TRAVEL: Oslo, Norway - fjords, figures and fancy food

On my quest for the cheapest Bank Holiday trip imaginable, I found myself back on a flight comparison site looking for ‘London to anywhere’ flights. The top hit? Oslo. Sure, why not? I’d visited the country many, many years ago on a Scandinavian camping trip, but was more than happy to go somewhere I couldn’t remember. Flight booked, Airbnb booked, I started doing my research on the city. Every website started with something along the lines of ‘A lovely city, but expensive’ or ‘A beautiful place to visit, if you can afford to do so.’ Ah.

The websites were right on both accounts, but even the cost wouldn’t have put me off what really was a lovely trip. At noon on a bright Saturday, I headed to Stansted airport, arriving around two hours later in Oslo. To get to the city, we had to take the train which cost a fairly hefty £10, particularly in comparison to the £2 bus tickets I’d paid in Riga a few months ago (you can read about that trip here!) Nonetheless, it was a comfortable and quick train ride and we chose to go slightly further than the Central Station, to the National Theatre stop.

Stepping out of the station, we were greeted with blissful sunshine and a gorgeous square complete with two fountains. Ten seconds into our trip, and I already loved the city. We were stood next to a street, Karl Johans Gate, which looked fairly reminiscent of the Champs Elysee in Paris, and was so lovely I didn’t want to head straight to our Airbnb, but instead have my first wander around the city, even though I was sure we’d be returning to this part plenty of times before the trip was out. We took a quick stroll up to the Parliament building and what I had chosen as our end point, a huge clock with the ‘Freia’ on it, which we soon discovered to be a popular chocolate brand; and that the clock had been heralded in days past by FDR as the most impressive thing in Oslo.

Turning around, we headed straight to the Royal Palace, which sits in the midst of a lovely park with a few interesting sculptures in it, including a colourful rainbow, and a statue with a sock puppet. Pretty cool! We wandered our way up into Majorstuveien where our Airbnb was located, a small room in someone’s apartment. Given the other cheap Airbnb option I’d looked at, where we would have had to have stayed in the same room as our host, I thought this seemed pretty decent, given that we didn’t plan to be spending much time there anyway.

Dropping our bags off and changing into much needed summer gear with the weather being in the high 20s, it was time to head out and do some more exploring. Oslo has the benefit of being situated on a fjord, meaning it’s very easy to find your way down to the docks, and so we headed for the cool area of Akker Brygge, a waterfront strip full of seafood restaurants and overpriced (but no doubt delicious) ice cream. A wonderful place to stroll for a minute.

Knowing that food was likely to be expensive, but undeniably good, I had consulted my trusty TripAdvisor to pick out some restaurants in the ££-£££ range, and settled upon the best Scandinavian restaurant in this price range, called Smia Galleri. It was pretty far out of the city, but we were up for it, and trekked off into the suburbs. As we became more and more surrounded by residential areas, I started to get worried we were in the wrong place, until we stumbled upon the orange painted building, reminiscent of those I recalled in Mediterranean countries.

The restaurant was gorgeous, and right next to a metal workshop which I assume gave the restaurant its name. Whilst almost 9pm, it was still beautifully warm so we opted to sit outside, with a lovely server translating the entire menu for us as they had no English equivalent. I liked the fact the restaurant had both a set menu of the day, but you could also choose just one dish from the set menu a la carte if you wished, which is what we did. My travel companion chose the ‘meat of the day’, tender duck with a creamy mash and vegetables; whilst I went for the only vegetarian option on the menu, a Japanese pancake topped with kimchi. And boy, was it delicious. I 100% would recommend this restaurant.

 Whilst we sat, I commented that everyone around us seemed to be ‘living their best life’. A lady a few tables over sat curled on a chair with a book, basking in the evening sunshine; and up on the hill we could see from our location, a few groups enjoyed picnics or walked slowly around the park. The right way to spend a Saturday evening, I think. The benefit of being so far up North was that the sun was only just setting as we made our way back at 11:30pm, and I was certainly glad we’d made our trip during the summer rather than the cold and dark winter!

The next morning, we made our way down to the Central Station for my favourite activity of any trip – a free walking tour of the city. We were told to meet next to ‘Oslo’s tiger’ but the group of people already there indicated we were in the right place. Unfortunately, the English-speaking guide had been delayed by the trains, so we had about 20 minutes to wander around. Luckily, the tourist office was right next door, and so I headed in to grab a map, and read on the digital screens about a Sunday market in somewhere called Bla, which I inquired about.

We headed back to be greeted by our guide, Anne Marie, an eccentric personality who makes balloon animals in her spare time. She was quite the character, and made everything she said totally exciting. We were hooked. Our tour lasted almost two hours, and took us to a variety of places across the city: the Communist hammer smashing a swastika outside the Central Station; the utterly stunning Opera & Ballet House with its sloped walls enabling visitors to walk up the sides; Akershus Fortress; Oslo’s three city halls, the most recent of which has glorious wooden carvings depicting Norse folklore around it; and back to Parliament where we finished up. Definitely the best thing to do on our first morning in Oslo.

