Oslo - Hlep Please

Hi All,

This is my first trip to Oslo, and my first attempt at an itinerary. My wife and I will be arriving in Oslo on a Princess Cruise which will be in port from 10-7pm and will be tackling the city on our own.

Here is my first shot at the day's plan, can you please let me know if it is realistic, and help me figure out how to get from one location to the other? Any help that the forum readers can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help!

-- Once off the boat head to the ferry building across from City Hall and purchase the Oslo card.

---Take the ferry (Pier 3 behind the City Hall which takes 10-15 minutes) to Bygdøy to see the Viking Ship Museum, Fram Museum and Kon-Tiki Museum (anything else we should see there)?

---Then, take the ferry back to City Hall, visit City Hall and then (which bus or tram should we take) to the National Museum to see the Scream.

--Then, (which bus or tram should we take) back to Akershus Castle - Resistance Museum.

Is there anything missing from this list that we might regret not seeing? Knowing we are only there one day I am trying to hit the highlights that most interest us. Thanks!

Jason

Not that it will necessarily fit nicely into your itinerary, but another common sight to see is the Vigeland Sculpture Park. Have you looked into that to see if it interests you? I found it worthy of 90 minutes or more of my time + transit to/from.

Not that it will necessarily fit nicely into your itinerary, but another common sight to see is the Vigeland Sculpture Park. Have you looked into that to see if it interests you? I found it worthy of 90 minutes or more of my time + transit to/from.

I did notice the Vigeland Sculpture Park and it looks interesting but I don't think we want to sacrifice time somewhere else to go there. Thanks for the suggestion though! I will revisit it.

Hi All,

 

 

-- Once off the boat head to the ferry building across from City Hall and purchase the Oslo card.

 

Jason

Depending on where you dock, you may be able to purchase the Oslo Pass at the cruise terminal. You will also get a 20% discount offered to cruise passengers. That would save you having to purchase transportation to the Tourist Information office at City Hall.

You can buy the OSLO pass at the building at the dock across from Akershus fort

then a short walk to the ferry boat ...you need to get a ticket at the booth before lining up for the ferry

Chances are that you're docking at Akerhuskai, which is the standard cruise pier. You can confirm that here:

http://www.oslohavn.no/no/?template=cruise_list_no

In that case, as others have mentioned, you can buy your Oslo Pass at the cruise terminal by the ship before leaving the pier area and walking up to city hall.

If you get off the ferry at the first stop, it's about 8-10 minutes walk straight down the road to the Viking Ship Museum. You asked whether there was anything else you should see in that area. Have you considered the open-air Folk Museum? It's just a minute or two up the road from the Viking Ships, and it's a lovely place to walk around in nice weather there. Even if you're not interested in seeing the entire place, since you will have the Oslo Pass I would definitely consider popping in to see the iconic wooden stave church.

To get from the Viking Ships to the Fram and Kon-Tiki museum is about 15 minutes' walk. It's not a particularly pleasant walk (cars tend to drive a bit quickly on the main road), and since you have the Oslo Pass, I would consider hopping on a bus 30 (towards Bygdøynes) outside the Viking Ships or Folk Museum. The ride takes 3 minutes and the museums are right at the Bygdøynes stop.

The ferry pier back to city hall is right behind the Fram Museum. To get from the city hall up to the National Gallery, you can just walk. It's 5 minutes straight up Roald Amundsens gate (the street leading from the back side of the city hall).

To get back to Akershus Fortress it makes sense again to just walk. It's pretty much retracing your way back past the city hall and up onto the hill next to the cruise ship. The Resistance Museum is interesting for WWII history buffs, but since the resistance movement in Norway was quite small and rather unlucky, it doesn't get especially great reviews from others.

Keep in mind also that the Resistance Museum close at 17:00. If you're in port on a weekday, the National Gallery is open until 18:00 (19:00 on Thursdays), so if you're especially keen to visit both, you might want to reverse the order. Also, Vigelands Park is always open, so if you're in town on a weekend when your downtown sights close at 17:00, you might consider that at the end of the day. (FYI, the city hall closes at 16:00.)

In terms of scheduling, this is a pretty ambitious list. I usually find that after the four Bygdøy museums, most visitors are pretty tired. You're planning to skip the Folk Museum (:( it's one of my favorites), so that will buy you some time. But I would definitely be sure to know your priorities and fit them earlier in the day, given that things will close before you leave.

Thank you everyone, and especially Cool Cruiser! This is exactly what I was looking for. We may stop at the Folk Museum since I have heard a lot of good things about it on the board. I am a huge WWII/history buff so it would be of interest to me. I will also think about changing the order so we can hit the castle and the museum first, although I might be too tempted to go back on the ship if we are tired! :D

I wrote the Oslo Pass folks for some info and this is what I received on 6/29

Hello, Thanks for contacting us.

The Tourist Information office by the Cruise Terminal will not be operating in 2014. The only Tourist Information office in Oslo is located by the City Hall. We are open from 9 am to 6 pm. Our office is located approx. 5-10 min. walking distance from the Cruise Terminal.

Unfortunately we cannot offer discounts for cruise passengers anymore.

