June is the first official summer month for Norway, and it’s often a month with changing weather. Not only does June have a lot of sunny days, but it’s also the month with the highest amount of lightning strikes and days with heavy rainfall.
That said, June’s a pretty nice month to visit Norway. It’s summer with all the summer benefits, while also not being too warm just yet. Some years will have warm and nice June days, while others will have plenty of rainfall and cloudy weather.
So, let’s take a closer look at what visiting Norway in June is like, what to do in Norway in June, and give you some insights into the Norwegian summer.
June is a great season for hiking (if you bring waterproof clothing)
If you’re coming to Norway to go hiking on mountain trails, then June is a pretty good month to do so. It’s still not too warm up in the mountains, so you won’t get fried by the sun when you pass the tree limit.
The thing about hiking in Norway in June is that you still need to bring a good waterproof jacket and hiking boots. You will not need the jacket on the sunny days, but the weather can change rapidly, and you are likely to experience strong winds and heavy downpour in June in Norway. This will cool you down very fast if you are on a hike without proper clothing. So make sure to bring some good hiking clothing that can handle a bit of rainfall.
The days are long enough for longer hikes, and this is a great time to tackle the challenging Trolltunga hike! Keep in mind that the Trolltunga hike a lot more difficult than most people imagine, but you have the best chances of doing it in June or July.
Some areas will still have a bit of snow cover in early June, but that is only when you come pretty high up in the mountains. Most trails won’t pass by the snowy areas, but they might, so be careful when choosing your shoes.
Most Norwegians are still at work in June
Most Norwegian business operates with a joint holiday system where most people get the summer vacation at the same time. This is great for families who want to go on holiday together, but it will mean bigger crowds and longer queues for all the popular tourist attractions.
The joint holiday dates changes a bit from year to year, but it’s very rare for it to happen in June. And if it does, it’s only for the last week.
This means that very few Norwegians have begun their summer holiday, so you are less likely to hit any big queues or crowded areas compared to if you visit in July.
In other words, June is a pretty great time to visit if you want to experience the summer without the biggest of crowds. There will still be plenty of people at all the popular tourist attractions, but nowhere close to what it will be like in July.
What the June weather is like in Norway
June tends to have a nice temperature of around 20 ℃ (68 ℉) during the day for the southern part of Norway, with pretty cool nights of around 12 – 14 ℃.
The big thing about June is that there are on average 14 days of rain, meaning that pretty much half of the June days are statistically likely to be raining. June can have some days with insane rain where it pours down the entire day, and you should not be surprised if there’s a lot of lightning going on as well.
So be prepared for cloudy days with rain. The good part of it is that it’s usually still pretty hot even though it’s raining, so you can enjoy yourself outside even if it’s a bit rainy.
There are plenty of festivals and things to attend in June
June is a popular month for music festivals and other types of outdoor festivals and activities, so it’s a month when there’s a lot of stuff to do. What about spending some time at a food festival, see a big concert, or watch a bicycle race? There’s usually plenty of stuff to do in June.
One of the easiest methods of finding out what’s going on in Norway in a certain month is to check Facebook events. This is the most used arena for posting events in Norway, so narrow it down by location and date to find something fun to do when you visit Norway in June.
Events are pretty expensive in Norway, so expect to pay close to 1.000 NOK for a single day ticket to a music festival.
Visit one of Norway’s many islands in June
Norway’s coast is incredible in the sunny days in June, and it’s a great time to get on a ferry and visit one of the islands off the coast of Norway. My personal favorite is to visit Jomfruland island just outside Kragerø in the southern Norway. This is an island that is mostly a nature reserve, but it also has a nice camping site where you can spend a few days on the beach.
But there’s also plenty of other islands. Norway has a long coastline, and most of it has idyllic islands with or without infrastructure on it. There’s few things as idyllic as spending the day on one of Norway’s “summer islands”!
June is a great time to visit Lofoten or Vesterålen
June (and July) are the best months to visit Lofoten or Vesterålen, and you should absolutely prioritize to spend at least 4 days in Lofoten during the summer vacation. It’s stunning during all of June, and you get to experience the amazing midnight sun on the incredibly beaches of Lofoten or Vesterålen!
As a matter of fact, Lofoten has had a huge problems with too many tourists in June and July. This has lead to some local regulations such as a wild camping ban in certain areas, so you need to prepare a bit if you want to go wild camping on Lofoten.
But don’t let that deter you from visiting. There’s no experience like Vesterålen or Lofoten in June!
Norway monthly travel guides
This is far from the only monthly guide to Norway we have in store, so check out the other months below if you are interested in visiting Norway in the future.
- Norway in January (Coming soon).
- Norway in February (Coming soon).
- Norway in March (Coming soon).
- Norway in April (Coming soon).
- Norway in May.
- Norway in June.
- Norway in July.
- Norway in August.
- Norway in September.
- Norway in October.
- Norway in November.
- Norway in December.