Norway is one of the world’s most beautiful destinations, but it is a tough place to pack for. Even in the peak summer tourist season, Norway will throw the entire range of weather possibilities at you – from sunny & hot to rainy & cold and everywhere in-between.
This wide range of possibilities makes it very hard to know what to pack for Norway. And, chances are you are reading this post as you know packing for Norway with kids gets even more complicated!
To help you with your packing decisions, here is our Norway packing list, along with some commentary on what worked for us and what didn’t. For context:
- Our Norway itinerary included 5 days in Oslo with kids, 7 days in Bergen with kids, 3 days in Ålesund with kids, a road trip with kids along the Atlantic Road and a couple of days in Geiranger with kids between July 24th and August 16th.
- We spent most of our time outside walking, hiking, on boats, etc.
- We encountered a wide range of weather, but most days were cloudy with some rain. Most of the time the rain wasn’t too bad, but there were a few instances where it was so heavy we had to go back inside.
- We rented apartments/houses with laundry facilities which enabled us to pack less clothing than otherwise.
- We’re from Canada, so we’re used to somewhat colder weather; if you are from a warmer climate you may wish to bring warmer clothes.
- This may seem like a lot, but we were able to pack all this in a small & medium suitcase, the small storage compartments in our two backpack carriers, a day bag and a diaper bag.
Note that we’ve tried to display pictures which show the range of weather we encountered during our stay – hope you find this helpful!
This post contains compensated links.
CLOTHES FOR MOM
We had planned to be active for a large part of our trip, so most of my clothes was active wear that just happened to be Lululemon.
– 2 tank tops
– 4 short sleeve t-shirts
– 1 long sleeve t-shirt (only wore once on an especially cold day)
– 1 pair of jeans
– 1 pair of lightweight pants for hiking (I love my unlined Dance Studio Pants by Lululemon. They are lightweight and dry remarkably fast for those rainy days!)
– 1 pair of Gap Girlfriend Chinos (these pants are great for touring the city, a fjord tour or even hiking!)
– 1 pair of shorts (I have a pair of jean shorts with some stretch, making them the perfect all around shorts.)
– 2 pairs of cropped yoga pants (perfect for hiking)
– 5 pairs of socks
– 1 long sleeve jacket (I brought my Lululemon Define jacket. It’s not too warm to hike in and I especially love the thumbholes and fold-over cuffs. It’s the little things!)
– 1 lightweight rain shell jacket (this was a perfect jacket to layer over a t-shirt for hiking. I was warm enough in the wind/rain.)
– Baseball hat
– Sunglasses (with the amount of time we spent outside, this was a must)
– Light hiking shoes & Converse sneakers (I was originally planning to bring my proper hiking boots but in the end decided to bring my Merrell hiking shoes because they are a little more versatile. In hindsight, because I had my Converse sneakers for city walking, I wish I had brought my hiking boots. I don’t like my Merrells for hiking in the rain. They are way too slippery and especially carrying a kid on my back.)
– Swimsuit (did not use)
– Silicone wedding ring (we don’t like bringing expensive jewelry on trips)
CLOTHES FOR DAD
– 4 short sleeve t-shirts
– 1 long sleeve t-shirt (only wore once on an especially cold day)
– 1 pair of jeans
– 1 pair of cargo pants (I know, these scream out, “I’m a tourist!!”, but the long pant/shorts option and quick drying capability are ideal for this climate)
– 1 pair of hiking shorts
– 3 pairs of socks & 2 hiking socks
– 1 lightweight “rain resistant” jacket (this jacket wasn’t sufficient – it got soaked through a few times during heavy rain. I’d recommend a light, fully waterproof jacket instead)
– 1 fleece shell jacket (this jacket was too warm and it wasn’t worn much. It took up a lot of suitcase space – I wouldn’t bring it next time)
– Baseball hat (great for rainy days when you don’t feel like bringing an umbrella)
– Sunglasses (used these lots, even on the cloudy days as the sky was still quite bright)
– Light hiking shoes (multi-purpose items like these work well for the city and moderate hiking)
– Swimsuit (The water in Oslo is quite warm this time of year. We never made it swimming in Oslo, although it would have been a cool experience to swim in the North Sea. I’d probably leave it at home next time)
CLOTHES FOR 2 YEAR OLD BOY
– 3 t-shirts
– 2 long sleeve t-shirts
– 1 polo shirt
– 1 sweater
– 2 pants
– 2 pairs of shorts
– 4 pairs of socks
– 2 pairs of pajamas
– Baseball hat (great to protect young skin on sunny days)
– One-piece rain suit (kept him completely dry the whole trip)
– MyMayu collapsible rain boots (these pack down really small)
– Fall jacket (not waterproof, but slightly insulated for colder days)
– Bathing suit & swim diapers (we didn’t end up using these)
CLOTHES FOR 4 YEAR OLD GIRL
– 3 dresses
– 1 tutu skirt (not practical for travel at all, but she loves it, so what the heck?)