Our itinerary evolved around the discovery of a Sunday market, and so we took a walk up along the river, which runs from the Central Bus Station (how convenient) in search of the market. A lovely walk, with a surprisingly end – the market turned out to be tiny, with only about 10 stalls in a narrow street. Nonetheless, I ended up buying some vintage collector cards, so worth the trip! Add to this the fact that the market was just a minute away from Mathallen Food Hall, which held a bunch of delightful food stalls with cheese, pastries, meats, and ice cream with a queue stretching round the corner.

With this, it was back into the centre and to the Nobel Peace Centre, one of my top hits for the trip. We were super lucky, arriving just at 3pm when a guided tour was starting – I couldn’t have asked for better timing, as we were taken around the Peace Prize part of the museum, which this year was dedicated to I CAN, fighting for the disuse of atomic weapons. This photo exhibition was also accompanied by an interactive room where standing in front of panels would tell you about all of the previous winners.

Downstairs was just as interesting, with a photo exhibit on ‘Generation Wealth’, examining the cult of celebrity, sex work, ageing beautifully, and those who had wished for wealth and grandeur but been negatively impacted by the economic depression. A fantastic and informative way to pass the time.

Alas, our day was far from over, and we headed all the way back up the city and past our Airbnb to Vigeland Sculpture Park, another ‘must’ for me. This park houses 212 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland, and we had great fun seeing as many as we could (thank goodness most are located within three main sections) and making up titles for what we thought they could be called. The strange nature of the sculptures just made this more fun, with babies balancing on their heads, people flipping each other over their backs, and the most famous angry baby.

Then it was back all the way through the city and near to the Opera House for the second best ££-£££ restaurant, Mirabel. This sits on a peninsula accessible by a small pedestrian bridge behind the Opera House, which inconveniently happened to be closed during our attempted visit. How inconvenient… Given the lateness of the day and the tiredness of our feet, it was decided we’d just go someone nearby, opting for Mamma Pizza which I’d seen on TripAdvisor too, a decent pizza joint where the dishes were importantly served quickly!

All too soon, we’d reached the last day of our trip, and so we packed up the room, said goodbye to our hosts and headed down to the waterfront where we’d booked a fjord tour. We boarded the Helena, an ancient looking vessel, and spent the next two hours floating along the fjord past the ‘She Lies’ iceberg sculpture next to the Opera House, cute summer homes on the islands, and occasionally being told interesting facts about what we were seeing. I approve.

Docked up at 12:30, we headed back to the Opera House where we’d booked a tour, again thanks to the helpful digital screens in the tourist office which notified us that such a thing existed. It was so worth it. We spent an hour being told about how the Opera House had been designed to be open to the public, which explained its sloped sides; the decision to leave the inner atrium bare of art because ‘the art was behind the auditorium doors’; the wood and chairs in the main theatre chosen to amplify music but less so vocals (but still being treated to a glorious song by one of the members of our group whilst in the theatre so we could hear the stunning acoustics); and even getting to go backstage to the huge workshops where set pieces sit and are being created. This was an absolute highlight of the trip for me.

Of course, we had to check out what all the hype was about with regards to walking up the Opera House, an idea I think is so fantastic. What better place to chill than the top of this gorgeous building, and for free, whenever you like, nonetheless? We cracked open a pack of aptly named Ballerina biscuits and revelled in the moment. What a joy it was to be there right then.

Always wanting to do as much as I can on any trip, I next suggested we head for Ekeberg Sculpture Park, on a hill a bit beyond the Opera House, in spite of my feet clearly stating that this was not what they wanted to do. Unfortunately, with all the redevelopment going on at the Harbourside, it was difficult to figure out where to go and a few wrong turns meant it took us longer than we’d hoped. Nevertheless, we made it there eventually, and it was at this point that I remembered it was a hill. My feet were not happy.

Eventually, I dragged myself up, and enjoyed the albeit strange sculptures held in this off-the-beaten-path park. However, it was truly worth it when we found a sculpture by none other than Salvador Dali of Venus de Milo filled with drawers; and the fact that this was supposedly the park in which Edward Munch was walking when he was inspired to paint The Scream. I certainly was inspired to go and rest my feet.

Our journey ended back at the Central Station with an overpriced but yummy grilled cheese sandwich, something I was glad to have stocked up on when we discovered our flight was delayed until midnight that night. What a weekend, what a trip, what a city. If you’re thinking of a sunny city break over the holidays, consider Oslo!

My tips for visiting Oslo: It goes without saying, but be mindful that it is an expensive city. Luckily, they have a currency which isn’t as easy to understand as pounds or euro, so I like to think I was ignorant of what I was spending. Nevertheless, it’s worth shelling out a bit more for fantastic meals like we had, so I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Find out what’s happening whilst your there with a quick trip to the Tourist Office or a chat to the locals – we never would have found out about the cute market or Opera House tour if we hadn’t done so. Finally, tours are great. I’m a true convert having got an inside look of the Opera House, and know that if the opportunity arises to do something similar on future trips, I’ll be sure to take it.

I hope you enjoyed today’s blog as much as I enjoyed visiting Oslo! I’m in the midst of planning my next trip, so be sure to stay tuned either on the blog or on Twitter @CiarasCountry for more travel blogs like this coming soon. If you have any recommendations for cities I should visit, please drop me a comment below as I’m always looking for new and exciting destinations!