Everyone thinks of natural beautiful landscapes, fjords, city of Bergen, Nordkapp and Tromso to watch the northern lights when you say Norway, capital Oslo is not always what you think of first! Usually travellers’s route doesn’t include Oslo or include with a very limited short time as “Norway in a Nutshell” kind of exploring natural landscapes of Norway is a more popular attraction.
But I think Oslo has been underestimated! Yes, I have a thing for capitals but I would have liked Oslo even without the “capital” thing 🙂
As usual summary is below, then the story part…
Travel: There are many airlines that have flights to Oslo but
I suggest you especially check with SAS and Norwegian airlines as they are regional airlines, could possibly have more time and price options.
Airport Transfer: Oslo Gardermoen (OSL) Airport is 47 km to city centre. Best way would be using railway to arrive to the city in about 20 minutes. Single ticket is about 90 Nok.(10,5 dollars/9,5 euro) But careful, there are two companies that offer this service one is NSB the other is FlytoGet, but the later offers it for 180 Nok,(21 dollars/19 euro) difference being more luxury trains and I guess a 2-3 minutes earlier arrive. So I suggest NSB, there are also bus options around 175 Nok and takes about 40 minutes. Frankly after seeing railway option being fastest and cheapest I didn’t look more 🙂
Visa: Schengen.
Food-Drink: Traditional Norwegian food would be seafood dishes and reindeer meat dishes to speak generally. Of course Norwegian salmon is famous.
Sightseeing: Vigeland Park, Harbour Area, Aker Brygge, Grünerlokke (Thorvald Meyers Street), Stranden Street, Karl Johans Gate Street, Opera House, Nobel Peace Center Building, Viking Ship Museum, Damstredet, Telthusbakken, Akershus Fortress
Where to Stay: I decided to visit Oslo in a last minute why not decision for my upcoming holiday, so in a city famous for its expensiveness it kind of narrowed down my options on where to stay :)As usual I looked for a place close to center and considering I’ll be staying very short I opted for a hostel. Yes the hostel option which I said I’ll never ever stay again in one! But hostels aren’t exactly cheap here too. 400 nok for a single night (47 dollars/43 euros) seems a bit much for a hostel even though it was very clean, bathroom was separate and breakfast included. Hotels cost starts around 80-120 dollars per night. So I suggest you book your place as soon as possible to catch a promotion or cheaper prices.
Prices: You probably heard that Norway has one of the highest income standards in the world and let me tell you it is true. I’m not sure if it’s enough to explain the overall prices though 🙂 It certainly is an expensive country. And it is not just euro/dollar to local currency loss expensive; it is expensive even if you have Norwegian kron as well! Imagine a Mc Donalds or Burger King menu being 12-15 dollars (10-15 euro). And eating at a restaurant is of course much higher than this. Staying is expensive, even museums and attractions are not that cheap (Except for the free Vigeland Park which rules!)
After my Northern Europe visit (including Copenhagen and Stockholm), I don’t think I will ever say Paris is expensive or in London spending pound really got me 🙂 Because you can always find cheap and cheaper alternatives in those cities but with Northern Europe it wasn’t easy to do so unless you are a real veteran traveller or a local.
Alright, Let’s get to the story part.
First of all prepare for the cold weather. It is called North for a reason darlings, and it is not your just a chill cold, it is cold. Especially if you are visiting here in autumn or winter prepare your luggage accordingly. Layers are always a good idea. For example for my 8 days trip across North Europe in September I manage to get by perfectly with a 7 kg smallest size luggage and half empty small size bag pack. I expect the same performance from you dear readers as we discussed before best luggage is the lightest!
Oslo looked to me as a “generally above standards” city. Streets were clean and orderly, people were calm and kind, general architecture was modern and classic but never boring. It was like city figured it all out. I guess it is living in high standards effect 🙂 Yet Oslo is like a step sister in most traveller’s eyes compared to Copenhagen and Stockholm, most would say that former is not as beautiful. And choose to visit Bergen and other cities of Norway to travel. I heard it from almost all people I met travelling those parts and from my previous internet searches as well. Of course these are all subjective thoughts but hearing from many people I thought about it and decided that it is because Oslo has less “touristy” landmarks compared to other cities and many generic traveller’s doesn’t notice or appreciate overall high standards but look for the sticking out, everyone doing attractions in a new city 🙂 In any case, I think Oslo is underappreciated and has much to offer travellers.
