As I call it Green City Oslo, is nestled between Oslofjord & miles of forest hills and it is gifted with the natural beauty with many man made jewels like fine art works, museums & galleries. Capital of Norway, is very compact and easy to explore either on foot & bike. You can walk and cover all major attractions.
However, Oslo has an efficient public transport system makes an easy & comfortable the whole city accessible without a car. You need a city transport card if you wish to use pubic transport.
I had early morning flight from Heathrow to Oslo, flight was approx 2 hours long. I reached in time and surprisingly immigration cleared less than a minute, even though I am a Non EU citizen (Indian Passport).
Airport to City:
Oslo has three airports but Oslo Gardermoen is the main airport is around 30 miles from the city centre and is very well connected with the frequent Bus and Train services.
Trains: That’’s Interesting, Oslo Airport has two types of train services as below:
1. Flytoget Airport Express Train: Non Stop to City Centre in 19-22 mins and costs £17.
2. Vy (Norwegian State Railways): with few stops to city centre in 25-31 mins and costs £9.
I decided to take the Norwegian Sate Railways.
note: Trains are neat and clean with plenty of mobile charging points but do carry a EU socket. They don’t have USB only Charging points in the Trains.
Alternatively, Bus services FB2 and FB3 are available round the clock from the airport every 20 minutes. It costs $4.54 per trip.
City: I planned for a day trip and due to time constrain visited Oslo’s best attractions (below):
I started my walking tour from Noble Peace Centre. It’s a good opportunity to learn more about the prestigious award and get closer to its winners.
The Royal Palace, is a home of Norway’s Royal Family HM King Harald V and HM Queen Sonja. It is located at one end of Karl Johans gate. 1849 neo-classical style building surrounded by grassy areas, majestic trees, small ponds and statues. Very much like Buckingham Place, London it has a Changing of the guards every day at 1.30 pm.
Akershus Fortress & Castle, must visit attraction and a great place to discover Oslo’s history. Other than Historic spot made to protect Oslo, I enjoyed mesmerizing Nordic views of harbour, city, mountains & forests and off-course nice opportunities for few photo shots. Budget travellers can walk on the Fortress grounds for free.
Harbour Promenade can gives you a nice and refreshing walk
City Hall is a government buildings and is open to the general public. Take a walk inside & you will find the interior walls lined with frescoes created by Henrik Sørensen, Edvard Munch and other famous Norwegian artists.
Environment: As Oslo Say hi to Vois, bye to noise!
Oslo is very serious on saving environment. Norway produce 98% of its electricity via renewable energy sources. Oslo City Council is encouraging citizens to use electric cars, scooters etc. There is no City Tax for the people using battery/electric cars and yes, parking is free.
I saw plenty of electric scoters every where in Oslo. They are laying here and there, looks like people use and through these scooters.
Though, city’s public transport is targeting zero emission by 2028 but they have already started working on it. Most of the routes already running electric buses. It’s like a green contribution towards healthy environment. As a step ahead of other cities in the world, Oslo has started small red driverless electric busses along the Harbour Promenade line. Though it’s a driverless but has conductor on board to ensure passengers comfort. Soon they are planning to open other lines as well.
Food: I haven’t found much Norwegian Street Food Joints but you will get plenty of restaurants serving different cuisine.
Not much ATS for some reason.
Blend of friendly people, historic and beautiful buildings & views, good public transport, compact & pollution free city makes it a good weekend break destination.
