Oslo

If Oslo is your first taste of Norway, you'll be struck by the light - soft and brilliantly clear in the summer and broodingly gloomy in winter, each season visited by rafts of rain or chilling blizzards. The grand late nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings of central Oslo suit the climate well, and provide the sense of security and prosperity that was so important to the emergent nation at the time of their construction, and is still a feature of the city today. largely as a result, most of downtown Oslo remains easy and pleasant to walk around, a humming, good-natured kind of place whose airy streets and squares accommodate the appealing remnants of the city 's early days as well as a clutch of good museums and dozens of bars, cafes and restaurants.

Munch Museum

From the jetty behind the Radhaus (City Hall), ferries shuttle southwest to the Bygdoy peninsula, home to the city's showpiece museums; other ferries head south from the Vippetangen quay behind the Akershus to the string of rusticated islands that necklace the inner waters of the Oslofjord. Back on the mainland, east Oslo is the least prepossessing part of town, a gritty sprawl housing the poorest of the city's inhabitants. You wouldn't come this way were it not for the Munch Museum, which boasts a superb collection of the artist's work, though afterwards it's mildly tempting to pop along the eastern shore of Oslo's principal harbor for the views over the city to look at the skimpy remains of the medieval town. Northwest Oslo is far more prosperous, with big old houses lining the avenues immediately to the west of the Slottsparken.

Beyond is the Frognerparken, a chunk of parkland where the stunning open-air sculptures of Gustav Vigeland are displayed in the Vigelandsparken. Further west still, there's more prestigious modern art at the Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter, beyond the city limits in suburban Hovikodden. The city's enormous reach becomes apparent only to the north of the center in the Nordmarka. This massive forested wilderness, stretching far inland, is paterned by hiking trails and cross-country ski routes.

Two T-bane lines provide ready access, clanking their way up into the rocky hills that herald the region. The more westerly grinds on the past Holmenkollen, a ski resort where the skijump makes a crooked finger on Oslo's skyline, before continuing to the Frognersetern terminus. although the station is still within the municipal boundaries, the forested hills and lochs nearby feel anything but urban. Neighboring Sognsvann, at the end of the other T-bane line, feels equally remote.

Stortinget - Parliament building

Despite the mammoth proportions of the Oslo conurbation, the city center has stayed surprisingly compact, and is easy to navigate by remembering a few simple landmarks. From the train station Oslo S, at the eastern end of the center, the main thoroughfare and city artery Karl Johans gate heads directly up the hill passing the Domkirke and cutting a pedestrianized course until it reaches the Stortinget (parliament building). From here it sweeps down past the University to Det Kongelige Slott (the Royal Palace, which sits in parkland at the western end of the center. South of the palace, on the waterfront, is the brash harbor side development of Aker Brygge, across from which is the distinctive twin towered Radhus. Back towards Oslo S, on the lumpy peninsula overlooking the harbor, is the severe looking Akershus slott (the castle). Between the castle, the Stortinget and Oslo S is a tight, slightly gloomy grid of streets and high buildings that was originally laid out by Christian IV in the seventeenth century. Nowadays the district acts as the city's commercial hub, though its importance is being undermined by Oslo's burgeoning suburbs.

Hotel Norrona

Booking Hotel IN Partner Hotels in Oslo

****Hotel Norrona - Unassuming, slightly old-fashioned place occupying part of a nineteenth-century apartment brick right in the middle of the town, about 400m to the north of the Stortinget. Cheerful public rooms and functional but perfectly adequate bedrooms with modern furnishings

****Home Hotel Savoy - Attractive choice with pleasant rooms and wood-panelled public areas. Very comfortable. In an interesting area too, with bookshops and bars catering primarily for the city's students.





Suggested reading:

Oslo Highlights