What is the best time of year for a Norway coastal cruise?

I’ve done two cruises up the coast of Norway, both following the same route. Starting in the southern coastal city of Bergen, the cruises finished at the very top of Norway at Kirkenes, stopping at every port along the way. This is the traditional “mail boat” route, delivering cargo and people between ports.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. Making a purchase through an affiliate link will mean a small commission for this website. This will not affect your price. Privacy policy.

The first was mid-summer in 2019 on a Hurtigruten ship. The second was in early December in 2025, this time on a Havila ship, Hurtigruten’s new competitor. Read my article comparing Hurtigruten and Havila.

In both cases, the ships carry cargo on the lower levels, but the upper levels are like a cruise ship and cater to tourists, who generally travel the whole route either in one direction or both.

You can read a detailed review of my Hurtigruten experience (summer) here and my Havila cruise (winter) here. I also wrote a comparison of the two companies here. But in this article I just want to spell out the advantages and disadvantages of each season, as well as add some thoughts about spring and fall sailings.

Summer travel along the Norwegian coastline

I can’t even describe in words how beautiful the Norwegian coastline is. Mountains and fjords punctuate the coast of the mainland, and rocky islands stand off the coast. Often the ships sail between the coast and the islands, meaning calm waters and ever-changing views in all directions.

More daylight hours

This is true all year, of course, but in the summer you can see much more of it simply because it stays light for longer. In fact, if you travel near the summer solstice (June 20 or 21), you’ll have 24-hour daylight once you cross into the Arctic Circle. We did the route in late July and even when it was technically night, we could still see the scenery.

In the summer, you’ll see small villages clustered near the water, green pastureland and forest covering the lower slopes, with craggy mountains looming spectacularly behind them, often touched with snow at the higher elevations.

Less rest

The flip side of this long day + gorgeous coastline equation is that the trip wasn’t very restful. The Havila and Hurtigruten cruises don’t have the activities of conventional cruise ships: no casino, theater, trivia games, concerts, etc. On a summer cruise, at least for me, the scenery is the entertainment.

And I couldn’t stay away. I was so afraid of missing a single stunning bit of scenery that, when I wasn’t sitting to eat a meal, I spent all my time outside on the deck, snapping a million or so pictures. After about 11 at night, when I could see the view but not take the best pictures, I would go rather reluctantly to bed.

The cabins on both companies’ ships have good blackout curtains, but I still woke up earlier than I needed to, ate breakfast and went back outside to snap more pictures.

So that’s the trade-off: gorgeous scenery passing by, but, at least for me, less rest. Your mileage may vary, of course, depending on your temperament.

Winter cruising along the Norway coast

The coastline is beautiful in winter as well, but very different. Much of it is covered in snow, and the bluish light even in the middle of the day makes it a starker, more dramatic sight – if more dramatic is even possible.

Less light

The day is very short, and around the winter solstice (December 21 or 22) in the Arctic Circle the sun never rises above the horizon. That doesn’t mean it’s dark all the time, though. Think of what a sunset looks like, or rather the period right after sunset. That’s what it looks like in the middle of the day up there: with a pinkish glow along the horizon. You can see fine, but it’s not full daylight.

But even that amount of light doesn’t last more than a few hours in northern Norway, so the 24-hour day has more hours of darkness. That means you’ll miss much of the scenery. Even when you can see it – I noticed that snow-covered hills and mountains give a bit of light of their own, especially when the moon is out on a clear night – it’s cold out! You can watch from inside, of course, and the ships are heated to a comfortable temperature. But then you’re always looking through a window, and often have to deal with glare from the indoor lighting. It makes picture-taking frustrating.

If you want to go have a look without the windows in the way, you have to consider carefully whether it’s worth it because you have to go bundle up first. If I was going out for more than just a few minutes, I needed long underwear, double socks, my heavy jacket, scarf, gloves, and hat. Sometimes I did that – going to my cabin to put on all my warm clothing so I could spend some time out on deck. Other times I just popped outside for a minute, took a picture and went back in as quickly as possible. I often just chose not to bother and, instead, enjoyed the view through the windows.

