Things to Do In Oslo Norway
Due to my job, I find myself in Oslo for work a few times a year. During these trips, I have had a few chances to explore the city. Below are some highlights of what I have found to do in the area.
If you happen to be visiting other parts of Norway. I have spent time in Stavanger and you can read the hike and day I spent there here. E and I also took a 3 night trip to Bergen Norway that can be found here.
If you happen to be visiting other parts of Norway. I have spent time in Stavanger and you can read the hike and day I spent there here. E and I also took a 3 night trip to Bergen Norway that can be found here.
How to Get Around Oslo
Oslo Gardermoen (OSL) is the main international airport for the Oslo area. It is actually about 22 miles (35km) northeast of the city. While renting a car is an option, if you are like me and just stay in the Oslo area, taxi and the train are main way to get into the city center. The airport has some pretty neat exhibits to see while waiting.
Alcohol is pretty expensive in Norway so picking up a bottle while in the airport is popular if wanted. On your way back out of the country, buying chocolate at duty free is also a nice option.
When flying back to the US, it is common to have early flights to hubs in Europe. These flights are normally around the 6:00am time frame to make it back to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich, Pairs, etc to connect to the mid morning flights over to the states. Note that the high speed train does not start early enough to easily make those flights. I prefer to stay at the airport at the Raddison Blu Gardermoen Airport or the Raddison Red Gardermoen Airport. Both are walking distance to the airport with he Blu being very close. I normally check out of my Oslo hotel and store my bags there. Go to work or do what I am going to do in the city and then come back that evening to pick up my bags and take the train to the airport to stay there the night before my flight out.
Bullet Train to Oslo is my preferred travel into the city. These run every 20 minutes and make quick work to get you into the city. It stops at most stations on the main rail line.
To use the train, download the app FlyToGet. There select where you are going from (Oslo Airport) to your station in the city and buy the ticket. It will give you a QR code to scan to get on the train. This can be done up to a week ahead of time. The app also keeps refreshing to tell you which track you need to go to. The travel back is the same way. Really easy.
Oslo City Trains, Trolleys, and Buses are really good and easy to use in the city. To use them, simply walk on to any and away you go. I normally find where I want to go on Google Maps and select the public transportation option. It will tell you which trains and buses you can use to get there and what times to expect them. So very easy!
To pay for the public transportation, download the app called Ruter. Use it to by period ticket for your stay. The options are 24 hr, 7 day, 30 day or 1 year. You also need to select what zones you will be in. If you are just in Oslo city, then zone 1 is all you need but a full map can be found here if you do travel to the areas around the city. Randomly, there will be Ruter employees on the trains and buses and ask to inspect your ticket. Simply open the app and show them your QR code and they will verify it. In my travels, I have only been inspected two or three times but always proper to actually have a ticket when on the trains, buses and trolleys.
Where to stay in the city itself. There are two main areas of the central city and they are connected by the main through fair of Karl Johans Gt. The two areas are called Oslo Central / Oslo Opera-house on the east side and National Theatre on the west side. Both have large train stations and fine places to stay.
The Thon and the Raddison hotels are popular in the Norway. Do watch room sizes though as the basic rooms can be very small! I regularly stay at the Thon Opera location near Oslo Central and regularly step up from a standard single room to a standard double room just to have some room to spread out there.
Alcohol is pretty expensive in Norway so picking up a bottle while in the airport is popular if wanted. On your way back out of the country, buying chocolate at duty free is also a nice option.
When flying back to the US, it is common to have early flights to hubs in Europe. These flights are normally around the 6:00am time frame to make it back to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich, Pairs, etc to connect to the mid morning flights over to the states. Note that the high speed train does not start early enough to easily make those flights. I prefer to stay at the airport at the Raddison Blu Gardermoen Airport or the Raddison Red Gardermoen Airport. Both are walking distance to the airport with he Blu being very close. I normally check out of my Oslo hotel and store my bags there. Go to work or do what I am going to do in the city and then come back that evening to pick up my bags and take the train to the airport to stay there the night before my flight out.
Bullet Train to Oslo is my preferred travel into the city. These run every 20 minutes and make quick work to get you into the city. It stops at most stations on the main rail line.
To use the train, download the app FlyToGet. There select where you are going from (Oslo Airport) to your station in the city and buy the ticket. It will give you a QR code to scan to get on the train. This can be done up to a week ahead of time. The app also keeps refreshing to tell you which track you need to go to. The travel back is the same way. Really easy.
Oslo City Trains, Trolleys, and Buses are really good and easy to use in the city. To use them, simply walk on to any and away you go. I normally find where I want to go on Google Maps and select the public transportation option. It will tell you which trains and buses you can use to get there and what times to expect them. So very easy!
To pay for the public transportation, download the app called Ruter. Use it to by period ticket for your stay. The options are 24 hr, 7 day, 30 day or 1 year. You also need to select what zones you will be in. If you are just in Oslo city, then zone 1 is all you need but a full map can be found here if you do travel to the areas around the city. Randomly, there will be Ruter employees on the trains and buses and ask to inspect your ticket. Simply open the app and show them your QR code and they will verify it. In my travels, I have only been inspected two or three times but always proper to actually have a ticket when on the trains, buses and trolleys.
Where to stay in the city itself. There are two main areas of the central city and they are connected by the main through fair of Karl Johans Gt. The two areas are called Oslo Central / Oslo Opera-house on the east side and National Theatre on the west side. Both have large train stations and fine places to stay.
