Oslo and Copenhagen Open Air Museums - which one?

My husband and I are going on a British Isles cruise in May that has a port stop in Oslo and ends in Copenhagen where we are planning on staying for three days. I see that both Oslo and Copenhagen have open air museums. I think that we would only do one. My husband doesn't love history the way that I do so more than that could be intolerable for him. From what I have read, it seems that they could both take up a whole day of sightseeing. It seems that Copenhagen's is larger (and maybe better?).

But I'm also interested in going to Fredriksborg Castle outside of Copenhagen, which some people had said was also a whole day experience. Could it be combined with the open air museum? If we are only spending three days in Copenhagen, it doesn't make sense to spend two of them actually outside of the City. Or should we go to the one in Oslo, forget the one in Copenhagen and just spend a day at Fredriksborg Castle?

Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

I can only speak about the one in Oslo--we found it fascinating and ended up spending 2-3 hrs there just wandering around. We used an Oslo pass and also visited the Fram museum and the Viking Ships that are in the same area.

In Copenhagen we took the train to Elsinsore (sp?) and wandered around the town --we were castled out at that point but it was lovely to see the setting of it.

The open Air Museum called Frilandsmuseet is located on the same line on the S-train network as Hillerød.

The travel Method depends on if it is a weekend/public holiday or a regular weekday.

On a regular weekday

Take S-train line B towards Holte and get off at Sorgenfri.

The train runs every 10th minute

You you can walk 10 minutes time or take bus 191 towards Lyngby and get off at the bus stop at Frilandsmuseet

https://maps.google.dk/maps?saddr=Sorgenfri+st,+Virum&daddr=Frilandsmuseet,+Kongens+Lyngby&hl=da&ll=55.783246,12.486584&spn=0.007855,0.01929&sll=55.783241,12.486593&sspn=0.007855,0.01929&geocode=FYcnUwMd1nu-ACmNatviT05SRjFTWlCy42CobA%3BFSNDUwMdgae-ACE3c6Jr0B-IOimdxcQvWk5SRjE3c6Jr0B-IOg&oq=frilandsm&t=h&dirflg=w&mra=ls&z=16

Then take bus 191 towards Lyngby station.

http://www.moviatrafik.dk/dinrejse/koreplaner/Buslinje/afgangstider/Pages/AfgangsTider.aspx?line_direction_gid=9014200019110000&stop_gid=9025200000006486

Here you take S-train line E towards Hillerød, again the train runs every 10th minute

The palace is in walking distance from the station

https://maps.google.dk/maps?saddr=Hiller%C3%B8d+st,+Hiller%C3%B8d&daddr=55.9317793,12.3013468+to:Frederiksborg+Slot,+Hiller%C3%B8d&hl=da&ie=UTF8&sll=55.926923,12.310928&sspn=0.007826,0.01929&geocode=FYtgVQMdkNm7ACnr50g9uUBSRjFOHajvrpSZwg%3BFYNzVQMdIrS7AClxfo47lkBSRjGkNx4VOO4ALA%3BFcV_VQMdxrO7ACHAJHeBOkgFXinhQSl2l0BSRjHAJHeBOkgFXg&oq=frederiksborg&t=h&dirflg=w&mra=ls&z=15&via=1

When you are done you can take S-train line E back to Copenhagen and maybe end the day in Tivoli.

The difference in the weekend is that there is no Line E so Line B runs all the way to Hillerød and stops at all stations.

Line E skips most of the stations on the inner part of the line including Sorgenfri.

So now you just take line B toward Hillerød and get off at Sorgenfri.

From Frilandsmuseet you can either take bus 191 back to Sorgenfri or take it to Lyngby.

Or you can walk back to Sorgenfri.

From either Sorgenfri or Lyngby you take S-train line B towards Hillerød.

If you include a trip to Tivoli in the end you will save 4 DKK :D if you take the Copenhagen Card.

It will be easier to manage only one card to both entrance and transportation.

The transportation alone is 130 DKK

Entrance to Frilandsmuseet is free

Entrance to Frederiksborg Slot is 75 DKK

Entrance to Tivoli is 99 DKK

http://natmus.dk/en/frilandsmuseet/praktisk-information/

http:http://www.tivoli.dk/en/praktisk/priser///www.dnm.dk/UK/Forside.htm

http://www.tivoli.dk/en/praktisk/priser/

The Folkmuseet in Oslo is big by local standards, but it certainly won't take all day. I think that 2-3 hours is a pretty good estimate, and it is very convenient to pair with the Viking Ships, since they're literally around the corner.

The Folk Museum has a nice mix of historic urban buildings from around Oslo as well as rural farmsteads from around the country (including a few Sami representatives). There is also a restored example of one of the iconic wooden stave churches that shouldn't be missed if you visit the museum. There are a few historical reenactors and demonstrations, but not as many as at some open-air museums. The focus is a bit more on the architecture itself, and some of the buildings have extensive thematic exhibits (I find the history of the wine monopoly particularly interesting).

If you're coming from the Vippetangen or Akershuskaia piers, it's very easy to catch the ferry to Bygdøy from in front of the city hall. If you get off at the first stop and follow the road, it's about 8 minutes' walk from the ferry to the Folk Museum. Afterwards, you can either catch the bus back into the city, walk back to the ferry, or walk or hop on the bus down to the Fram or Kon-Tiki museums, where there's another ferry stop to get back to the ship. (The locations, piers, etc. are all marked on the map in my signature.)

If you plan to visit more than one museum, it's probably worth looking into the OsloPass, since it covers admission (and the Folk Museum is rather high at around 100 NOK) as well as transit.

Thank you for the suggestions. We are in Oslo until 2:30pm so we may only have time to go to the Folk Museum there. I think that we will plan on going to the Oslo Folk Museum. In Copenhagen start the day Fredriksborg and see if we feel like going to Frilandsmuseet afterwards time permitting.

Then just do it in reverse.

From Hillerød you either take S-train line E (Monday to Fridays) or Line B (weekend and public holidays) to Lyngby Station.

From Lyngby Station you take bus 191 towards Sorgenfri Station and get off at Frilandsmuseet.