Northern Lights

On the other hand, if you’re lucky and the sky is clear, you might see the Northern Lights. I suspect this is the main reason anyone does these cruises in the winter. Both companies will make announcements when the aurora has been spotted, and the passengers rush to their cabins, throw on their warm clothes and run outside en masse to watch the celestial show.

While I saw much more of Norway’s coast on the summer trip, I found the winter trip more relaxing. As I mentioned, there was no entertainment and very few activities on board, so we had to entertain ourselves. I saw many passengers immersed in quiet conversation or curled up with a book. I spent my downtime – quite a few hours every day – getting some work done on my laptop, while I faced a big window so I could still see a bit of the scenery sliding by, when it was close enough to see at all. Every so often I’d pop outside for about a minute to snap a photo. It was surprisingly relaxing. You can’t see much, so you don’t try.

Spring and fall Norway coastal cruises

I’ve never done a cruise along the Norwegian coast in spring or fall, though I’d love to. When I asked the CEO of Havila and two different tour guides on excursions when they’d recommend to take one of these cruises, they all said spring or fall is best.

Partly this is a practical consideration: spring and fall cruises are less crowded and less expensive than summer cruises, which often fill up. (Winter cruises cost the least and are generally least crowded as well.)

But mostly they pointed out that the scenery is particularly lovely in both seasons. In the spring – all three said May is best – you’ll see newly-green pastures in the lowlands, but still snow on the peaks. Waterfalls will be at their most abundant. I saw some beautiful ones in the summer, but in springtime they’d be bigger and more dramatic.

In the autumn, the pastureland will still be green, but the leaves on the forested slopes will be changing. Some of the forests are primarily pine, but many are mixed, so you’ll see colors. As a person who grew up in New England, I’m skeptical that the fall colors can compare with the US and Canada, but they’ll be pretty in any case. And the snow will already be covering the tops of the mountains.

As for daylight, around the two equinoxes (about March 20 and September 22-23) you’ll get a more even distribution of night and day. It seems to me that any time in the spring or fall would make for a better balance of watching gorgeous scenery go by and enjoying some rest and relaxation.

Excursions all year

On the other hand, if you like to keep busy and can afford it, both companies offer excursions, and you could take one every day, no matter what time of year you travel.

On both companies the excursions differ based on the season, so that could also be a deciding factor in your decision. If, for example, you’d enjoy dog-sledding, snow-shoeing or other wintery experiences more than hiking, e-biking, or birdwatching, then summer wouldn’t be for you.

There’s usually a choice of activity level as well: some tours involve buses or vans, so you don’t have to walk much. Some require more physical effort. Since these ships stop at 34 different ports over about six days, the stops aren’t that far apart, which allows the companies to offer excursions that start in one port and end at another port. If the timing makes you miss a meal, then they schedule a meal into the excursion.

The excursions are not included in the basic fare, which is for your cabin and meals, so figure them into your decision as well. When I took the summer cruise, I didn’t take any excursions at all. I was having a great time just circling the deck all day taking pictures, and I even got plenty of steps in!

My husband, on the other hand, took two excursions on the summer cruise: one to do some birdwatching and one to see a fjord from above. On the winter cruise, I took two city walking tours and an “Arctic coastal walk.” My husband greatly enjoyed a kayaking excursion on the winter cruise, as well as a reindeer sleigh ride. All of the excursions were fun and well-organized, so if they interest you and you can afford the extra cost, it might be worth considering what excursions you’d most like when you choose when to travel.

Are you considering taking one of the Norway coastal cruises? If so, what time of year and why?

Rachel Heller

Rachel Heller is a writer living in Groningen, the Netherlands. She is the owner and primary author of this website, Rachel’s Ruminations, a travel blog focused on independent travel with an emphasis on cultural and historical sites/sights. Read more here about her and about this website. All photos in her articles are her own, unless otherwise specified. Rachel also owns and operates a website about World Heritage travel.

rachelsruminations.com