Sweden Weather in March 2025: Travel Tips for First-Timers

Sweden is frigid or cold and snowy throughout most of Sweden at the low elevations. March's highlights include auroras, winter sports, sledding, and skiing. Tourism is low in March.

Read on for our weather information and travel advice including average temperatures and rain/snowfall, places to go, and travel tips…

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• 1. Weather Overview
• 2. Best Places to Visit
• 3. Crowds and Costs
• 4. What to Wear

Sweden Weather in March: Overview

Averages: 

• Temperature range: -4–3°C (25–38°F)
• Total rain/snow: 3 cm (1 inch)
• Days with rain/snow: 7
• Humidity: 75%
• Sunshine hours/day: 5 hours

March Climate Comparison (Averages) for Sweden's Top Tourism Areas

In March, Sweden is cold along the coast, and the mountains and the north are freezing. The rainfall/snowfall generally ranges from semi-arid to low. The far south gets about 12 or more hours of daylight on average that enables daily excursions and sightseeing.

Southern Sweden: Stockholm, Gotland Island, Gothenburg and the southern coast are at 59° degrees latitude and southward. There is an average of 5 hours of sunlight. At low elevations, the average high is about 4°C (39°F), and the average nightly low is -1°C (30°F). The average humidity is about 75%.

Northern Sweden: Kiruna and other arctic tourist towns are north of latitude 66°. Kiruna is at latitude 68° and gets almost 12 hours of daylight on average daily. Though daylight hours are about the same as the south, the temperatures are still freezing and preserve the snow for skiing.

The Best Places to Visit in Sweden in March

Sweden's March highlights include 12 hours of daylight for activities, vast snowy forests, auroras, ski resorts, winter sports, and urban touring. In the north you can do snow sports and see auroras sometimes. You can also tour the cities and do countryside and wilderness excursions as weather permits.

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1. Stockholm — Experience the Urban and Skiing Highlights

Stockholm is the capital and the biggest city, and in March you can take flights with about the lowest fares of the year to arrive in low tourist season. Stockholm has an average daily high of 5°C (41°F) and is dry and cold or freezing in March.

There are about 12 hours of daylight and 5 hours of sunshine daily that provide light for touring. There are fewer crowds at highlights such as the Old Town, the Vasa Museum, and the Viking Museum.  You could see the auroras on clear nights outside the city in March.

If the conditions are suitable for cross-country skiing, you could ski at Nacka or at Hellasgården that is 20 minutes from downtown Stockholm. Near Stockholm, Flottsbro is a place to go for downhill skiing. There is very low snowfall of about 3 cm (1 inch) that falls about 7 days on average in March.

2. Åre and Duved— Enjoy Skiing

The Åre and Duved region is the best ski resort area in Sweden and it is still in high season in March. Åre has luxury resorts and hotels, and Duved is a ski resort town a few minutes away from Åre by train or road with more moderate prices.

You can see Sami people and go reindeer sledding also. At Abisko in Duved, the average high is 1°C (34°F), and the average low is -7°C (44°F). Similar to the rest of Sweden, there is an average of about 12 hours of daylight. Swedes go on sports vacations to the ski resorts and places they can ski cross-country in March, so if it might be busy and expensive at times in March.

Snowfall is low to moderate, and it snows more than half the days of March. By passenger train, a trip from Stockholm takes 6 or 7 hours.

3. Abisko — Enjoy Exotic Arctic Nature and Auroras

One of the best places in northern Scandinavia to see the northern lights in March is Abisko, because its mountains form a very dry microclimate for clearer skies. There are fun and recreational things to do, such as dog sledding, snowshoe trekking in Abisko National Park, and seeing frozen waterfalls and lakes.

Abisko is a small village about an hour's drive from Kiruna and close to the Riksgränsen ski resort area, so you could go on an excursion to Abisko from these places.

The tall mountains form what people call the Blue Hole above the national park by blocking the clouds, so you can see auroras unusually clearly as well as beautiful indigo/violet twilight and Milky Way.

In the area, you can also enjoy meeting Sami people and go reindeer sledding. Abisko is freezing with average daily highs of -5°C (23°F) and lows of -12°C (10°F). Nearby Riksgränsen is famed for deep snow.

4. Kiruna — Enjoy Lapland Highlights and Experiences, the Auroras, Sledding and Skiing

The Arctic Circle is the best place to see the auroras and experience the indigo/violet/pink skies, and Kiruna is one of the best towns to go to for skiing in Scandinavia in March because Riksgränsen and tall mountains are nearby. When the snow starts to melt in the south, it accumulates more around Kiruna.

Skiing and touring around Kiruna and Abisko is more enjoyable with an average of 12 hours of daylight and 5 hours of sunshine. As described above, nearby Abisko is the best place to see auroras. You might also enjoy skiing cross-country and sledding in the sunshine and going to the mountains.

Kiruna is Sweden's northernmost large town with a population of 25,000. The average high is -2°C (28°F), and the nightly lows are about -12°C (10°F). The total snowfall in Kiruna is very low.

Low Tourism Season: Touring Advice for March

Sweden's cities and towns in southern Sweden generally have low tourism in March, except when the Easter public holiday falls in March. This means you can enjoy some lower prices, more relaxation, and more solitude.

If Easter is in March, as it was in 2024 and will be in 2027, then there is a long vacation period spanning Good Friday to Easter Monday. Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday are public holidays, and schools and businesses close, and attractions and areas of tourism become busier with national travelers.

It is high season for the ski resort areas. The Swedes like to take trips to the ski resorts in the central and northern regions in March.

You can find lower prices for flights, but hotel accommodation prices stay high or decline only a little due to business travelers.

What to Wear in March

In March, there is both snow and rain in southern Sweden, but not great amounts. There is low rainfall/snowfall on an average of 9 days every March in Gothenburg, the wettest popular city.

Most of the tourist highlights and the mountains have unpredictable weather. You could be the most comfortable by dressing in layers and wearing a waterproof coat or bringing raingear wherever you go in Sweden.

Here is a packing list for a few essentials in Sweden:

• Warm waterproof boots with good traction for the outdoors (you could wear them in-flight to keep your luggage weight down)
• Comfortable shoes with good traction for city touring
• Rain gear, especially if you are along the southern coast
• Warm hat, gloves, and scarf
• Swimwear for hot springs and spas
• Cardigans or thermals
• Polarized glasses