How to visit the Film Locations of Netflix series "Home for Christmas" (2019-) in Røros, Norway

(Last Updated On: 21st December 2020)

With the second season of romcom series Home for Christmas having just been released on Netflix, let's take a look at the series' main filming location: the "winter wonderland town" of Røros in mid-Norway. Here is a short travel guide based on my visit to Røros in August 2020…

About the TV series: Home for Christmas

What to do when you're 30 and single at Christmas?

Go on the hunt for a man to find yourself a new boyfriend in the 24 day leading up to Christmas. At least that's the plan of 30-year-old Johanne (played by Norwegian actress Ida Elise Broch).

The first season of this original Netflix series was released in December 2019, but left the question who will actually become Johanne's boyfriend open. The second series carried on from there and will lift the secret. This season was released on Netflix on 18th of December 2020.

Read more about the Netflix series Home for Christmas in my film review post

About the main film location: Røros in Norway

Where is Røros located?

Røros is located in mid-Norway close to the city of Trondheim and the border to Sweden. 

Even though I think I had heard about Røros before, I think I only really became aware of it through the Netflix series Home for Christmas. When I watched the first season back in December 2019, I really was intrigued to discover this cute litte town full of traditional wooden houses myself.

So in August 2020, I got super lucky because I was able to visit Røros while I was working as a tour guide on a 2‑week guided tour through Norway. 

I felt especially lucky for two reasons: Firstly that we were even able to go to Norway at all in the Corona year 2020 (at that time in the summer infection rates were on a constantly low level in Europe and by keeping to the hygiene measures we were able to travel to Norway).

Secondly, it was a beautiful day with blue skies and lots of sunshine on 16th of August 2020.

Winterwonderland Røros

Despite climate change also affecting the area, Røros is one of the few places in Norway that still gets very cold and therefore lots of snow every winter. Located in a mountain rage region, it can get as cold as – 20 degrees Celsius (- 4 degrees Fahrenheit) here.

Røros is a town full of wooden, coloured houses and some of them still have a traditional grass roof. In fact, Røros is one of the oldest towns with wooden buildings in Europe. Therefore, the whole town has even been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site! Many houses here in fact date back to the 1700s and 1800s.

So when I walked through the streets of Røros in August 2020, I immediately thought that it looks almost like an open air museum showcasing historic Norwegian houses.

But… Røros is a real Norwegian town and people actually live here! 

Speaking about museums, the town was formerly a very important copper mining town. The mine is still there and there is a local museum attached to it, where you can learn more about how people used to live and work in this area of Norway in former times.

How to find Home for Christmas film locations in Røros:

Scene from the first season of "Home for Christmas". © Netflix

Well, due to the fact that the exact film locations (street names and house numbers) weren't really given anywhere online and I only had a few hours on my visit back in August 2020, I did not find the exact film locations of, for example, Johanne's home. 

But… just walking around town will be an equally cool experience for any fan of the series! The town centre is quite small, so you can easily walk around from one street to the other and be in awe at the many nice places that you will discover along the way! 🙂

I saw the perhaps most famous cat of Røros, which also sometimes features on the "Destination Røros" instagram profile

The main street: Kjerkgata

On IMDb, this is the only film location that was given for Home for Christmas and indeed while watching the series, it seems that at least all the street scenes in the second season and most of the scenes of the first season have been filmed in this one street. 

The only difference is that while most of the street scenes for the first season were filmed at the upper level of the street, most the second season street scenes were filmed further down this hilly road.

Scene from the first season of "Home for Christmas". © Netflix

Luckily, this street is very easy to find. In the back of the scene below, you will see the town's 18th century church (btw, the only stone building in Røros!) and a very striking yellow wooden house before that. 

Before that, there is a brown building, which houses a hotel and restaurant. It has a "Vertshuset Røros" sign in the front. You can actually stay in the hotel, probably the most central location in town.

A Scene from "Home for Christmas" and me in August 2020 standing in the same street that this scene was shot in.
Photo 1: © Netflix. Photo 2: © Sonja Irani / filmfantravel.com.

In the second season of the series, I noticed the sign for "The White House Candles", which appears in several scenes, as well as "Amneus Boghandel".

On my last visit to Røros, I was only at the top of the street close to the church, so I missed this part. If I ever come back to Røros (fingers crossed!) I will look out for exactly these shops.

Scene from the second season of "Home for Christmas". © Netflix

Scene from the second season of "Home for Christmas". © Netflix

The "pretzel sign"

I have seen the pretzel sign in the background in several scenes while watching the first season of Home for Christmas (see photos below). 

However, when I was in Røros, I did not find it. As mentioned before, I only had a few hours and perhaps I walked past it, but I didn't catch it on my camera.

If anyone ever finds the pretzel sign in Røros, please let me know by leaving a comment underneath this post! 😉

Scene from the first season of "Home for Christmas" with the "pretzel sign" in the back. Photo: © Netflix

Another scene from the first season of "Home for Christmas" with the "pretzel sign" in the back. Photo: © Netflix

Johanne's home

I would love to know where that is, too. 😉 So far, I couldn't find out, but if anyone know where it is, please leave a comment below. Also, while I was there with my tour group, we booked a walking tour with a local guide and she took us to a really unique kind of inner courtyard of very old, brown wooden houses. 

However, the gate to Johanne's flat is quite striking, so for anyone coming to Røros in the future, watch out for it and you might find it! 

Scene from "Home for Christmas" showing Johanne's home with the striking entrance gate. Photo: © Netflix

Another scene from "Home for Christmas" showing Johanne's home. Photo: © Netflix

Scene from "Home for Christmas" showing Johanne's street. Photo: © Netflix

Practical tips for visiting Røros

How to get there: The easiest (and most sustainable) way to get to Røros is by train, either from Oslo (approximately 5 hours) or Trondheim (approximately 2 hours). Trains run regularly from Oslo and Trondheim and so do busses. Alternatively, you can drive there with a rental car (about 5 hours from Oslo and 2.5 hours from Trondheim) or even fly or take a boat in the summer.

When to go there: Winter to get the authentic Home for Christmas feeling from the series. The annual Christmas market in Røros make the town one of the most popular Christmas locations in Norway. The summer and spring time will be nice for some warmer temperatures and the long Scandinavian summer days! 

What to do there: Visit the local museum, take a guided tour, go on the hunt for the Home for Christmas film locations and… just relax! Røros is not yet a place that has been discovered by mass tourism, so it's perfect to just enjoy the relaxed Norwegian way of life! 😉

Where to stay: In hotels like the Vertshuset as stated above or even a treetop cabin! Take your pick…

Where to eat and drink: In the summertime, you can go on a local food safari. Apart from that, there are several cute little restaurants and cafés to discover in Røros!

For more infos on Røros and to plan your trip, check out the helpful Plan your trip page by VisitNorway and the Destination Røros page!

Did you know? Other film locations in Røros

Some of the scenes for the original TV series of the classic Swedish children's book Pippi Longstocking (1969) by Astrid Lindgren have been filmed here in Røros, too. To be more precise, in this colorful street. Couldn't be more fitting for Pippi, right? 😉

Unless otherwise credited, all photos © by Sonja Irani / FilmFanTravel.com