Last updated on September 10th, 2025
Akershus Fortress, © Can Stock / Nanisimova
Visit Oslo – Nobel Peace Prize
One of the highlights when you visit Oslo, is the Nobel Peace Center, which is on the waterfront next to City Hall. The Nobel Peace Center has exhibits about the Nobel Peace Prize and its recipients. The Nobel Peace Prize ceremony takes place at Oslo City Hall annually on December 10th, followed by the Nobel Peace Prize banquet at the Grand Hotel. The other Nobel prizes are awarded that same day at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. City Hall is worth a visit to see the many amazing paintings, especially in the hall where the Peace Prize is awarded. Best of all, it’s free!
Nobel Peace Center, © Can Stock / mareesw
Visit Oslo – Waterfront Walk
Take a self guided waterfront walk in the city center when you visit Oslo. The waterfront walk to the east of the Nobel Peace Center leads you immediately to the Roosevelt Monument, which honors the US President for his support to Norway in World War II. Then walk less than 10 minutes to Norway’s Resistance Museum and Akershus Fortress. Akershus Fortress is a medieval castle built around 1300 AD to protect the city of Oslo.
Oslo City Hall, © Can Stock / epixx
On the way back from Arkerhus Fortress, walk a few blocks inland from the waterfront to Christiania Square. In Christiania Square, see the Giant Pointing Finger Fountain, which is a sculpture marking the spot where King Christian IV decided to rebuild the city after the fire in 1624. To the west of the Nobel Peace Center along the waterfront is Aker Brygge, a great area to enjoy a beer and views of the harbor after your waterfront walk. You can also take an Oslo Fjord Cruise from the harbor.
Oslo Opera House, © Can Stock / openyourap
Visit Oslo – Karl Johans Gate
Just inland from the Oslo waterfront in the city center are a number of historic tourist attractions. Karl Johans Gate is a street that is popular to stroll along. Karl Johans Gate is home to the Oslo Cathedral, the Norwegian Parliament, the Grand Hotel Oslo, the National Theatre, the National Gallery and the Royal Palace.
Oslo Cathedral is the main church of the Norwegian Royal Family and the Church of Norway. Trinity Church nearby is also part of the Church of Norway. The Royal Palace is the home of the Royal Family. The palace includes the Royal Gardens and a daily changing of the guard, which is popular with tourists. The National Gallery has Norway’s largest collection of art, including the most well known of Edvard Munch’s four painting versions of The Scream.
Norwegian Parliament, © Can Stock / gary718
Royal Palace, © Can Stock / einbog
Vigeland Sculpture Park
Take the #12 Tram from the inner harbor in Oslo city center to the gigantic Frogner Park. The two main attractions in Frogner Park are the Olso City Museum and the Vigeland Sculpture Park. The Vigeland Sculpture Park has more than 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. This is the largest outdoor exhibit by a single artist in the world and it’s a great opportunity to join local Norwegians enjoying their city. The Museum faces the park and has even more works by Vigeland inside.
Vigeland Park Sculptures, © Can Stock / Leaf
Gamle Aker
Gamle Aker is the Old Aker Church. The church is the oldest building in Oslo and dates to the 12th century. Stroll the Aker River for a lovely riverside walk. See historic old wooden houses that you can’t find in the city center.
Gol Stave Church, © Can Stock / vyskoczilova
Norway in a Nutshell
Take a trip from Oslo on the Bergen Line Railway to Myrdal and then ride the Flam Railway to Flam. The trip through Flam has been very successfully marketed as Norway in a Nutshell. You can arrange the trip on your own, but Fjord Tours makes it simple and easy to book the whole trip online in a package that includes the Bergen Railway, the Flam Railway tourist train, the Nærøyfjord cruise and the bus connection back to the Bergen Railway. You can also add optional lodging and excursions in Flam with your online booking too. The Norway in a Nutshell excursion offers you the option to finish in Bergen or return to Oslo. You can also use the Fjord Tours web site to book a similar tour from Oslo called Geiranger in a Nutshell.
Aker Brygge, © Can Stock / jovannig
Holmenkollen Ski Museum & Tower
See what it’s like to be at the top of a ski jump and enjoy views of the city and fjord. Then zipline down. You can reach Holmenkollen on the #1 Metro line. Continue your journey uphill on the #1 Metro to Frognerseteren to enjoy the restaurant in summer. In winter you can rent a sled at Frognerseteren and then enjoy the Korketrekkeren (cork screw) ride down more than a mile to Midstuen Station, where you board the #1 Metro with your sled to return to the top of the hill.
Holmenkollen Ski Jump, © Can Stock / elberg
Bygdoy Museum District
Catch a ferry from Oslo harbor to the nearby Bygdøy Museum District. Visit the Norsk Folkemuseum, which covers the cultural history of Norway from 1500 to present. The Norsk Folkemuseum includes the Gol Stave Church and 150 other heritage buildings.
The Viking Ship Museum houses three Viking burial vessels, but renovations have closed public access to these ships since 2021. Sadly it’s not expected to reopen until 2027. The museum’s three Viking ships were recovered from the shores of Oslo Fjord in the 1800s.
