Oslo is also called “The City of Tigers”. Like most other cities in Scandinavia, it doesn’t really have world-famous sights and landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, or the Collosseum. But there are definitely enough things to see and do here to fill your time for at least a couple of days.
The main attractions of Oslo aren’t very close to each other, and as such I recommend that you get the Oslo Pass, which costs 210 NOK (Norwegian kronor), or about P1,600. The Oslo Pass is valid for 24 hours, and it provides you with a free pass to most museums (all main museums are covered) as well as public transportation - trains, trams, buses, and even the ferry from the City hall pier to Bygdoy (an area where you can find a lot of museums). Definitely worth buying, you can get the Oslo Pass at the Tourist Information Center.Our first stop was the Holmenkollen Ski Jump and Ski Museum. You can go all the way up the 60-meter high Ski Jump. The trip to the top is a bit scary, but when you get there, you see what a ski jumper faces each time he jumps. You also get a fantastic view of the city. There’s also a ski museum (where you can learn about Norwegian skiing legends) as well as a ski jump and downhill ski simulator that both my mom and I got on.
Our next stop was the Vikingskiphuset, or Viking Ship Museum in Bygdoy. Inside are three Viking Ships – Oseberg, Gokstad, and Tune. The best one, Oseberg, is of course the first ship you see the moment you enter the museum.
We then visited the Norsk Folkmuseum, or the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. It’s an open air museum, which seems to be quite popular in Scandinavia. It contains 155 buildings which have been relocated from different parts of Norway. My mom and I ended up just going around the area that featured several log cabins.
We visited the rest of the sights of this city on May 3, after our overnight train from Bergen arrived in Oslo at 630am. The good thing about Oslo is that the tourist information center, which is right next to the Central Station, opens at 7am. I don’t ever recall a tourist info center being open that early. So we quickly inquire about train tickets and directions, and my mom and I take an underground train and then a tram to Vigeland Park. This park contains several sculptures of Gustav Vigeland, who created these statues depicting the human condition. The main attraction of the park is the Monolith, a column of intertwined human bodies that stands in the center of the park.
We spent most of the morning walking around the City Center, taking pictures in some of the main attractions like the Parliament building and the National Theater. I took this pic of my mom with a statue of Ludvig Holberg, a Dano-Norwegian writer and playwright born in Bergen, Norway.
Another interesting must-see place is the Radhuset, or City Hall. Tourists can go inside (costs about 60 NOK I think) to visit the art galleries here, but my mom and I opted not to. We did get a glimpse of the large fresco in the main hall, but we spent most of our time looking at the carvings on the walls outside depicting Norse Mythology (Norwegian and English explanations were provided under each carving allowing us to learn more about Norse Mythology. Case in point, I now know that Ragnarok is the battle between the gods and the giants and monsters at the end of the world.)
We made sure we got to the Royal Palace before 1:30pm to catch the Changing of the Guard, which happens daily at that time. They had all the usual parades, marching displays, and rifle tricks. But two things make this Changing of the Guard different. First, it is very accessible. While taking a picture of my mom with the parade behind her, the marching soldiers suddently changed directions and started marching towards us. When my mom and I saw that they were right behind us, we quickly moved away ourselves; no one actually asked us to move even when they were practically behind us. The same thing happened to another woman. The second thing that made it memorable was that at the end, the members of the parade all sang what I am guessing to be the National Anthem of Norway, and they did it in vocal harmony.
The last place we visited was the Akershus Slott og Festning (Akershus Fortress and Castle). What was cool about this castle was that you could enter the grounds freely (the castle itself had an entrance fee) and as such, it seemed to double as a park for the locals. It was bright and warm in Oslo when we were there (I was melting under my jacket but it was a hassle to carry it around so I chose to wear it instead =)) and lots of folks were lying on the grass, either chatting with friends, reading a book, or just getting some sunlight.
There are a few other places in Oslo that we didn’t see, such as the Munchmuseet and the Kon-Tiki Museum. If you plan to spend time inside a lot of museums, the best time to come is during summer or the months surrounding it, during which time the museums have longer opening hours. That way, your 24-hour Oslo Pass will have a lot more value. There are also quite a few fjord day trips you can take.I also highly recommend the Rica Oslo Hotel, an affordable and well-kept hotel that is extremely well located and very easy to find. I mean, you step out the Central Station and you can see it. The hotel staff are extremely friendly and helpful and coffee at the lobby is free. You also have free wi-fi in your room. We also requested an early breakfast on the day of our Norway in a nutshell tour (it was a holiday that day and so breakfast was supposed to b ready only by 7:30am), and they readily agreed to set it up for us by 6:30am. The room very spacious and comfortable, and it is also bright and well-lit. The breakfast area and the lobby exude a cozy and elegant appeal. It really is one of the best hotels I've been to in Europe, and it certainly has the best value for money.
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