Oslo

Quick Facts

Type: City Break
Best Date to Visit: May – Aug
Expense: Very Expensive
Things to Do: Scooter around city, Visit Museums, Dine, Boat cruise
Points of Interest: Opera House, Vigeland Park, Nobel Peace Prize Museum, Viking Boat museum, Royal Palace, Akershus Fortress, Radhuset, Holmenkollbakken (Ski museum) and more
The Good: Modern,  Plenty to see and do
The Bad: Very Expensive

Brief

Oslo is Norway’s capital city which was founded around 1050 by King Harald Hardrada. The city was shortly affected by a great fire to which King Christian IV built a new town just west of the original city and named it after himself as Christiania. The spelling was later changed to Kristiania but then by 1925 the name was reverted back to Oslo. Oslo or Christiania back then was made the capital of Norway 1814.

Today Oslo is the centre stage for beautiful Scandinavian architecture, culture and cuisine. Yearly it is the centre stage for the Nobel Peace Prize and has hosted the Winter Olympics at 1952. The city is said to be fun, artistic, creative in so many ways so lets see how my trip went.

Exploring Oslo

I went to Oslo for a quick weekend break away from London, It is officially my first visit to a Scandinavian country after finding out Finland and Estonia are not Scandinavian nations. My trip to Oslo was different as I did not explore on my own but had a few friends with me on this trip. I arrived in a rainy Oslo away from a rarely sunny London,  the weather was not entirely on my side throughout the trip as it was raining from time to time which halted parts of my trip. Another struggle on this trip was how expensive everything was from food, travel, tickets and even the toilets which costs 20Nkr equivalent of just under £2. Nonetheless the experience was amazing.

Roaming the City on Foot

I arrived 12 hours earlier than my friends, giving me a whole day to explore with a closer observation. Firstly I walked from my hostel to the Opera House which in my view was advertised as the cities main attraction. I didn’t go inside the building but I believe I didn’t need to as in my opinion the beauty of this building was from the outside. The beautiful white building where its roof cleverly acts as a ramp and observation deck is a sight to see and a modern attraction for the city. Furthermore surrounding this building is the coast and loads of monuments and artwork to admire from this building. The Opera House is a good starting point when visiting the city.

Next I walked along a street called Karl Johan’s Gate which is a road full of shops, pubs and restaurants. This is also the main road locals and tourists walk along to get to many points of interests such as the Oslo Cathedral, Norwegian Parliament, Ice Skating Rink, National Theatre and the Royal Palace.

The first attraction I crossed at the start of Karl Johan’s Gate street near Oslo’s central station and the Opera House is Oslo Cathedral which is the countries main church. In my opinion this building is nothing outstanding compared to other city’s main churches but this does have significance and is a beautiful architecture worthy for a pass-by. Next whilst walking along the street you would pass the Norwegian Parliament which is also known as Storting. The building itself is small but there is a guided escorted tour for tourists, this itself I didn’t do but is said to be worthwhile. Just in front of Storting is a small well looked after park, in which an ice rink is temporarily placed when winter, however this I didn’t see as my visit was not in season.

Within this little park is the National Theatre which hosts many of Oslo’s classical modern music and drama. Surrounding this small park is an amazing arcade of shops and restaurants which looks amazing. Finally just a 5 minute walk from this area if you keep walking west of the Karl Johan’s Gate road you will get to the Royal Palace which has an amazing exterior. Like London the palace is famous for its ‘changing of the guards’ which I didn’t know happened so I missed this aswell, furthermore the palace also has guided tours which is another popular tour in Oslo. I visited the Opera house, roamed central station and walked Karl Johan’s gate passing many of the cities point of interest on my first day and including a pause due to the rain, roaming these in just 6 hours I believe my first day was fulfilling.

The next day, now with my friends we done something random and experienced a virtual reality gaming experience at “VR Games Zone” something which is not advertised as a tourist attraction but something which I believe should. The experience was different and unlike anything I do when travelling, the VR game was like an escape room trying to work together in order to finish the game. I’d say this experience did make my stay more enjoyable and even though this was not on the tourism map, I do advise this when in groups of four or more.