The Thon and the Raddison hotels are popular in the Norway. Do watch room sizes though as the basic rooms can be very small! I regularly stay at the Thon Opera location near Oslo Central and regularly step up from a standard single room to a standard double room just to have some room to spread out there.
Things to Do in Oslo
Oslo Opera House is a famous landmark in the city. This is why I like to stay in the Oslo Central / Oslo Opera House area of the city (at the Thon Opera). In the summer, it is light way into the evening and it is very nice to take an evening walk over to the Opera and enjoy some evening sun and sea air on the Opera roof.
Viking Ship Museum / Museum of the Viking Age is a fascinating museum in Oslo that focuses on the Viking time. I got to see this museum when it was the Viking Ship Museum back in 2019. It has been closed for the last few years and will reopen in 2027 as the Museum of the Viking age. It should be amazing once done.
Holmenkollen Ski Museum & Tower is an Olympic Ski jump just north of Oslo and can be accessed by Zone 1 public transport ticket. As you can imagine, winter sports are the jam in Norway and this museum is dedicated to the history of winter sports. It is in the base of the massive ski jump at Holmenkollen that was built for the 1952 Winter Olympics but world championships are still held there on occasion. Besides the museum, you can travel up to the top of the ski jump via an elevator to see amazing views of Oslo and to get a view of what the jumpers see going down the jump!
Fjord Tour (Ferry or actual tour)
Nude Park
Bike Tour
Karl Johans Gt
Palace
Akershus Fortress
Bryyger area
Viking Ship Museum / Museum of the Viking Age is a fascinating museum in Oslo that focuses on the Viking time. I got to see this museum when it was the Viking Ship Museum back in 2019. It has been closed for the last few years and will reopen in 2027 as the Museum of the Viking age. It should be amazing once done.
Holmenkollen Ski Museum & Tower is an Olympic Ski jump just north of Oslo and can be accessed by Zone 1 public transport ticket. As you can imagine, winter sports are the jam in Norway and this museum is dedicated to the history of winter sports. It is in the base of the massive ski jump at Holmenkollen that was built for the 1952 Winter Olympics but world championships are still held there on occasion. Besides the museum, you can travel up to the top of the ski jump via an elevator to see amazing views of Oslo and to get a view of what the jumpers see going down the jump!
Fjord Tour (Ferry or actual tour)
Nude Park
Bike Tour
Karl Johans Gt
Palace
Akershus Fortress
Bryyger area
I headed back down at 2:25pm and got to the bottom at 3:35pm with a very pleasant hike back to the bottom. There were numerous older people on the trail which was made of large rocks and therefore large steps. I am very surprised I didn’t see a fall or two! I helped two older couples hiking together down a section with some pretty big steps but then decided to keep up my pace and trusting they made it down okay. There were some other close calls I witnessed as well! Saw a bus parked where I got off but it didn’t look like mine but it was in fact my 3:45 bus. Oh well, it was a nice day was about 16C and sun so I waited and got on the 4:30pm bus.
The bus got to the ferry terminal about 10 min before the boat did and we had a nice trip across the bay again arriving at Stavanger at 5:50 or so. I walked around Stavanger for a while. Found a few of it’s pretty churches and took in the city. I found a street with amazing smelling restaurants, just off of the street the Tau ferry lands on called Pedersgata. After much deliberation, went to a bar / burger joint since my phone was pretty much dead and I liked their classic rock music (had to decide somehow). It was a good burger! Since my phone only had 10% left, I couldn’t use it to help explore the city so I completely missed areas that would of been nice to see, such as: Byparken, a large lake / park in the middle of the city; Stavanger Cathedral; and most importantly Sjøfartsmonumentet, a monument and old town Stavanger with its port. I was only a few blocks off of it as well! There was also confusion on the bus to the airport that I already had a ticket for. The driver in the morning they stopped running at 6:00pm but I was sure they ran later hence why I used so much battery trying to find the schedule on the slow free internet sprint provides. I eventually sent the link to Emily and she was able to confirm it runs all night basically. I headed back on the 7:40pm bus with my phone dying on the ride since I started using it for photos again. I arrived at the hotel room at the airport about 8:10pm or so and debated hiking out to the beach which was about 1.5 mile away (sand and everything) but I was tired from the hike and city exploration so stayed in.
Safe Travels,
B (and E in Spirit)
The bus got to the ferry terminal about 10 min before the boat did and we had a nice trip across the bay again arriving at Stavanger at 5:50 or so. I walked around Stavanger for a while. Found a few of it’s pretty churches and took in the city. I found a street with amazing smelling restaurants, just off of the street the Tau ferry lands on called Pedersgata. After much deliberation, went to a bar / burger joint since my phone was pretty much dead and I liked their classic rock music (had to decide somehow). It was a good burger! Since my phone only had 10% left, I couldn’t use it to help explore the city so I completely missed areas that would of been nice to see, such as: Byparken, a large lake / park in the middle of the city; Stavanger Cathedral; and most importantly Sjøfartsmonumentet, a monument and old town Stavanger with its port. I was only a few blocks off of it as well! There was also confusion on the bus to the airport that I already had a ticket for. The driver in the morning they stopped running at 6:00pm but I was sure they ran later hence why I used so much battery trying to find the schedule on the slow free internet sprint provides. I eventually sent the link to Emily and she was able to confirm it runs all night basically. I headed back on the 7:40pm bus with my phone dying on the ride since I started using it for photos again. I arrived at the hotel room at the airport about 8:10pm or so and debated hiking out to the beach which was about 1.5 mile away (sand and everything) but I was tired from the hike and city exploration so stayed in.
Safe Travels,
B (and E in Spirit)
