Norway – Clothing planning
Visiting Norway in autumn, with plans to travel to the UK, France and Germany, brought excitement. And significant clothing planning and packing dilemma are due to the different climates we would be visiting.
Tromsø, a city in northern Norway, is a central cultural hub above the Arctic Circle. It’s famed as a viewing point for colourful Northern Lights, and average reported temps were between 5C to -1C, so we planned for that. Unfortunately, the actual temps when we were there were around 8C to 4C. This meant our clothing planning and packing for polar conditions was total overkill.
Fails
We took so many packets of hand and toe warmers and didn’t use ONE pack. It just wasn’t cold enough. Also unnecessary were the Heat Holder socks. They may be suitable for winter, but in autumn were too hot. And they are too thick; it’s hard to get shoes on over them.
Clothing – Passes
- Macpac Nemesis Tactical Pants – these are my go-to pants for all travelling through cooler climates. Super comfy, soft-shell pants protect from the weather, are breathable, and have articulated knees and invisible side zips. They can be worn for days, and if they get a bit dirty, you wipe them over with a damp cloth, and they’re clean again. AWESOME for travelling.
- Base layers – thermal tops and pants. Again Macpac, I took the 220g and 165g women’s Tops and Long Johns. Super soft and not bulky, I wore the 220g in Norway and the 165g across Europe. They are anti-microbial and anti-bacterial and can be worn for 3-4 days without smelling.
- Windcheaters – I bought the Macpac Tui Fleece jackets.. they were warm, lightweight, washed and dried quickly and compressed well for packing.
- Macpac Down Vest – worn over the base layer and polar fleece top, it’s thin enough to go under a down coat. It has invisible zippered pockets again and two large internal pockets that are great for holding phone, room keys, purse etc. All safely on the inside of your clothing between layers.
- Macpac Hooded Down Coat – The Aurora Women’s Coat is a long line, light (so easy to pack), has a detachable hood, and is filled with 600 loft duck down, giving maximum protection from the cold. In addition, it has concealed zips on the hand warmer pockets, a high collar that keeps your neck warm when the coat is zipped up, and one internal zippered pocket for phones.
All my clothing came from Macpac, an NZ company, as you can see from above. They have stores in Melbourne, but I bought everything online, and it all arrived within a week. The service and quality of clothing are excellent. The sizing is pretty spot on – but the coats are a little on the small side. For coats, buy a size or two UP from your regular size because of the layers you’ll have on underneath. I have no affiliation with them apart from being a happy customer.
Shoes
For Norway, we needed waterproof shoes and considering we were going northern lights chasing at night when temps were expected to be -1C, I bought Columbia Omni Heat Heavenly snow boots. They were comfy enough to wear all day and warm with a pair of woollen socks underneath. I had purchased a size larger than I needed to allow for thick socks but still couldn’t get the super thick heat holders under them, but they weren’t required. So feet were toasty with just the woollen socks.
Hats and Gloves
I packed a couple of woollen hats lined with polar fleece to keep the head warm. Similar to the Thinsulate, but not that brand. One had ear flaps to keep the ears warm. The others were just beanies. Outside, the hats never came off. Ears were frozen if you didn’t wear them. Gloves – I took the Aquatech Sensory Gloves. They kept the hands warm – but I still found it tricky to change camera settings with them on. It was hard to poke the fingers out, so I took them off, changed settings, and put them back on.
If you go in winter, I recommend the hot hands. The guides told us that Tromso often has temperatures between -10 and -20 in winter!