Travel ideas
By season and by route: how to choose your trip north
Home › Travel ideas
Travel ideas
Where and when?
Every season in Scandinavia has something of its own: Valborg bonfires in spring, the midnight sun in summer, ruska in autumn and northern lights in winter. Pick your season or one of our routes.
Researched by Arjan from Zuidlaren, so you don’t have to · Sources: Visit Norway: midnight sun, Visit Finland: autumn colours (ruska), Visit Tromsø: northern lights · updated 24 October 2026 · About this page
- 4 seasons
- 6 routes with driving times
- With official sources
By season
🗓️ Travel ideas by season
- 🌷 Spring (March–May)
Valborg bonfires, 17 May and the first nights without darkness - ☀️ Summer (June–August)
Midnight sun, Midsummer and long evenings by the water - 🍂 Autumn (September–November)
Ruska in Lapland, the first northern lights and quiet roads - ❄️ Winter (December–February)
Northern lights, huskies, snow and Christmas markets
Routes
🗺️ Routes to drive
- 🧭 Round trip through Norway, Sweden and Denmark
From the ferry in Kristiansand via the fjords to Oslo, Gothenburg and Copenhagen - 🌞 Lapland and the North Cape
A loop above the Arctic Circle through Sweden, Norway and Finland - 🌲 The High Coast and Dalarna
A loop from Stockholm along the High Coast and Lake Siljan - 🌊 The Atlantic Road and Trollstigen
Fjords, hairpin bends and the road across the sea - 🌉 Copenhagen and southern Sweden
A loop across the Øresund: out by ferry, back over the bridge - 🏰 Denmark: islands and castles
From Ribe on the Wadden Sea across Funen to the chalk cliffs and Copenhagen
You’ll find routes by country with a day-by-day plan under routes.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
When is the best time to visit Scandinavia?
That depends on what you want to do. Our best time to travel page covers it by country; here you’ll find the ideas by season.
Accountability
📚 Sources
Every number and every rule on this page comes from a source. Here they all are in one place, checked on 24 October 2026. We only mention prices if the provider publishes them itself; otherwise we refer you to the official website.
View 4 sources
- visitnorway.com: Visit Norway: midnight sun
- visitsweden.com: Visit Sweden: midnight sun
- visitfinland.com: Visit Finland: autumn colours (ruska)
- visittromso.no: Visit Tromsø: northern lights
💛 To be upfront: this page contains a few affiliate links, marked “Advertisement · affiliate link”. If you book through one, we receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. That’s how we keep this site running. We decide for ourselves what we recommend. Read the full disclaimer.