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places to see in oslo?

category: general [glöplog]
 
Now you're all back from solskogen and (possibly) not hung over any more...

I'll be invading Oslo with my wife for a weeks holiday in september. Can anyone from around there suggest the best areas to visit? Any recommendations on where to go for a bit of hiking too?

Also, I'm thinking to rent an apartment in the city, any suggestions for that? What food is worth trying?

Thanks :)
added on the 2009-07-21 20:55:45 by psonice psonice
not really :( Sadly Oslo is the ugliest place you can manage to find in Norway...
added on the 2009-07-21 21:06:26 by Proteque Proteque
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added on the 2009-07-21 21:07:19 by havoc havoc
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and my personal favourite
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added on the 2009-07-21 21:16:49 by maali maali
It all depends on what kind of stuff you like, I guess. You should check out the new opera house by the seafront, close to the central station. The royal palace seems to be popular with the tourists, but the older Akershus Fortress is much more impressive IMO. The Vigeland sculpture park is well worth a visit, as is the museum of cultural history. "Norsk folkemuseum" in Norwegian, it is basically a lot of old houses from different periods in Norwegian history, all dismantled and rebuilt on Bygdøy in Oslo. Saves you having to travel around the country in search of stave churches and such. There are heaps of other good museums in Oslo, including the Edvard Munch museum and the national gallery. For contemporary art, the Stenersen museum is well worth a visit.

If you like hiking, Oslo is surrounded by large forests accessible by the subway. Get a map of Nordmarka ("northern forest") and take the subway to Frognerseteren, from where you can walk for hours in the forests. Norwegians love hiking, so you'll find several large, manned cabins serving waffles, hot chocolate, soda and other food. Ullevålseter is probably one of the best known. You should also take a walk along Akerselva (one of Oslo's rivers), from north to south. The walk takes you past old buildings from Norway's industrial revolution (early to mid-1800s) as well as several nice parks. If you're in Oslo around the autumnal equinox, there's a yearly event where torches are lit all along the river, with performers and food booths all along the river. This is definitely not to be missed.

As for food, I cannot really help you. I guess I'm kind of blind to Norwegian cuisine, having been raised on it :) There are several gourmet restaurants in Oslo, but as anything else in Norway, they are very expensive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Opera_House
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akershus_Fortress
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norsk_Folkemuseum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigelandsparken
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordmarka
http://www.stenersen.museum.no/
http://www.ullevalseter.no/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akerselva
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marenb/sets/72157594294732530/ <-- a series of photos from Akerselva at autumnal equinox
added on the 2009-07-21 21:33:08 by Betong Betong
i spent most of monday walking around in oslo - i really liked the statue park
added on the 2009-07-21 21:33:53 by Gargaj Gargaj
Proteque: you should really try walking more than 100 meters from the train station some time :) I'd be happy to take you for a walk.
added on the 2009-07-21 21:35:53 by Betong Betong
"Vigelandsparken" is a must-see. It's also walking-distance from downtown Oslo, and there's a lot of shopping opportunities near there as well, if that's your thing. I also second Concrete's suggestion of the new opera house (no, not his place of employment).

As for eating, I highly recommend attending a dinner service at Ekebergrestauranten. The location (especially at dusk) is really amazing, and the food is.. in lack of a better description: awesome.

http://www.ekebergrestauranten.com/default.pl?showPage=212
added on the 2009-07-21 21:40:10 by gloom gloom
I'll just go straight along with Concrete's suggestions, and add that there are a bunch of museums in the same pennisula where "Norsk Folkemuseum" is located. Oh, and be sure to be at the royal castle at 13:30 for the guard change.

Also, a friend of mine recently went for a 2h cruise in the fjord - which he claimed was awesome.

The nice thing about Oslo is that you can you can buy the so called "Oslo pass" which allows you to get in to a lot of museums and tours and also ride with the public transport system for no extra charge after the pass has been bought.
added on the 2009-07-21 22:05:04 by leijaa leijaa
+1 for Vigelandsparken (aka Frognerparken). Almost every tourist I've seen agree it's the highlight, even though in September anything outdoors might get a bit chilly.
added on the 2009-07-21 22:36:17 by Sesse Sesse
yea well unfortunately there is not much culture in Scandinavian countries. Stockholm was good though. The best thing you could do (if you have a lot of time to spend there still) is to rent a car and enjoy a road trip in the marvelous norvegian landscapes.. Else, being stuck in a city where you see over and over the same few things, mm, sucks. :/
added on the 2009-07-22 09:37:17 by nystep nystep
Quote:
yea well unfortunately I have no idea where to find culture in Scandinavian countries.


There, I fixed it for you :)
added on the 2009-07-22 10:13:10 by Betong Betong
horstråket
Ah, yesterday was a good day. I found a favourite song that's been in my mp3 collection for ages marked only as "unknown.mp3" in some tracks I downloaded, so at last I know what it is! (it was mushroom santa by tim exile if anyone cares).

Then, I went out for a walk, found a wild cherry plum tree and came home with 3kg of free fruit :)

And finally I came home to a ton of really helpful replies here. My belief in the coolness of the scene is once again justified! <3

I'll have a good look into all the suggestions and plan the trip a bit. Thanks everyone :)
added on the 2009-07-22 11:00:39 by psonice psonice
Betong x)

I was trying to be nice don't you see? :P
added on the 2009-07-22 17:10:52 by nystep nystep
psonice: no problem, i like to be of assistence. as for typical norwegian food goes, try the elk roadkill, bashed seal and obviously a good bite of spermwhale steak. i dunno if you and your wife like an activity-holiday, in that case you can even participate in the catch yourself!
added on the 2009-07-23 14:12:48 by maali maali
ahh, good plan :D Yeah, we like to eat stuff fresh from the sea (or roadside). We tried whale in iceland though, so maybe we'll hire a car and go looking for elf to run down.
added on the 2009-07-23 14:25:27 by psonice psonice
Err, elk, not elf. Elf is only found in finland of course.
added on the 2009-07-23 14:26:07 by psonice psonice
elf roadkill isnt nearly as good anyway.. tastes like chicken
added on the 2009-07-23 14:33:45 by maali maali
polarbear wings rule \o/
added on the 2009-07-23 14:34:30 by havoc havoc

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