To be honest there wasn’t really anything about Oslo that appealed to me, it was one of those places that “I should and will go at some point”. You’ll know that I absolutely love Scandinavia as a whole and in particular Stockholm (Sweden). After the pandemic and the first proper year of freedom I was ready for my first 2 week holiday (in over 3 years). I had a week pre-booked in Stockholm that had been cancelled from the previous year (yep, covid, not vaccinated at that point etc etc), and so decided to visit Oslo on the way there.
As usual I had done some (rather extensive) research before I went, and I started to get more and more excited about it. I spent two and a half days in Oslo, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was very different to Stockholm (and Copenhagen for that matter), in fact I don’t think it felt very Scandinavian at all (personal opinion). The architecture was very modern and new as much of Oslo has been built/modified very recently. I’m also not sure I felt the warmth and friendliness of everyone, that’s not to say people weren’t friendly, but when I visit Stockholm I always feel people are ‘overly friendly’ which I quite like. In parts it didn’t even feel like I was abroad, but the sun was shining (which helped a lot), it felt like the first week of summer of the year and I really enjoyed my time here.
Summer 2022 
3 DaysThe first thing I did after dumping my bags at the hotel was to walk down Karl Johan’s gate (the Main Street) and towards the Royal Palace. I had over an hour until the daily ‘changing of the guard ceremony’ which is really wanted to see. The royal palace was impressive, not so much the building itself but the park and gardens around it and the fact they have made it so accessible for the public, unlike Buckingham Palace that so far behind closed gates and so much security. The changing of the guard ceremony (though I only saw around 10 minutes of it) was good, but it lacked the grandeur of Londons or even Stockholm’s summer ceremony.
Oslo harbour is a 9km stretch (east to west of the city), very recently this whole stretch has been redeveloped (presumably) to make Oslo into a tourist destination of the future. The farthest west area has such modern architecture (much like Canary Wharf or the new Paddington area in London), modern buildings set on the water and purpose-built areas for outdoor gyms, kayaking and of course packed with restaurants and bars.
Walking east you pass the City Hall and the Akershus Fortress, which feel like the only remnants from the past. At the halfway point you come across the docking area for the ships (that take passengers to the various surrounding islands) and an old industrial area that’s been turned into a street food area called Vippa. I get the impression that this was an idea stolen from Copenhagens ‘Reffern’ which is an entire shipping yard turned into street food and bars. It’s smaller but it works.
Walking further along there is a Sauna come cafe come bar come events space (more on that below) and an area with a handful of floating saunas (the sauna culture is big here like Sweden and Finland). Eventually you wind up at the Oslo Opera House which is also a brand-new building (again see separate post below).
This consumed most of my first day in Oslo, and given the weather was a perfect 22 degrees, little breeze and, what felt like, the first proper week of the summer it was an absolutely enjoyable experience.
A new building, built along the promenade on the east side of the city. Very impressive building and one on which you can walk up the sides and find yourself on the roof where there is a pretty awesome view of the city. I stopped by and overheard a tour guide… the building is built with Italian marble, she questioned why it wasn’t built with Norwegian wood! The building was designed by the same architects that designed the 911 memorial pools in New York.
This was a place that I had read about during my research and given I love saunas and the whole sauna culture that Scandinavia has this was a no brainier. Sauna with a difference though. Basically, it’s a big triangular building that sits around 100 people, it’s a big sauna but it has artists and DJs playing during various sessions. It’s sort of a hipster type area or compound as you can also get street food and drinks, drinks even in the sauna! It was an experience and glad I did it. There are other smaller saunas, one of which I signed up for a sauna ritual where scents are wafted in your direction. I could only manage around 5 minutes of the ritual, because it was so hot in there!
For my second day I had purchased the Oslo City Pass (£36 for 24 hours), it didn’t include the hop-on, hop-off bus which I had mistakenly thought it did when I purchased so, so all in all I’m not sure it was worth the purchase. However, determined to get my money’s worth, and given this was across the road from my hotel I made a quick visit. It’s an art gallery.
Munch is dedicated to the life and works of the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. It was OK, but really not my thing! The views from the 12th floor of the harbour were my favourite part!
Given it’s one of the only landmarks (or rather buildings) from Oslo’s past, I was slightly drawn to it, even then it opened in 1950 (and it looks like a 50’s building) so again we are not talking such a long time ago.
Not sure it’s the prettiest of buildings (but then I didn’t think that about Stockholm’s City Hall at first). You can go in for free, and it was totally worth 20 minutes if my time.
