If you have been following this blog or my Instagram account, you are well aware that this particular five day trip started from Bergen, moved to Flåm, then Aurland and culminated in Oslo. Hence we were sort of not prepared for Oslo. We had kept just a day for it and were leaving by a evening flight back to Stockholm.

Arrival story in Oslo

We arrived in Oslo late night after 11pm. We had booked a Forenom apartment for our night stay whose key was supposed to be picked up from a 7-11 shop a bit far away from the actual apartment or the central station where our train had arrived from Flåm. Hence, we quickly caught a tram to reach the shop. We were provided with a code from the company who rents these apartments. Key retrieval from the key box was some experience as it is completely technical/mechanical concept without the shop owner being involved in its process. That was fun! We reached back to our apartment which was a duplex apartment sufficient for four people. We were satisfied with all the things provided in the apartment just that the building was undergoing renovation hence we couldn’t open the windows and were worried about the ventilation. Next morning, we prepared a quick breakfast and left to explore the city.

Oslo central Station

Before we enjoy the city , it was essential that we store our bags as we couldn’t have dragged them along with us. Hence, I would like to explain and appreciate the bags keeping facilities available at the central station. It is both clean, modern and expensive. This was our second experience with automated luggage storage wherein you pay for a day and have different sized lockers. It kind of reminded me of our bank lockers as there were lanes arranged alphabetically and numbered and you enter the right room to find your locker. There were different lockers based on your bag size and it will cost different as well.

Also Central station is the spot from where we would catch a train at the end of the day to reach the airport. Station also accommodates a wide variety of restaurants and quick bite cafes to grab something before or after you explore the city.

Oslo marina

After visiting the tourist center near the central station we were advised to visit the Nobel peace center but we stopped a stop early on our tram near Akershus slot (castle). We decided to take a stroll near the marina. We stumbled upon some street art and admired the ships. It is a perfect spot to eat your sandwich or ice cream and soak in the sun.

Oslo Nobel Peace museum

One can walk till the Nobel Peace center museum. This museum houses exhibitions, activities for families and everything about Nobel Peace Museum medal. They have guided tours and their website mentions that guided tours are included in the ticket on Saturdays. Also if you visit on Fridays, then look out for release of a white dove at noon.

Vigeland Park

Next we visited the Vigeland park. Please reserve at least two to three hours for this Sculpture park. Oslo’s Vigeland Park is one man’s creation. One Norwegian artist created and donated over 200 sculptures to the city of Oslo. One can see various human forms in this park. 

We spent an entire afternoon in this park. Don’t carry any luggage or heavy bags as it might be an issue to carry them around. There are so many statues in this park that one ends up seeing every possible human expression and a journey of a boy till he becomes a man. Wear your comfortable shoes, as there will be many hours of walking.

Oslo Opera house

After Vigeland Park, we took a train back to reach Opera house near the central station. Oslo opera house is one of the recent construction as you can see from the architecture. You can walk till the roof as a pedestrian to get views of Oslo. It houses 1100 rooms and has auditoriums as well. These walk over roofs are made up of special Italian marble and the sides have really long panels of non framed glass. Inside the opera house the decor is made from oak to provide the warmth. A structure is also constructed in water called ‘She lies’ which looks like a mini ice berg!

We just walked around and returned to Oslo central station.

It was almost end of the day, we reached the station, had a cup of coffee and were ready to board our train to reach the airport. An express train leaves every 10 to 20 minutes and it takes about 20 minutes to reach the airport. We were really satisfied with our Oslo trip and ready to fly back home. This was a perfect starter Oslo trip and next time we will get to explore more.