The capital and largest city in Norway offers its visitors plenty of interesting things to experience and lots of opportunities for discovering places in both the city and its surroundings. These places are in abundance, so it’s well worth dedicating at least a few days to visiting the most famous sights in the city.
Norway’s capital is one of the most beautiful and most expensive capital cities in the world in the eyes of many. Oslo has lots of green areas, mostly parks and high environmental standards, which is why it was declared European Green Capital in 2019.
Oslo has a well-established public city transport, so I recommend buying a one-day or multi-day Oslo Pass, which is valid for all types of public transport and also includes museums. Many of the city’s attractions are located in the centre, but some can be found on the outskirts as well, so I recommend taking the metro, tram or bus there, or you can go on a boat ride to the Bygdøy peninsula, which has some very interesting museums worth visiting. The typical thing about Norwegian climate is that it has about 200 rainy days per year, so I spent the time when the weather was bad to visit two museums on the Bygdøy peninsula.
In the Viking Ship Museum, I learned about the life of the Vikings and how they travelled into the big wide world. The first people that are said to have arrived at the other side of the Atlantic were supposedly the Vikings. They are said to have disembarked in a province in present-day Canada – Newfoundland and Labrador. In 1880, the first remnants of the Gokstad battleship were found in Norway during an excavation, and the second and third ship were discovered a few years later. While I was admiring the two well-preserved Viking ships and the little less well-preserved battleship, a film played on a screen, that took the visitors into the time and life of the Vikings. The Tune ship was built of oak wood around AD 910 and had room for 24 rowers. The museum will still be open for public until 1 October 2021 and will then close for the next five years due to renovations. Experience the mighty legacy of the Vikings before the museum closes its doors to visitors.
Nearby is the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History or Norsk Folkemuseum, an open-air museum where visitors can walk among permanent exhibitions that depict the life of people from 1500 to the present day through museum collections across all Norway. It’s the largest museum of Norwegian cultural history. The most popular among visitors is the Gol Stave Church dating back to 1200, which is one of the five medieval buildings in the museum. It’s also hard to miss the Oslo City Hall in the harbour, which is adorned by two towers. The city hall is open to visitors even when there’s no special ceremony. Inside the hall are oil paintings of the Norwegian painter Henrik Sørensen, which gave the impression that his work originates from the socialist period. Each December, Nobel Peace Prize Award ceremony takes place in the hall. The Nobel Peace Center, a museum, can be found just a few metres from the city hall. You can walk along the seafront of one of the greenest cities in Europe and stop at one of the country’s most famous and most important buildings.
The most visited building in Norway’s capital is the royal palace, so people tend to give Oslo the nickname the royal capital. From there, you can take a walk along the widest promenade known as Karl Johans gate. During the walk, you can admire the city theatre, the parliament, the numerous restaurants and shops, and even stop at one of the parks. Oslo is known as the capital with great and exuberant nightlife. The city’s cuisine has been developing lately as well, so you’ll be able to give your taste buds a treat in one of the numerous restaurants, quite a few of which boast a Michelin star.
One of the most beautiful views of the capital can be enjoyed from the Holmenkollen hill where you can also find the famous ski run. The easiest way to get there is by car or city train. It took me about 30 minutes to get from the city centre to a station on Line 1 by city train in one direction. Once on the hill, you get a feeling that Oslo holds many more green areas than it seems. The view of the Oslofjord, where boats in the harbour will take you in all directions, is gorgeous. In 1952, Oslo hosted the 5th Winter Olympics, and the ski run was renovated for that purpose. Today, you can visit the Ski Museum as part of the ski run. It’s one of the most visited museums in the capital. A zipline has been installed for adrenaline junkies, so you can launch down from the top of the ski run and all the way to the other side at the end of the grandstand.
Hostelling International cardholders get 10% off at Haraldsheim hostel, which is located just 15 minutes from the city centre.
Oslo is an excellent starting point if you want to continue your trip across the country, so you definitely shouldn’t leave it off your itinerary, should you ever make your way to this part of northern Europe.
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