The Bygdøy area of Oslo is where a lot of the museums are and some beaches that I had wanted to visit. With my Oslo Pass, getting a quick ferry across (less than 10 mins) was included. I approached the only boat on the pier and showed my pass, the lovely lady said that it wasn’t the right boat but that they would let me aboard and take me, however it was a bit of a cruise, and it would take an hour. I was happy to sit down, soak up the sun on a boat for an hour so I was like “why the hell not?!”
At first it felt strange as I was the only passenger, surrounded by 10 Norwegian crew! They eventually explained to me that the boat I was on, was one of the only remaining steam boats still in operation and it was 120 years old! They took me into the engine room where I got to see the coals being thrown into the hot fire to power the boat. The crew all worked as volunteers to keep the boat (or I should say ship) preserved and operational.
One of the very few times I wish I carried cash to give them a little something.
On the island of Bygdøy there are two beautiful beaches of the southerly point, and given it was a breezeless 21 degrees, it felt like a beach day! Two beaches, one filled with families and kids and a smaller one five minutes away that was a far less crowded and adult only (nudist) beach. Like I was ever going to choose the crowded with kid’s option!
I don’t have a problem baring everything in a sauna in Sweden, sat in close proximity to 20 or so other naked dudes (although not women), so this would be fine, right?! … it was! It actually felt very liberating.
Ended up staying for two hours soaking up the sun completely in my birthday suit, with the odd quick dip in the cold sea. Best of all, it’s helped even out my tans lines!!
Also located in Bygdøy, this museum houses a Viking ship. Whilst I’m not big on museums (and certainly aren’t high on my list in any city) I wanted to make use of my Oslo City pass, and I enjoyed the Vasa Museum in Stockholm which is a similar idea. It’s a Viking ship that was built in 1892 and had 5 or 6 successful voyages (unlike the Vasa).
Similar concept to Vasa and Fram, a vessel built and the story about the voyage. This vessel however was a balsawood raft, which experts predicted to fail and would sink within 14 days. It lasted for 102 days, and it reached their end destination. The museum outlines its story and the issues they faced during its voyage, and its 6-man crew.
The sculpture park displays the works of Gustav Vigeland. That’s Google description, I only went for the naked bodies! Joke! This came up on every “things to do in Oslo” website and YouTube list. Impressive sculpture park if not slightly out the way.
Slightly bigger than life size sculptures, my mum commented, upon seeing the photos “it’s a it weird isn’t it?!”… it sort of was! But fun.
Whilst on a 90 minute walking tour the next day, our guide explained to us that the park takes you through a journey, with the sculptures stating off as babies and then parenthood into the big monument in the middle which people believe is a massive orgy in the afterlife. We can only hope!
Charming and picturesque part of central Oslo with well-preserved and inhabited wooden houses from the late 1700s and the 1800s.
I wish I had visited this street food court on my first day, as it opens until late, has a wide selection of food vendors, and most importantly is relatively cheep (or cheap for Oslo anyway)!
There are two classic dishes in Oslo, and neither are fish...
The first is Taco’s. In years gone by, the Norwegians were not very good at getting oil out of the ground, so they invited the Texan people to Oslo to lend a hand, they brought with them Taco’s, and it is a tradition that has stuck. All over Oslo there are Taco vendors, and even in their shops there are large areas and aisles dedicated to Tacos!
The other is Brunost, this is a brown (sweet tasting) cheese. It technically isn’t cheese, it’s the whey extracts boiled down and then solidified (or something like that), years ago the poorer people would use this as a substitute for cheese. So their dish is a waffle, with Brunost, Jam and Sour Cream. It sounds disgusting, but it actually works! I’d have it again!
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised with Oslo, as my expectations weren’t massively high, and if it hadn’t been Sweden’s neighbouring country, I am not sure it would have been a place I would visit. Would I go again? Probably not. That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it, I really did. But I think overall I did everything I intended to, and given the weather was a boiling hot 21-23 degrees, I think I already had the perfect experience.
I felt with Oslo, that it lacked the historic architecture of Copenhagen and Stockholm, much of it is new areas and developments, which is very modern and perhaps too much like Canary Wharf, to have that appeal for me to want to return. Given my absolute love for Stockholm, I am not sure that any Scandinavian city would appeal quite as much.
However, would I recommend it to someone else looking for a weekend break? Absolutely! My recommendations would be to spend a day on the harbour front and make a point of having a sauna experience at SALT. Spend another day on Bygdøy, visit the Fram Museum and take some relaxation time out on Huk Beach. Discover Oslo Street Food on the first day and finally take one of the free 90-minute walking tours (that run daily at 10am).
