Midsummer Golf in Scandinavia
For a few weeks around the solstice the far north stops getting dark, and the most surreal golf on earth opens up. These are our seven best places for midsummer golf in Scandinavia and the Nordic north, from teeing off at midnight under the Arctic sun to the long, luminous evenings of Stockholm and Oslo, each with our verdict and the window that shows it best.
Photograph: Lofoten Links, Norway, via Google
How we chose
Midsummer golf in the north comes in two distinct kinds, and our list covers both. The first is the genuine midnight sun, the phenomenon you only get above the Arctic Circle, where for weeks on either side of the June solstice the sun never dips below the horizon and a tee time at two in the morning is played in full daylight. Norway's Lofoten Links is the flagship of that world, with Swedish Lapland, the Finland and Sweden border and Arctic Norway close behind, and Iceland's Arctic Open just beyond as the wider Nordic bonus. These are short season, limited tee sheet courses where the experience is the whole point.
The second kind is the white nights of the southern capitals. Stockholm and Oslo sit well south of the Arctic Circle, so the sun does technically set, but around midsummer it barely gets dark, and the long luminous evenings let you finish a championship course at ten at night and dine after. That is where the best golf in Scandinavia actually lives, on the parkland and links around the capitals, so we paired the once in a lifetime Arctic rounds with the heartland courses worth building a trip around. As ever these are our editorial verdicts, and seasons and rates change every year, so always confirm directly before booking.
The 7 best places for midsummer golf in Scandinavia
Lofoten Links, Norway
The clear number one, and one of the most spectacular golf experiences anywhere. Lofoten Links sits on the Lofoten archipelago well inside the Arctic Circle, an 18 hole course completed in 2015 to a design by Jeremy Turner, playing to a par of 71 over roughly 6,662 yards along the edge of the Norwegian Sea. It is the only course ranked among the world's best that you can play under the midnight sun, with holes routed between granite peaks, white sand beaches and the open water. The midnight sun runs from about mid May to late July, so a round at midnight is the headline act. The season is short and the tee sheet small, so book early and bring layers, because the Arctic weather writes its own script. For many travelers it is a genuine bucket list round in golf in Norway.
Bjorkliden, Swedish Lapland
For sheer extremity, Bjorkliden takes some beating. The most northerly course in Sweden, it lies high in the Arctic mountains near Abisko, far above the Arctic Circle, on a dramatic shelf overlooking Lake Tornetrask and the peaks of Lapland. Through the peak summer weeks it stays open around the clock under the midnight sun, so you can play a rugged mountain round at any hour and watch the light move across the fells rather than fade. This is wild, elemental golf where the scenery does the heavy lifting and the walk is part of the adventure. Pair it with the night train north and the Abisko national park, and it becomes one of the great northern golf escapes in golf in Sweden.
Green Zone Golf, Tornio and Haparanda
The most quietly remarkable course on the list. Green Zone Golf straddles the Torne River on the border of Finnish Tornio and Swedish Haparanda, its 18 holes split between the two nations, with some played in Finland and some in Sweden. Because the border is also a time zone line, you can drive from a Swedish tee and have the ball land on a Finnish green an hour later by the clock. It sits far enough north for full midnight sun, and the club runs a famous midsummer event of nonstop golf across several days and nights in late June and July. The golf is honest rather than world beating, but no course on earth offers a stranger or more memorable novelty for a group on a golf in Finland trip.
Tromso and Arctic Norway
Tromso, the largest city in Arctic Norway, makes a comfortable base for midnight sun golf with a real town behind it. The midnight sun here runs from roughly late May to late July, and the local club lets you play one of the world's most northerly rounds with the fjords and the Lyngen Alps as a backdrop. The appeal is the combination: a genuine 2am round in daylight, then a proper Arctic city of restaurants, harbor bars and whale watching boats to fill the rest of the trip. For travelers who want the midnight sun experience without roughing it, Tromso balances the wilderness and the comforts better than anywhere else in the far north of golf in Norway.