Here: http://www.visitoslo.com/en/activities-and-attractions/oslo-pass/ you can find prices and advantages of the Oslo Pass. The Oslo Pass is anyway a good deal to visit attractions and use public transport tin Oslo, even at full price.

We wish you a nice stay in Oslo!

Med vennlig hilsen/Best regards/Mit freundlichen Grüssen

Cecilia

Informasjonsmedarbeider / Information Consultant

Call Center: + 47 815 30 555

info@visitoslo.com

http://www.visitoslo.com

I wrote the Oslo Pass folks for some info and this is what I received on 6/29

 

Hello, Thanks for contacting us.

 

The Tourist Information office by the Cruise Terminal will not be operating in 2014. The only Tourist Information office in Oslo is located by the City Hall. We are open from 9 am to 6 pm. Our office is located approx. 5-10 min. walking distance from the Cruise Terminal.

 

Unfortunately we cannot offer discounts for cruise passengers anymore.

Here: http://www.visitoslo.com/en/activities-and-attractions/oslo-pass/ you can find prices and advantages of the Oslo Pass. The Oslo Pass is anyway a good deal to visit attractions and use public transport tin Oslo, even at full price.

 

We wish you a nice stay in Oslo!

 

Med vennlig hilsen/Best regards/Mit freundlichen Grüssen

Cecilia

Informasjonsmedarbeider / Information Consultant

Call Center: + 47 815 30 555

info@visitoslo.com

http://www.visitoslo.com

That's disappointing news about the discount! :(

Luckily the main tourist office is still quite close to the main cruise pier. It's right behind the city hall on the corner of Roald Amundsens gate.

Since the nearby tram stop is closed most of this season, it's not terribly out of the way if you're headed to Nationaltheatret to catch public transportation (just continue up that block of Roald Amundsens to Stortingsgata and take a left), and it's not too much back-tracking to return to the Bygdøy ferry pier in front of the city hall.

That is quite an agenda for only one day! There is no way you will also have time to see the Folk Museum if you want to have time to actually see anything. That can be a half day or more visit.

You can also see one of the versions of "The Scream" at the Munch Museum.

I've notice that there's been a lot of rain in Oslo lately, with more rain forecast for most of the next week. Can one do the Open Air Museum in the rain, or is one better off going to museums in the center of town? If one goes to Bygdoy, are most of the museums within an easy walk of the ferry, even in the rain? We'll be in Oslo from this coming Monday through Thursday, and the weather forecast for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday looks awful.

I've notice that there's been a lot of rain in Oslo lately, with more rain forecast for most of the next week. Can one do the Open Air Museum in the rain, or is one better off going to museums in the center of town? If one goes to Bygdoy, are most of the museums within an easy walk of the ferry, even in the rain? We'll be in Oslo from this coming Monday through Thursday, and the weather forecast for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday looks awful.

The local forecast is showing the rain ending Tuesday, but it's terribly unreliable. We never trust it more than the day before, and even then it's a gamble. I often joke that the Norwegian weather is designed so that people can still earn PhDs in metereology, because weather forecasting seems to have been mostly figured out in other parts of the world. Bottom line: Be prepared for anything.

To answer your question, the Folk Museum is certainly better when it's not raining. And if there's a torrential downpour (uncommon, but we've had a few in the last week or so) it would probably not be a lot of fun. I would play it by ear.

In general, rain doesn't really stop much from happening in Norway. There's a very traditional saying (that rhymes in Norwegian): "There's no bad weather, only bad clothing." People around here generally take it to heart, so rainy weather means rain jackets and boots. While rubber boots might not be an option for travel packing, a pair of water resistant shoes are certainly handy, and a rain jacket is a must. Umbrellas are okay for short trips in the rain (since there's usually not a lot of wind), but a good rain jacket lets you get around easily even when the weather isn't the best. And it won't look out of place at all in the city!

The Kon-Tiki and Fram Museums are right at the Bygdøynes ferry pier, but the Viking Ships and Folk Museum are about 8 minutes from the Dronningen pier. If the weather makes the ferry trip less appealing, you can also take the bus 30 (the Brugata stop is about a block up the street from your hotel), which stops right outside each of the Bygdøy museums. And you can always take the ferry back!

Akerhus was a very special place and definitely worth a visit. I would schedule this for near the end of the day, keeping in mind the closing time for the museum. We loved the Norwegian Folk Museum, easily a two hour fun time exploring the culture and history of Norway - music, food, dancing, crafts, historical buildings, and superb living history exhibits - also a very good café on site. The Viking Ship Museum may be busy with too many visitors, but keep your patience about you. The wait is worth it to see such ships that sailed the northern seas to Iceland and Newfoundland.

Your itinerary is what we did. We also had time to have a quick lunch on board the ship. We had a mix of weather and had a great day. We walked about 9 miles that day but well worth it.

Thank you everyone, and especially Cool Cruiser! This is exactly what I was looking for. We may stop at the Folk Museum since I have heard a lot of good things about it on the board. I am a huge WWII/history buff so it would be of interest to me. I will also think about changing the order so we can hit the castle and the museum first, although I might be too tempted to go back on the ship if we are tired! :D

So how did it all work out, if it went well we will follow the advice in this thead. Thanks all.:)