Things to Do in Molde — Jazz, Roses & the Romsdal Panorama

Molde sits on a narrow shelf of land along the northern shore of the Romsdalsfjord, with the jagged wall of the Romsdal Alps rising directly across the water. It’s a small city — modest in scale, generous in setting — known locally for two things that seem to have little to do with each other: roses, which bloom here further north than they have any right to, and jazz, which has drawn musicians and audiences to the fjord every July since 1961. Add a working harbour, an open-air museum, and a handful of saunas looking straight out at the mountains, and Molde makes a genuinely rewarding stop on a Møre og Romsdal itinerary.

Sauna Culture in Molde

Molde’s sauna scene is compact but well matched to its setting — every option here trades on the same fjord-and-mountain backdrop that defines the city.

Nausta is the standout: two floating saunas moored right at Torget in the city centre, with the Moldefjord and the Romsdal Alps filling the view from the deck. It takes bookings for private groups of up to 12 or drop-in sessions, and stepping straight from the heat into the fjord puts you in the middle of the same panorama you’d otherwise be viewing from a hillside.

On the eastern edge of town near the airport, ROA Kviltorp Camping offers a smaller, wood-fired sauna by the sea, with room for two to six people and the same view of the Molde panorama across the water — a more budget-friendly, unhurried alternative to Nausta.

For an indoor option, Scandic Seilet Spa occupies the fourth floor of the distinctive sail-shaped Scandic Seilet hotel on the central quay, pairing a sauna and fitness area with floor-to-ceiling fjord views. Guests here also get access to the adjacent Moldebadet, the city’s indoor waterpark — a sports pool, wellness pool, jacuzzi, sauna, and slide that works well for families or anyone wanting a longer wellness session regardless of the weather outside.

Outdoor Activities & Nature

The single best thing to do in Molde costs nothing and takes about fifteen minutes: ride the shuttle up to the Varden viewpoint, 407 metres above the city, for the so-called Molde panorama — a sweep of 222 named peaks in the Romsdal Alps laid out across the fjord. It’s roughly ten minutes from the city centre and one of the most complete mountain views accessible this easily anywhere in Norway.

At sea level, Moldemarka, the forested hills behind the city, offer hiking and outdoor recreation year-round, with trails passing close to the Romsdal Museum’s open-air grounds. For those with more time and a car, Molde makes a workable base for two of Norway’s most celebrated drives: Trollstigen, the switchback mountain road roughly ninety minutes east, and the Atlantic Road (Atlanterhavsveien), the causeway of bridges strung across skerries between the Romsdal peninsula and Kristiansund. Both are full-day excursions from Molde, but either is achievable if you start early.

Local Food & Culture

Molde’s cultural identity is built on two long-running traditions. Moldejazz — the Molde International Jazz Festival — was founded in 1961 and is recognised as the oldest continuously running jazz festival in the world. It takes over the city for six days every July, packing in around 120 concerts and drawing more than 60,000 visitors to a town many times smaller than that number. Book accommodation well ahead if your visit lines up with festival week.

The city’s other nickname, the City of Roses, comes from the rose gardens that flourish here thanks to an unusually mild climate for this latitude — they bloom from around mid-June through August, giving the streets and waterfront a distinctly soft, un-Arctic character for a town this far north.

For a deeper sense of the region’s history, the Romsdal Museum is one of Norway’s largest folk museums, built around Bygata, a reconstructed old town street lined with the same kind of picket fences and rose bushes that give the city its nickname. The museum’s newer building, opened in 2016, is itself a notable piece of contemporary architecture.

Getting There & When to Visit

Molde Airport (Årø) connects the city with Oslo and Bergen, sitting just a few minutes from the centre. The city also makes a natural stop on a wider Nordvestlandet road trip, with Ålesund roughly ninety minutes south along the coast and Kristiansund reachable via the Atlantic Road.

July is Molde at its fullest — Moldejazz and the roses overlap, and the city is genuinely busy. Late spring and early autumn offer the same fjord and mountain scenery with far fewer people and easier bookings. Winter strips the view back to its essentials: bare peaks, quiet water, and a sauna session that feels appropriately earned once the cold sets in.

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Sauna Molde is small but well positioned — for the full list of options, see our sauna city guide to Molde. Heading further along the coast, our guide to the best saunas in Western Norway puts Molde’s fjord-view scene in its wider context, and saunas with fjord views in Norway covers more of the same panorama-driven bathing found here. Combine your trip with things to do in Ålesund or things to do in Åndalsnes, both within reach along the same stretch of coast.