Akureyri and the Arctic Open, Iceland
Strictly Iceland is the wider Nordic north rather than the Scandinavian peninsula, but no midsummer golf list is complete without it. Akureyri Golf Club, founded in 1935 in the north of Iceland, claims the title of the world's most northerly full 18 hole course and hosts the Arctic Open, run since 1986 around midsummer and played right through the night under the midnight sun. The tournament draws golfers from across the world for three days of nonstop play when the sun barely touches the horizon. Reykjavik's courses to the south enjoy the same long light, so Iceland makes a brilliant standalone midnight golf break, easily reached from both Europe and North America in golf in Iceland.
Stockholm and the Swedish heartland
This is where the quality of Scandinavian golf actually concentrates. Stockholm sits south of the Arctic Circle, so it does get dark, but only just: around midsummer the city sees roughly 18 hours of daylight and a long luminous dusk, so you can finish a championship round late in the evening and still dine in the light. The marquee is Bro Hof Slott Stadium, the Robert Trent Jones Jr design that opened in 2007, has ranked number one in Sweden and Scandinavia and hosted the Nordea Masters from 2010 to 2016. Around it sit a deep field of fine clubs, so a midsummer week in golf in Stockholm pairs top tier golf with the brightest evenings of the year.
Oslo and the Oslofjord, Norway
Oslo rounds out the list as the gentler, greener counterpoint to the Arctic drama. The Norwegian capital basks in very long midsummer evenings, light enough to play deep into the night, and the standard of golf around the Oslofjord is high. The standout is Miklagard, the Robert Trent Jones Jr parkland that has long sat at or near the top of the Norwegian rankings, with Larvik and the Vestfold coast an easy drive south for a links flavored second day. It is the easiest midsummer golf base in Norway, a short flight from across Europe, with a handsome harbor city for the evenings and the fjord scenery framing the golf in golf in Oslo.
Seasonal patterns and course facts verified June 2026. Daylight, conditions and rates vary by year and week and change without notice, so always confirm current tee times and opening hours directly before booking. Check midsummer tee time availability.
Plan a midsummer golf trip
Tell us roughly when you want to travel and who is in the group, and one concierge matches the destination to the light, locks the marquee tee times and the lodging that makes the far north work, and costs the trip to the head. The Arctic courses have short seasons and small tee sheets, so the sooner we start the better, with no obligation.
Midsummer golf questions
Can you really play golf at midnight in Scandinavia?
Yes. North of the Arctic Circle the sun does not set for weeks around midsummer, so courses such as Lofoten Links in Norway, Bjorkliden in Swedish Lapland and Green Zone Golf on the Finland and Sweden border stay open around the clock and you can tee off at midnight in full daylight. Further south, the capitals never go fully dark in late June, so evening rounds run very late even where the sun does technically set. Always confirm current tee times and opening hours directly before booking.
When is midsummer in Scandinavia?
Midsummer falls around the summer solstice on June 21, and the Nordic countries celebrate it as one of the biggest holidays of the year in the days around the longest day. For golf, the bright window is wider than the holiday itself: north of the Arctic Circle the midnight sun runs roughly from late May to late July, while the southern capitals enjoy their longest, lightest evenings through June and into early July. Plan the trip around mid to late June for the peak of the light.
Where is the best midnight sun golf?
Lofoten Links on Norway's Lofoten archipelago is the standout, the only course ranked among the world's best that you can play under the midnight sun, with holes running along the Norwegian Sea between granite peaks. Bjorkliden in Swedish Lapland is the most northerly course in Sweden, set high in the Arctic mountains, and Green Zone Golf at Tornio and Haparanda is the only course split across two countries and two time zones. All three stay light around the clock in the peak weeks. Always confirm tee times before booking.
Do you need to book midsummer golf in advance?
For the Arctic courses, yes. Lofoten Links, Bjorkliden and the far northern clubs have short seasons and limited tee sheets, and the midsummer weeks are their busiest, so book tee times and especially lodging well ahead. The southern capitals around Stockholm and Oslo have far more capacity, but the best courses and the long midsummer weekends still fill, so reserve marquee tee times in advance. Rates and seasons change every year, so always confirm directly before booking.
Related
The Tee Sheet
Seasonal trips, green fee changes and the booking windows that just opened. Every other week.
Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Seasonal patterns and course facts verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.