The Fram Museum houses the Polar Ship Fram and a tribute to the history of Norwegian exploration in the Arctic and Antarctic. The Polar Ship Fram was stuck in Arctic ice for 3 years. The Kon Tiki Museum has artifacts from Thor Heyerdahl’s reed boat trip from South America to Polynesia. Huk Beach is also located in Bygdoy.
Get to Oslo
Oslo Gardermoen Airport (OSL) is the way to get to Oslo by air. Smaller airlines, such as Ryan Air & Wizz Air, might land slightly farther out of town at TORP Sandefjord Airport. The Flytoget Express Train provides frequent access to the downtown area from Oslo Gardermoen Airport in just over 30 minutes, but you can also take the regular train service for half the price. You will find that the Flytoget has extra space for full size luggage, has frequent service and doesn’t make any stops. However, regular service has the option to ride the R10, R11 or R12 to Oslo Sentralstajion (Oslo S), so these 3 trains together end up being just about as frequent and only makes one short stop on the route.
If you choose Flytoget, buy your ticket at the airport or from their website. If you travel on the regional trains, you can buy tickets at the airport, on the Ruter app or online from Vy. All these trains travel through the second longest tunnel in Norway on your journey. Passengers who are 67 or older will enjoy half price transit fares in Oslo.
Visit Oslo – More Museums
Norwegian Museum of Science & Technology
Natural History Museum – includes the Botanical Gardens and the Zoological Museum
The Munch Museum has paintings donated by Edvard Munch, including three paper versions of Edvard Munch’s the Scream. The paper versions are rotated hourly, so only one is available for viewing at a time. The oil version is located at the National Gallery.
Oslo Opera House – home of the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet. Take a walk on the Oslo Opera House roof too.
Buy an Oslo Pass to get access to most museums in one ticket, plus a transit pass. The pass is worthwhile if you visit 3 museums per day.
Grand Hotel, © Can Stock / einbog
Oslo City Ferries
Oslo operates several city ferries that depart from the piers at Rådhusbrygge at the City Hall. You can pay at the dock or on the Ruter app. These ferries are an inexpensive way to take a round trip on the Oslo waterfront. You will also find the Bygdoy Ferry to the Museum District on these docks, but this ferry is not available on the Ruter app. In addition you will find harbor cruises such as Oslo Fjord Sightseeing excursions on the piers here too.
Car Ferries to Oslo
You can reach Oslo on car ferries that arrive from Kiel, Germany on the Color Line or from Copenhagen via Fredrikshavn on the Danish ferry run by DFDS.
Get Around Oslo
Ruter operates the city’s transportation systems, so get the Ruter# app to buy your tickets from your phone or visit a Narvesen or 7-11 store. Thankfully the Ruter app combines route planning with ticket purchases. Jernbanetorget is the main station for the metro (T-Bane), trams and buses. Oslo excels at public transportation, with 5 metro lines, 6 tram lines, buses and commuter rail services too. The #12 Tram (Trikk, as in “electricity”) provides a nice city tour on its way from Jernbanetorget to the Vigelandsparken stop for the Vigeland Sculpture Park. Take Tram #19 to the Barcode area and the Ekeberg Sculpture Park. The #30 Bus from Jernbanetorget will take you directly to the Museum District at Bygdøy.
You can also take the ferry from City Hall to the Museum District, but you must buy your ticket from the Bygdøy Ferry at the dock or online. On the metro #1 T-Bane you can easily reach the Holmenkollen Olympic Ski Jumping site.
Oslo by Rail
The Norwegian State Railways offer regular connections to Bergen, which takes just over 7 hours. Trains run from Oslo to Stavanger, Lillehammer, Andalsnes, Trondheim or Stockholm as well. Your train journey will start at the Oslo Sentralstajion, which is just steps from the Jernbanetorget transit hub. Several cruise ship terminals are close to the city center as well.
Oslo Weather
Oslo weather is influenced by the North Sea and by the city’s northern latitude. The height of summer is July and August, when average highs of 72 F (22 C) can be expected, while average lows are 55 F (13 C). From December – February, average high temperatures barely reach above freezing and average lows are around 25 F (-4 C). Rainfall is slightly higher in summer. The summer months are the most popular for tourism and the best time to visit Oslo.
Oslo Fjord, © Can Stock / einbog
Visit Oslo – Background
Oslo is the capital of Norway and its largest city. More than a million people live in Oslo. The city is at the northern tip of the very long and narrow Oslo Fjord, however this fjord is not the rimmed in steep mountains like the fjords of western Norway. People have been living in Oslo for more than a thousand years. After fire destroyed the city it was rebuilt and renamed Christiania by King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway. The city was known as Christiania until 1925 when the name was changed back to Oslo. Today Oslo receives high rankings for quality of life and is also one of the most expensive cities in Europe to visit. If you visit on May 17th for Norwegian Independence Day, you will have the opportunity to see an extremely large parade with many people wearing traditional dress. You will also find that nearly all the tourist attractions in Oslo are closed that day.
Leave A Comment