Oslo and Norway

Oslo lies at the north of Oslofjorda. An fjord separated by a peninsula Nesodden on the opposite (south) of the town. Otherwise Oslo is surrounded by green hills and mountains. The city area includes 40 islands, with the largest Malmøya being 0,56 km² big. There are many more islands in the Oslofjordu itself.

Oslo has 343 lakes. The largest among them (3,91 km²) is also the main source of drinking water for most of the western part of the city, but especially for Vestre Aker and Nordre Aker.

Comparing the population, Oslo doesn’t seem like a large European city, but it has an unusually large surface. It is surrounded by many parks and open space territories, which gives it freshness and a green image.

According to Sagas, Oslo was founded in the middle of 11th century by King Harald Hårdråde. Archaeological founds have confirmed that Christian graves in the area date to a time before 10th century, which indicates a much older original settlement. The origin of the name, though, is still completely uncertain, but the city is the national capital ever since the days of Håkona V. Magnussona (1299-1319), who was the first king that lived exclusively in the city, started constructing the Akershus castle. Centuries later Norway was subordinate in the union with Denmark, so Oslo was degraded to a regional administrative centre. The kings lived in Copenhagen.

In 1624 Oslo was demolished by a fire and Christian IV rebuilt it around the castle of Akershus. He named it Christiania and later, in 1878, this became the official name of the town. In 1924 the original name was restored and Oslo, which was again the capital after the abolition of the union with Denmark in 1814, started developing. In 19th century most of the importaint city buildings were erected, such as: the king’s palace (1825-1848), the parliament (1861-1866), University, National theatre and the Stock market. Many importaint artists, such as: Henrik Johan Ibsen, Edvard Munch, Knut Hamsun and Sigrid Undset; lived in Oslo at the time.

Among attractions of the city is also the park Vigeland, named after the sculpture, who created and exhibited there 192 modern presentations of the human body in real life size park.

Around 1870 the Norwegian writer and Nobel prise winner Bjørnstjerne Martinus Bjørnson named the city the land of tigers (Tigerstaden). It almost became an official name and while celebrating the capital’s 1000th birthday (in the year 2000) they made a long line of tigers around the city hall. The writer Knut Hamsun presented the dark part of the city in 1890, in his novel Sult, which was made into a film in 1966.

But apart from what Oslo can offer, we cannot but think Norway is too expensive to visit. The prices are much higher than elsewhere in Europe, but you can make it with a modest budget as well. The first help you get is the Norske Vandrerhjem, the national traveling society, which helps you find accommodations at an appropriate price. There are 3 hostels in Oslo alone: »Oslo Haraldsheim«, »Oslo Holtekilen« and »Oslo Rønningen«, where you can spend a night at about 30 €.

Norway is a country of picturesque nature and many types of architecture, but if haven’t the time or resources to travel the huge land, you can get a glimpse of it all at the Norsk Folkemuseum – all in real life size.

And since the capital will require more than a quick stop over, I suggest you get the Oslo-pass, which offers travel and 35 free entries (to both above mentioned museums, the Viking ship, the Centre of Alfred Nobel and even ski jumps at Holmenkollen). Apart from that it also allows for discounts in many restaurants, tours and activities and students can purchase the pass with a 20% discount.

If you still don’t know what to see in Oslo, you should visit their home page and select among the ten categories with ten suggestions – so there are hundred reasons to visit Oslo!

I really think, you will understand the need for a public transport service, if you’ve read the passage about the size of Oslo.

You are now a step closer to decide if you want to visit Norway or not and now you can start browsing the web for a cheap flight and start packing the backpack.

But do book on time, which you can do for hostels in Oslo at www.hihostels.no, for you really should be set in advance. Not booking on time and getting a room at one of the many hostels in Norway can raise your costs dramatically. Yu should also take advantage of the railway system while travelling through Norway, where you can save quite a lot by selecting a general pass valid between 3 and 8 days.

At the end I wish you to travel to Norway in more convenient moments than I did - just at the time of the worse tragedy in Norway modern history when an extremist Anders Behring Breivik has attacked centre of Oslo by a car bomb and continued with a massacre on Utøya Island where he shot to death tenth of young people on 22nd of July 2011. Let me express my deepest condolences to relatives and friends of victims of this unthinkable crime.