Oslo is a great European city to visit with its interesting history, cultural traditions and many museums; what sets it apart from others is its stunning natural beauty!
It has a subway service that can take you to the forest, the lakes or hiking trails – all within the city limits.
A brief history
The town has 1 million residents which has successfully grown throughout its 1000 year history. In 1348 a plague wiped out half the city’s population. In 1624, a fire burned almost the whole of the city to the ground.
King Christian IV decreed the town should be moved west, closer to the protection of Akershus Fortress. The new town was renamed Christiania and laid out with wide streets meeting at right angles, designed to slow down the spread of a fire.
During the 19th century Norway and Sweden were ruled as one kingdom under Karl Johan. The grand Main Street Karl Johans Gate was built and has been the centre of city life since.
In 1905 the country separated from Sweden, and in 1925 the city finally reinstated its name back to Oslo.
Today Oslo is Norway’s political, economic and cultural capital.
It’s an easy city to navigate on foot if you’re happy to walk. It also has a great public transport system. And if you prefer grab an e-scooter along with the masses!
One’s destination is never a place but rather new way of looking at things – Henry Miller
Akershus Fortress
A great place to wander round especially when the weather is good. The building of Akershus castle and fortress commenced in 1299 and the medieval building was completed in the 1300’s. It had a strategic location at the top of the headland and withstood a number of sieges through the ages.
It’s a pleasant walk up to the fortress and free to wander around the grounds. You can pay to go inside should you choose. Obviously being at height gave it a strategic advantage, so the walk to the top is rewarded with great views over the harbour and the city.
There are multiple other places to wander round and architecture to take in, places to stop, people watch, eat and drink.
You can visit The Royal palace, you aren’t able to go inside but it’s a pretty building with beautiful gardens.
To name just a few of the other monuments worth seeing whilest you are out and about: The National theatre, the Cathedral (open to view after 4pm most days), the Library, Eidsvolls pass – a square and park.
A walk around the harbour is another pleasant pastime with a long promenade stretching all the way around, with unique views, interesting architecture and plenty of bars and restaurants. A perfect place for some people watching!
If you fancy a shorter walk just take a section of it, or head inland a little and take the path that snakes around some of the trendiest neighbourhoods!
Vigeland Sculpture Park
Vigeland is the world’s largest sculpture park made by a single artist and is one of Norways most popular tourist attractions. It’s open to visitors all year round and is free to enter. it has over 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943)
Located a half hour walk from the royal palace, through a nice neighbourhood with various options to stop for a coffee or break along the way should you want to break the journey up.
It’s a lovely open space with benches and flowers to stop and admire the sculptures, sit and take it all in or do a bit of people watching! One of my highlights – listening to two older gentleman argue about whether the sundial represented the time correctly!
Vigeland was also responsible for the design and architectural outline of the park.
It has a cafe near the entrance for refreshments. You have to pay to use the toilet – even if you’ve purchased something in the cafe. It was 20 nok at time of writing. It was a boiling hot day when I visited so was very happy to have somewhere to sit in the shade with some cold refreshments!
Museums
There are many musems in Oslo so I will just touch on a couple of highlights but peruse the Visit Oslo page to find others!
The Fram museum – known as the best museum in Norway – came highly recommended to me and for good reason. Experience the history of the Polar Expedition as if you were really there! To get there from central Oslo the boat is much quicker than the bus and a more pleasant way to travel.
The Viking Planet – interactive and using great technology to help you learn more about the Vikings. You;ll experience holograms and interactive screens while you learn!
Restaurants
You are really spoilt for choice in terms of bars and restaurants but one highlight of mine was Sushi bowl. A short walk from Akershus Fortress with fresh sushi perfectly presented!
Getting to Oslo
From the airport taxis tend to be quite expensive around £90 at time of writing.
There is a very efficient train, Flytoget, from Oslo Gardermoen (the closer airport to the city centre) which takes around 20 minutes and costs about £16-17.
You can purchase your tickets at the airport and head straight down to the platform. Announcements are first made in Norwegian and then in English. They even tell you which side of the train you will be exiting!
Seats are comfortable and spacious and there is plenty of space for luggage.
The train station is huge with many shops and multiple exits. You can walk to a lot of hotels from here but there is a taxi rank just outside. As well as train and tram options.
Like most things in Scandinavia, it’s very efficient!
The Practical stuff
I would recommend not taking cash, hardly anyone uses it or accepts it. As usual I’ve found a Starling bank card to be the most useful card whilst travelling to minimise fees and maximise exchange rates.
Tap water is safe to drink virtually everywhere.
From here I headed up to Trondheim on the train – a stunning place also well worth a visit!
My Solo Footprints 
I made a return visit to Oslo at the beginning of the summer and was once again charmed by the transparency of the Nordic light, making all the colours more vivid. The city centre is now mainly pedestrianised, which makes it even more pleasant to visit. Your article lists all the great places to visit.
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Thank you, it’s a great city! My first visit to Norway – I will definitely be back!
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