Roam the City on Ebikes

After the VR games we tried out one of the many electric scooters which appear randomly across the city for hire. There were various different companies which offer these and it was simple and cheap (especially for Oslo) to use, all you will need to do is download the app input your details and ride away to any destination of your choice. You are charged by the time you use these scooters and once finished all you will need to do is stop the ride on the app. We started from the central station and rode along the coast side and our target was the ‘Viking Ship Museum’ but only ended up in the ‘Aker Brygge’ area where the Radhuset, Nobel Peace prize centre are situated. So we got our scooters around central station and headed towards the coast as I was aware of a cycle lane where we could ride freely without hitting crowds of people (you are allowed to ride freely on pavements or roads). On our way towards Aker Brygge we passed by the Akershus Fortress and many amazing views. Again like other attraction I didn’t go in as I didn’t have time and I couldn’t find the entrance, however the exterior was more than enough to admire. Another few minutes ride and we arrived at Aker Brygge.

Here we decided to have a quick stopover which eventually ended up to be the final of our journey with the scooters, the price in total for about 40 minutes was £4 which is extremely cheap compared to other aspects in the country. We parked and ended our scooters in front of Radhuset which I believe is their town hall, the main administrative body of the city council where pre booked tours are required to visit, for me I didn’t bother. However this area was a brilliant scenic place with plenty of restaurants and shops. Another attraction here was the Nobel Peace Prize Centre which was opened in the year 2005 by King Herald V of Norway and showcases many articles and debates of cultural, political events which promotes peace and conflict resolutions. Other attractions around this area are the Astrup Fernley Museum, Semstrum Gallery and many more. This area was expensive and the upper end of the city is why we didnt dine here. Overall this place is a nice area to hang around as there are plenty of people, food carts and the environment is just amazing. We decided not to continue our scooter ride to the Viking Ship Museum as it was raining which kind of ruined our plans, so we just walked back central had lunch then after the rain stopped somehow decided to head towards Vigeland Park.

It’s Lifelike

To end the day we decided to go to the Vigeland Sculpture Park which is the sculpture installation within Frogland Park, this was amazing and opened my eyes to a new perspective of Oslo. I said at the beginning that the Oslo Opera house was the cover attraction of the city however I believe the cover attraction should be this park. About a 20min ride away from central Oslo, this park which is also known as the Sculpture Park was beautiful in lots of ways. Frogner park has over 200 sculptures made of cast iron, bronze and granite, one of the notable sculpture known around the world is the ‘Angry boy’ which tourist love to take photos holding its shiny left hand. The sculptures were created by Gustav Vigeland between 1924 to 1943 all the sculptures were amazing with information and meaning beyond my knowledge so next time I would love to travel here with a tour guide. I highly recommend this park, one of the highlight of the trip.

Dont Look Down

Lastly on my last day we visited the Hollmenkollen Ski Museum which is a bit further to the city centre. You will need to take the metro and a 20 minute walk to reach this attraction but it is worth the travel. The museum is situated below an actual ski jump arena which was a part of the 1952 winter Olympics in Oslo it showcases not only ski jumping but winter sport, polar explorations and the history of skiing. You can also go up the top of the ski jump which offers breath taking panoramic views of Oslo. It is also possible to zipline down from the top which is a brilliant bonus for thrill seekers. Furthermore there are lots of different amusements like simulators in order to enjoy the place. Coming here is well worth the further travel, give this visit around 3-5 hours.

Other points of interest which we missed during this trip that are important should you visit Oslo are The Viking Boat Museum, The national museum where the famous painting ‘Scream’ is situated, Kon Tikki Museum, Norwegian Museum of Cultural History and so much more. The two I regret not visiting are the Viking Boat Museum which is meant to be a must see whilst visiting the city and the National Museum as I didn’t know the world famous painting scream was situated here.

My Conclusion

All in all my opinion of Oslo was impressive, a definite eye opener. However the experience is somewhat impacted by how expensive the place really is and I would hate to lie that budgets dont come to mind (for the average visitor) visiting this city. The city is diverse, there are places for art, places for relaxing, areas for nightlife and many different places for adventures. Although there is plenty to see and do for 5 days, I believe a 2-3 day stay is ok as any more would start to hurt any pocket (unless your a millionaire). The highlight for my trip would definitely be Vigeland park which was beyond my expectation, I am a little confused as to why this isn’t Oslo’s main cover to attract tourists. Furthermore the electronic scooters were amazing and these should be introduced in other countries.

Overall Oslo was an enjoyable place that must be experienced by all. Although this is not just a simple getaway and careful planning and saving may be required for this city.

Categories: Europe, ProfileTags: Europe, Norway, Profile