes (Night #2)
Today we ate like Queens with Snow Crab for Lunch! With wine, of course! We piled in with our new friends into a snow machine people mover out to the frozen fjord in search of crab pots. As luck would have it, they were full (they may or may not have been stocked) and we all were rewarded with as much fresh crab as we could eat!
Night two at the Snowhotel we stayed in a Gamme Cabin. So cosy, with in-floor heat bright windows, a view of the dog yard and brilliant night sky. We could have stayed for days it was so snug.
The travel bug had us itching to move on. We had a bus pick up right at the Lodge reception bldg from our Hurtigruten Guide, and were off for a tour of Kirkenes and to board the MS Nordkapp.
Day 4 thru 9: All Aboard: Hurtigruten Coastal Express North to South
This trip really deserves it’s own focus but a few highlights: Steilneset Memorial in Vardo, the northern most town Hammerfest, a taste of Vesteralen tour from Harstad to Sortland, a visit to the Salmon and Atlantic Road, the Nidaros Cathedral and Bergtatt Marble Mine.
Read more about our 6-Day Hurtigruten Cruise here>>
On our journey on the Norwegian Sea, we traveled from Kirkenes to Bergen aboard the Hurtigruten MS Nordkapp. We purchased a discounted fare on Black Friday that included Full Board, a Polar Outside Cabin with a limited view, we were snug as Polar Bears. All excursions were extra from the base fare, which basically brought us back up to a full price package.
Arrive in Bergen + Overnight in Bergen
We arrived in Bergen on a Wednesday, disembarking from the MS Nordkapp just after 3 pm. The shuttle to hotel was so very helpful as we had to navigate from one side of the harbor to the other. It would have been too far to walk with luggage.
This pause in Bergen gave us a chance to stretch our legs and sleep on solid ground. Don’t get me wrong, sleeping on the MS Nordkapp was a dream! I loved the way the rolling waves rocked me to sleep.
I chose Det Hanseatiske Hotel for our time in Bergen. It’s central location was perfect access for all that we wanted to see, plus take a look at our bathroom! The exposed beams, narrow hallways and crooked floors gave character to this boutique hotel. Staff was warm and pleasant, and we did eat in the hotel restaurant which was fab.
The Hotel was super nice in that they kept our suitcases while we took off on our Norway in a Nutshell trip. With our backpacks on our back (and umbrellas because it was raining) we headed to the train station.
Day 10: Norway in a Nutshell to Flåm
This itinerary, like our trip is epic. It truly is a showcase of all that Norway has to offer in Winter. By now you’ll have at least one week planned with all the above ideas. Only 3 more sleeps until we complete this ultimate Norwegian winter experience. Thanks for hanging in there with me!
I had visited Norway pre-covid and loved how easy Norway in a Nutshell created the perfect route from Bergen to Flåm and back via fjord or train. For this trip, I wanted to spend an extra night in Flåm to see some of the popular sites, and to enjoy the floating sauna.
Read more in detail about our Winter Norway in a Nutshell experience, here>>
Day 10-11: Overnight in Flam
Staying in Flåm, Norway is an otherworldly experience for me. Coming down from Myrdal via the Flåmsbana Train you are transported into the Aursland, dramatic fjords and mountains. Perched on the edge of the fjord is a thriving community with a bakery, a brewery and the connection point for further exploration of interior Norway.
Day 12: Norway in a Nutshell Back to Bergen + Overnight
If you’ve booked the Sognefjord or the Nærøyfjord, you’ll catch the Fjord cruise at the same docking location. In 2018 I took the cruise through the Sognefjord – amazing (and worthy of another blog post.) On this trip we traveled through the narrow Nærøyfjord to Gudvangen. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves below.
Tip: Grab a sandwich at the Flåm Bakery>> before your trip. The Fjord Cruise Boat does have Hotdogs, snacks and beverages but there isn’t much time to grab something to eat at Gudvangen before the bus connection.
When you reach Gudvangen, you’ll catch the bus outside the parking lot of the Viking Village. There will be more than one bus depending on the number of tickets sold. When we were there, it was two busses and both took the same route. We had enough time to walk off the Cruise and onto the bus, but not enough time for a bathroom stop.
The drive from Gudvangen through the Nærøy Valley was breathtaking despite the rain (in February). The bus will stop right outside the Voss train station where you can walk up to the platform.
It was an easy trip back to Bergen and no problem taking a nap since we knew the end route! Having done some research and finding Dale along the route… we may or may not have stopped to the Dale Factory Outlet and Museum>>. Worth it!
We went back to Det Hanseatiske Hotel for our final 2 nights in Bergen.
Day 13: Bergen
It was a beautiful sunny day for our final day in Bergen. After breakfast we went straight to the top Mount Fløyen via the Fløibanen funicular for a spectacular view of the city. Of course it was time for second breakfast at the top, and enjoyed coffee and pastries and watched parents chase their children around the playground. Mount Fløyen is great local experience and a place to relax into a local Bergen experience. At the top you’ll find many nature trails and places to explore. It’s a great walk back down through the neighborhood into Bergen Center. It was time for lunch when we were back. After a refuel we continued on to explore the History of Bryggen, simply wandering the alleys and shops.
We ended our day with a fantastic dinner at Det Hanseatiske Hotel Restaurant. Our meal of local beef and french wine was the perfect ending to our epic Norway itinerary!
Day 14: Depart for Home
We arranged a cab for the morning pick up with our hotel front desk. Bergen airport was quiet on a Monday morning. We arrived well enough ahead of our flight – good to know that the self-check baggage does not accept luggage more than 2 hrs ahead of your flight. We found a helpful attendant who manually checked our luggage and we were off to our gate back to MSP via AMS.
A Few Trip Variation Ideas
The Hurtigruten portion is variable and could be your whole trip itself:
- Take the same trip North! By starting in Bergen you can experience the Coastal Express Northbound
- Fly into Bergen and make it a round trip Bergen to Bergen on the same Coastal Express with Hurtigurten for 11 Days.
- Here’s the Hurtigruten Trip on their website>>
Norway in a Nutshell is also variable:
- Take the same route Bergen to Bergen via the Sognefjord, you’ll have more time on the fjord cruise.
- Take the same route Bergen to Oslo or vice versa.
- Travel Norway in a Nutshell as a daytrip. Do-able but it’s a long one.
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