Like most of the European cities, you can explore Oslo by walking. Most of the attractions are in walking distance. Tramway and bicycles are very convenient to use. Daily travel cards might come in handy especially if you are planning to visit museum area. It will give you 24 hours limitless usage for public transports including some of the shorter distance ferries. It cost 90 nok but worth it if you plan to use bus more than once since a ticket bought on the bus costs 50 nok (30 nok if you buy before getting into bus).
Lately Scandinavian food is the new trend among gourmet restaurants, recipes featuring old with new twist are in bloom, so Oslo is one of the places you can explore Scandinavian food. I can’t say a single dish but it is more like a try seafood dishes and reindeer meat dishes kind of thing 🙂 Norwegian smoked salmon is famous as well. There are some special festive dishes like Smalahove which is made from sheep head. But it was so out of my taste I didn’t check out properly! I think it is festive dish and you may need to order it beforehand if you want to try. Restaurants around Aker Brygge and Grünerlokke areas are good places.
For a quick orientation to Oslo, you can start with exploring Karl Johans Gate Street and around, have a look at Opera House, and walk through Stranden Street to Aker Brygge seeing the building where Nobel Peace Awards are given on your way. After Aker Brygge you can go to Vigeland Park or Grünerlokke. Now let’s get specific.
Aker Brygge was one of my favorite places in Oslo, it’s in the harbor area so you get a nice sea view, inside is a complex of modern architecture buildings with nice restaurants and shops. There are many different types of restaurants here so it may be a nice stop to eat something. I went to Burger Joint there, along with good burger also offers truffle mayonnaise & parmesan fries. Needless to say it was a pleasant visit for me, details are here.
I was really impressed by Vigeland Park. If you have only enough time to do one thing in Oslo, this is it. It is the biggest open air statue park in the world made by one artist, Gustav Vigeland. Inside you can see more than 200 statues along with gardens and fountains. Park is open and free all year long and in the mornings and afternoons you can see many people doing solo or group sport activities inside as well. Statues are mostly human figures but you can spend a whole day looking each of them, faces, composition, emotions depicted. If you still can’t get enough of it there is also another museum inside the park which you will need a ticket to enter but after seeing so many statues outside it is not for everyone 🙂
Grünerlokke area is famous for its nice cafes, boutiques and I also heard it is the hipster area 🙂 Anyway it is nice to walk around here and discover gems in shops. It is also one of the locations you can drop by at night.
If you are interested in photography or fan of nice colorful houses you don’t have to go to Bergen 🙂 You can see them in Oslo on Damstredet and Telthusbakken streets. These streets are close to each other, Damstredet has nice colorful houses while Telthusbakken has old wooden houses. I kind of had trouble finding them and when I finally did I was kind of sad that they were short streets but looking back at the photos I took there, I’m glad I found them 🙂 Also Oslo’s oldest church is close to Telthusbakken.
Another famous attraction of Oslo is the Viking Ship Museum. Actually if you come to this area, you can see that there are many other museums nearby as well. This museum has three very well preserved Viking ships on display. Travel tip, if you want to plan visiting more than one museum have a look at Oslo card, one or two museums might not cut it but still for 2-3 museums it is worth checking.
Also I couldn’t go but Akershus Fortress is a popular tourist spot as well. Of course if you have more than couple of days in Oslo, taking a fjord trip is the number one option travellers do here.
As for the night out, like every good city Oslo offers a lot of options. Classic pubs and clubs for dance lovers are easy to find but you can also find nice live Jazz music options in Oslo as well.
Lastly, let me conclude with why it is called the “Tiger city” and explain the 4,5 meters long tiger statue made by Elena Engelsen, which you probably will notice in front of the city central terminal 🙂 This naming actually goes back to 1870, first used by a Norwegian poet Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, describing Oslo as cold and dangerous like a tiger. But it kind of sticks, and in 2000, when the city was about to celebrate its 1000nd foundation celebrations, city want a tiger statue and they got it 🙂
