A Quick Guide to Oslo, Norway

At this point our Norway Leg was coming to an end, we’d seen Tromso & Sommaroy and had 2 nights in Oslo before flying out to Dubrovnik and we wanted to see as much as we could in that short period of time, so we arranged a day tour which covered most of the major sights of Oslo. Here are the things you must do in Oslo…

WHAT TO DO IN OSLO

Do A Day Tour

The tour (which was run by HMK & booked at the Visitors Centre located at Central Station) took us by bus to the Olympic Holmenkollen Ski Jump, The famous Vigeland Sculpture Park which was fascinating and an absolute must see, The Viking Museum (Apparently it was actually the Norwegian Vikings that first discovered America), and The Arctic Museum which houses the actual boat that discovered the South Pole (the Norwegians did a lot of discovering!). The tour is fully guided and a fantastic way to see a handful of sights in one day. The Sculpture park was def my fav!

Walk on the roof of the Opera House

Unfortunately, we ran out of time to see the Opera House but it looked amazing (*sigh)! It was explained to us – as we drove past – that the whole building has been classified as art in order to allow people the freedom to legally walk all over it. Literally, you can walk the roof of the Opera House, it looked amazing. Find out more here (Image Credit: Visit Norway.com).

Visit The Palace, City & Surrounds

The Palace is beautiful, perched on the hill overlooking the city. And the city surrounds offer wonderful sight seeing, restaurants, shopping, and a whole heap of history. There are trams which are easy to navigate and make it easy to hop to alternative city suburbs. We went out to Grunerlokka, which is a total contrast to the City Center & a bit of an indie/hipster suburb full of cool bars and street art! Explore, it’s an incredible city!

Dine by the Harbour, and Eat Whale

Again with the dining recommendations – you an always rely on me eating and drinking my way through a holiday. We dined at Bolgen & Moi, and Louise Restaurant & Bar on the Harbour. Now, re eating whale, there was varied opinions about it. But I tried it. Surprisingly its very similar to kangaroo (in my opinion) and not at all what I was expecting. Well, I was expecting fish but it’s not a fish is it, it’s a mammal so yeh – it’s a red meat, and I enjoyed it. Having tried Whale in Sommaroy, hubs decided that he’d have one last meal of whale at Louise in Oslo and it was cooked beautifully. So, my recommendation is try the Whale! There’s also a cool floating Bar & Restaurant opposite Louise, perfect for evening drinks & admiring the moon (something we certainly did after a week without darkness).

Shop by the Harbour

The whole harbour area is beautiful, modern, hip, and there’s some great shopping in this area too. Make sure you have a wander!

Stay at the Guldsmeden

My friend booked our accomodation and did an amazing job finding the coolest hotel in Oslo, the Guldsmeden. It’s got incredible style and is walking distance to the harbour precinct, and Town Hall (which is where the Bus Tour leaves from). Their organic buffet breakfast was included in our booking, and the rooms were just.so.cool… decked out with four poster beds & reindeer skins. 

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We really, really enjoyed our short stay in Oslo. In fact we really really enjoyed our whole stay in Norway. If we had more time we would have visited Loffoten for sure, everyone we spoke to said this place is incredible so if you have time to put it in your itinerary, do it. 

Thanks to our mates who started this adventure by finding each other against the geographical odds and falling in love, and thanks to Norway for being amazing.

If you have any questions, pop them in the comments!

N x