– 5 pairs of leggings
– 1 romper
– 2 long sleeve shirts
– 3 short sleeve shirts
– 1 pair of shorts
– 5 pairs of socks
– Baseball hat (great or for rainy or sunny days)
– Rain jacket and pants (we love the bright pink jacket for traveling – it helps to instantly find her in a crowd)
– 1 warm hoodie (we used this instead of a jacket for cooler, dry days)
– 2 pairs of pajamas
– 1 bathing suit (went unused)
TRAVEL GEAR FOR KIDS
– Fly-Tot (we love our Fly-Tot and it helped the kids sleep on both of our 9 hour trans-Atlantic flights. See our full Fly-tot review)
– Diapers & wipes (we brought a decent amount of our own supply, but Pampers were easy to find everywhere we went)
– Peapod Plus Travel Tent (our little guy loves his Peapod. See our full Peapod Plus review)
– LILLEBaby carrier (our kids outgrew the Ergo; we find this larger carrier is very comfortable for both parent and child)
– MyLittleSeat travel highchair (versatile and packs up nice and small)
– Boken Diaper Bag (we like the large storage capacity of this versatile diaper bag)
– Ollie the Owl bluetooth speaker (the kids liked listening to the Moana soundtrack on our hikes. This cute owl doubles as a white noise machine as well).
– Aden & Anais blanket (a very useful multi-purpose item to bring. It’s primary purpose was a blanket for our son)
– Cheerio snack holder (great for finger food snacks on-the-go)
– Hard spout spill-proof water bottles (for bedtime and on-the-go)
OUTDOOR ACTIVE GEAR
– Deuter Kid Comfort III child carrier (we brought two of these and we used them almost every day for city sightseeing and hiking)
– Deuter rain cover (this saved us on more than one occasion when we got caught outside in the rain. We only have one of these, but we wished we had two)
– Water bladder hydration pack (ensures the whole family has enough water for the day)
– Sunscreen (we only needed to use sunscreen once during our trip)
ELECTRONICS & MISC
– DSLR camera (a country this beautiful demands a good camera. Only problem was that we kept needing to put it away when it rained).
– Sports camera (we brought along a waterproof/shockproof camera for our 4 year old to use. It actually came in handy for us when we wanted to take good quality pictures in the rain)
– Swiss Army knife (came in handy for some unplanned Deuter repairs)
– Travel size first aid kit (hopefully you won’t need it, but it’s best to be prepared…)
– Universal electrical adapter
– Painter’s tape (we use this in place of outlet protectors. It’s good for all kinds of quick fixes and making race tracks for dinky cars too!)
– Sandwich bags and storage containers (great for packing your own lunch and snacks)
TRAVEL DAY / APARTMENT ENTERTAINMENT FOR KIDS
– Reusable sticker book (both kids liked playing with this one. We liked the reusable nature of this activity).
– iPad (our kids favorite activity, of course)
– Headphones (we brought some old Air Canada headphones as we’ve found the ‘volume limited’ headphones for kids are not loud enough on airplanes. We recommend a cheap pair of normal headphones, just watch the volume isn’t too loud)
– Crayola Wonder Mess Free coloring book (great for little ones who can’t keep their markers on the page)
– A digital library for kids allows you to bring tons of online children’s books without packing any.
– Small board books and paper books
– Small cars and trucks
– Dry erase activity books (any reusable activity is great for travel)
– Washable markers (for the 2 year old in case he draws on the walls of our Airbnb)
– Story collection books (the kids get bored of the small books pretty quick, which makes the Epic reading app so great for travel)
– Toddler magazines (Chirp and High Five)
– Melissa and Doug On The Go Water Wow (reusable painting pages using only water)
Overall, we were happy with what we packed. The biggest waste of space in our luggage turned out to be our bathing suits. In hindsight, we should have used this space for umbrellas instead.
Have a great trip to Norway! If you have any additional insights after your trip, please share it with us.
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Celine Brewer is a dedicated family travel blogger with a profound passion for helping families create unforgettable adventures together. Her blog blends captivating travel narratives with practical tips for family-friendly destinations and enjoying active travel with kids. As a mother of two, she understands the unique challenges of traveling with children and offers valuable insights to empower parents.
When Celine isn't traveling with her husband and two kids, she's either working on one of her three travel sites (Family Can Travel, Baby Can Travel and Travel Banff Canada) or out enjoying the majestic Canadian Rockies her family calls home.