Two-Day Trek: Oslo, Norway
Escape (or embrace) the weather in this lovely Nordic capital city.
Set on the shore of a shimmering fjord, Oslo is connected to the outdoors like few other cities, appreciating the summer’s midnight sun and savoring the winter’s snow and ice.
SATURDAY
We arrived, or technically returned, early in the morning after a 45-minute flight from Bergen, with two days in Oslo tacked onto the end of a six-day journey around Norway. After taking the train in from Gardermoen airport, located some distance from the city itself, we checked into our hotel, the Best Western Karl Johan (Karl Johans Gate 33), which graciously stored our belongings for a few days as we consolidated our stuff and trekked throughout the country.
Our first stop, after checking in, was a mid-morning stroll up Karl Johans Gate, Oslo’s main thoroughfare, to see the Slottet [Royal Palace], which is only open during the summer. We were a bit too early to catch the changing of the guard ceremony, which takes place daily at 1:30 p.m. but is celebrated 45 minutes earlier on Saturdays with a procession across the city involving members of the royal guard.
Not too far from the palace is the Nationaltheatret stop of the T-bane, Oslo’s subway system, and we hopped on the first train we saw to Majorstuen and walked 10 minutes to Frogner Park. More specifically, we were in search of Vigeland Park, the collection of 212 bronze and granite sculptures on the grounds that depict all manners of humans doing any number of bizarre things, such as a baby throwing a tantrum, a woman tackling a man and the 45-foot Monolith, a tower of naked humans.
From there, we returned to Majostuen and grabbed the T-bane headed for Jernbanetorget, where we again walked a bit to Den Norsk Operaen [Norwegian Opera House]. One of the world’s newest major concert halls after having opened in 2008, it’s known for its sloping white marble roof that reaches the ground — and visitors are permitted to climb it for views of the city and the harbor even during inclement weather.
What To Know
Date of visit: Feb. 3 to Feb. 4, 2018.
Airport location: Thirty miles northeast of the city. The R10, R11 or L12 regional trains will take about 25 minutes and are generally reliable even in the winter months.
Walkability: 6/10. A relatively compact downtown area loses a point in the winter for lingering snow and ice.
English: Among the best of any non-native speakers in Europe.
Must-See Attraction: The opera house is a modern architectural wonder and worth a visit for the views alone, but if visiting in winter, go off the beaten path and sled down Korketrekkeren.
Traveler’s tip: Water crossings close down in the winter months, so if planning a trip across the harbor or to any of the islands, plan alternate transport options.
Having cautiously come down from the roof, we walked through Christiania Torv, the city’s oldest public square. Marked by a statue of the hand of King Christian IV, it is said to mark the spot where he declared that the city would be rebuilt after a fire destroyed much of it in 1624.
Five minutes from there is the Akershus Festning [Akershus Fortress], which is believed to have begun construction in the late 1200s and has been a military base, a prison and is now the seat of the Norwegian Ministry of Defense.
Next on the list, via a trek through the Radhusplassen [City Hall Plaza], a waterfront square that used to be bisected by a busy road, was the Nasjonalgalleriet [National Gallery]. Home to works by a number of Norwegian painters and sculptors, it is best known as the location of one of four versions of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” with another across the city at the Munchmuseet [Munch Museum]. Several of Julius Middelthun’s busts and paintings by Johan Christian Claussen Dahl are displayed inside, as well as works from other European artists, including Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir and El Greco.
For dinner, we walked about 15 minutes beyond the Slottet to Lorry (Parkveien 12), a bustling, affordable restaurant with a folksy atmosphere, waiters in black ties, more than 100 types of beer and a variety of local meats and dishes, including salmon and our choice, reindeer burgers.
Then, after a return to the hotel to change, it was time for some exhilaration: A trek up to Korketrekkeren, a toboggan run built on the site of the bobsled track used during the Winter Olympics in 1952. It’s a bit of a hike from the city center, crossing 20 stops on the T1 line of the T-bane to Frognerseteren, but once there, we rented a pair of wooden sleds and accelerated down the course, which takes around 10 minutes to complete. Fun during the day but much more scenic at night, we were able to get in three good runs before the run closed; the finishing point is directly under the Midtstuen stop, meaning sledders can reach the bottom, climb back aboard the T-bane, catch their breaths and go again.
SUNDAY
A bit sore from the night before — nobody is as young as they think — we sauntered out the door later than usual in order to be at the Vikingskipshuset (Viking Ship Museum) when it opened at 10 a.m. Getting there was a bit more complicated than we expected because the direct ferry service (understandably) doesn’t run in the winter, so we needed to find a bus, the No. 30, to get us there.
Inside, the museum has three fairly well-preserved longships from the ninth century that were found in the Oslofjord area in the 1800s. It is believed they ended their service as burial vessels, as one is believed to have served as the grave of Queen Asa, who ruled Agder, southwest of Oslo, and died around 834. A number of smaller artifacts and instructional films are also offered.
Nearby are a pair of other museums — the Fram Museum, home to the Fram, a wooden vessel used by Roald Amundsen to reach the South Pole in 1911, and the Kon-Tiki Museum, a similar attraction dedicated to the expedition of the Polynesian islands in the late 1940s — but we skipped both to return to the Rådhuset [City Hall]. The administrative center of Oslo, it contains the Radhushallen, where the Nobel Peace Prize is presented each December, and is next to the Nobel Peace Center, which honors the award’s mission and recipients with a series of brief interactive displays.
For lunch, we stopped at the Grand Cafe (Karl Johans Gate 31), a storied restaurant that opened in 1874 where noted playwright Henrik Ibsen frequently dined and, according to legend, Edvard Munch once offered to sell a painting in exchange for 100 steak dinners. Then, after a slight trek up the hill to see the Domkirke [Oslo Cathedral], we retreated to our hotel, grabbed our belongings and prepared to return home on a mid-afternoon flight from Norway.
Verdict: A stunningly beautiful city during the heart of winter, it certainly would be interesting to see after its transition to the summer months. It’s also expensive, like the rest of the country, and taking advantage of the outdoors certainly helps prevent such a hit to the wallet.
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Disclaimers: All products, services and experiences were paid for and arranged by the author and the vendors named herein had no editorial oversight of this piece. All photographs were taken by and remain the property of the author; contact for republication rights.
