Best Time To Travel To: Norway
Norway stretches between 58 ° and 71 ° north. The country is located in the north near the Arctic Circle, in midsummer you can enjoy daylight all day, in winter the all-day twilight.
Norway has a fairly extensive coastline along the North Sea and the Atlantic. These stretches of coast are often shaped by the extremely deep gullies - the fjords. There are also quite a considerable number of small islands around the country. In the interior of the country it gets hilly to mountainous again and again, where it rises to an average of 1,500 meters. The highest elevation, the Galdhöppigen, reaches up to 2,469 meters.
Viewed from east to west, Norway is comparatively narrow. Only in the south around Oslo does the country get wider. The largest plain in Norway is also located here. This part of Norway is also considered the driest and warmest part of the country in summer.
The high inland areas have an arctic climate in winter. That means it's usually quite cold. Snow often falls, and there are often very icy winds. Only when the sun penetrates through it does it become very pleasant in winter at high altitudes - you know that from the Alps.
The coastal areas, on the other hand, have mild winters. The reason is mainly the warm Gulf Streams that reach Norway. As a result, almost all ports in the country are ice-free in winter - which one would normally hardly suspect. But it can still get cold on the coasts. The fjords in particular have a very cold climate. The reason lies in the cold winds that blow from the snow-capped mountains into the fjords.
As mentioned above, the country is heavily influenced by the Atlantic weather. This leads to very changeable weather. Unfortunately, the coastal regions receive rain all year round and it is often overcast. The climatic table of Bergen is relatively typical for these regions. The amount of precipitation decreases towards the north, but it still rains very often. In winter it often snows here too. The climate table from Narvik is typical here.
Amazingly, the winters in the southern lowlands are much colder, and it often gets very frosty here. The influence of the warm Gulf Stream is no longer noticeable here. On the other hand, the summers are much warmer and, above all, drier. The climate table of Oslo is typical for this region.
Svalbard (Spitsbergen)
The climate on Svalbard is a specialty. Here you will find a very severe arctic climate. The winters are usually really very cold here. Summers are extremely short, often too short to melt the snow. On the mountains, the snow is usually all year round, and there are also many glaciers here. The north coast of Svalbard is surrounded by pack ice practically all year round.
When is the best time for Norway
The best time to travel to Norway is usually the summer from May to September. May can be really beautiful. Then everything starts to bloom. However, some pass roads will still be closed in May. In the cooler Northern Norway and Svalbard, the best time to travel is more likely from June to August. For Svalbard you have to note that April and May are often the sunniest and driest months. But then it is still quite cold on Svalbard.
If you only want to go to Norway because of the northern lights, you should note the phase from November to February. Winter sports enthusiasts get their money's worth between December and April. The main travel season btw in Norway is July and August.
