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Home  >  Blog  >  72 hours in Oslo – Part One

72 hours in Oslo – Part One

Trish Burgess Posted on21/07/201417/09/2016 Norway, Oslo 21 Comments

We may have splashed out on a fancy hotel, The Thief,  for our short break in Oslo but we saved money elsewhere by choosing a reasonably priced Ryanair flight and only taking hand luggage. Yes, the airport we flew to, Olso Rygge, is a little way out from the city centre, but it was a breeze to hop off the plane straight onto the coach which was waiting for us. About an hour later we were in the city, ready to explore.

Keen to discover as much of the city as we could in three days, I contacted VisitOSLO before we left and they offered us a complimentary 72 hour Oslo Pass which would give us free access to many museums and free transport. This would normally have cost us 535 NOK each (about £50). We often deliberate about whether such city passes are worth buying and, in most cases, we have found they have had a very positive impact on our holiday, mainly because, once purchased, the city’s doors are open to you. Plus, if you are in a museum and you’re not crazy about it, you can leave rather than battling on just to get your money’s worth out of it.

As we didn’t use the pass for the first afternoon, preferring to get our bearings on foot and soak up the atmosphere, we would probably have purchased a 48 hour pass (£40) to cover us for the two full days we had in the city if we had been buying it ourselves. Either way, it proved to be of great benefit to us. The attractions we visited would have cost 570 NOK each, and that’s without the ferry, tram and metro savings we made.

We could have had the pass in paper form but opted to try out the app instead which completely flummoxed my technophobe husband, as we had to wave the QR code on our phone under special machines in museums. We had only installed the app on one phone, mine, so all three codes were on one device. This was feasible but slightly complicated as it required much swiping back and forth for each code and necessitated ‘handing the phone to a teenager’ to work it. If all members of the party have a smartphone and know what to do with it, I would suggest you would be better installing the Oslo Pass app on each phone or, if you are idiots like us, maybe the paper version is preferable.

We walked our socks off that first afternoon in weather which was surprisingly warm and muggy. I had come prepared for it being a bit chilly but we were melting in our sturdy shoes and jeans. Oslo was basking in the overcast heat, everyone was sitting outside at restaurants and bars, packing the waterfront at Aker Brygge, watching the boats coming in and out of the harbour. We walked as far as the Opera House, which dazzled us from its position in the bay, like a contemporary, angular wedding cake, with tiny figures appearing to slide down its roof. It’s a magnificent building and just as beautiful inside.

Opera House Oslo
Opera House, Oslo

There is a significant amount of new building going on in the city, particularly along the waterfront. My eye was drawn to a series of office blocks, each one trying to outdo the other in wackiness. Named ‘The Barcode Project’ there has been much public debate about the size and shape of the buildings. I think, once that whole area is complete, they will be a stunning addition to this forward-thinking capital city.

barcode project oslo
The Barcode Project

We ended our first day in Oslo at one of the main restaurants in the harbour: Onda. There were two parts to the restaurant – Onda Sea or Onda Grill. We opted for Onda Grill as it had a mixture of both meat and fish dishes. We had an enormous four-course sharing menu with fabulous seafood, shellfish and grilled meats. We had steeled ourselves for expensive food and drink prices in Oslo and, blimey, yes they made your eyes water, but we were sitting on the dock of the bay, with the sun gradually setting, eating delicious food so perhaps it was worth it….

Onda Sea or Onda Grill?



Disclosure: VisitOSLO gave us the 72 Oslo Pass to try out as an app for our phones. All opinions are my own. 

Previous Article Mum’s gone to review The Thief Hotel, Oslo
Next Article 72 hours in Oslo – Part Two

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  • 72 hours in Oslo – Part Two

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21 Comments

  1. Sarah Ebner Reply
    21/07/2014 at 3:31 pm

    I really think this sounds like such a lovely trip. I especially like the barcode buildings – fab picture! Glad you had a great time, despite the prices…

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      21/07/2014 at 4:47 pm

      Still loads more to tell you about. We packed so much into our short break and still it felt chilled and relaxing.

  2. nappy valley girl Reply
    21/07/2014 at 3:52 pm

    Right I am definitely going to visit my friends who live in Oslo now. It sounds really cool…..

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      21/07/2014 at 4:49 pm

      It is very cool – people in restaurants and bars look very chic, buildings are impressive, sculptures everywhere. You must go and visit your friends. Ryanair from Stansted – a bargain.

  3. Steve Reply
    22/07/2014 at 6:20 am

    Gosh – what a gorgeous looking city. Proof that highrise buildings can be aesthetically pleasing.

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      22/07/2014 at 8:00 am

      The rest of the city is quite low rise so I can imagine the Barcode project has caused a bit of fuss. What's clever is the way they are modernising the waterfront and yet it seems to gel with traditional, often quite functional buildings such as the Town Hall.

  4. libby Reply
    22/07/2014 at 6:24 am

    I think I'm leaving comments …. or having senior moments….anyhoo…Oslo is now on my list! Beautiful.

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      22/07/2014 at 8:03 am

      With Blogger I find if I leave a comment and my name isn't showing in the box and instead it says google account, then it won't work.
      Well worth a visit despite the cost. Hotels are similar in price to other countries. It food and drink definitely more expensive.

  5. Sarah Reply
    22/07/2014 at 7:40 am

    The opera house looks more like a mini ski resort to me, still amazing though. You had brilliant luck with the weather. Stomping around in the rain is just not the same. 🙂

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      22/07/2014 at 8:05 am

      Yes, the wedding cake idea isn't quite right, probably not high enough. Maybe it was the colour that put it into my head. Certainly the people look like skiers.
      We had a touch of rain the second day but managed to dodge it quite well – but even then it was very warm.

  6. About Last Weekend Reply
    22/07/2014 at 9:09 pm

    Good strategy to do the luuxury hotel and then save on flights etc. You can put up with cattle class for a coupla hours (actually I've done it for all my 52 years including flights taking 28 hrs from London to NZ).
    Sarah's comment's funny – it does look like a ski ramp, or first I thought it was some sort of cruiser boat.

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      29/07/2014 at 6:59 am

      We always do this – travel cheap, stay a bit more expensively but ooh, 28 hours?!
      I can see ski ramp and cruiser in the Opera House…probably more than a cake, to be honest.

  7. K Ville Reply
    26/07/2014 at 8:15 am

    Sounds very expensive, don't they like tourists!

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      29/07/2014 at 7:01 am

      The hotels were reasonably priced, to be fair. Just high taxes on food and drink. The residents suffer too – we got stung for Pringles in a 7/11.

  8. About Last Weekend Reply
    30/07/2014 at 5:08 pm

    Just clicked through to your Spalding piece, very funny! (do you get a lot of traffic from them?) I did not even know the commonwealth Games were on – all the Kiwis at home will be huddled around the telly for hours and days to come.
    BTW is Spalding where the tennis balls come from?

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      31/07/2014 at 4:29 pm

      I haven't really checked but can't see masses of traffic. I know local people read it in the paper but don't, as far as I'm aware, come over to the blog that much. But it's working well for me as another string to my bow.
      Are you thinking basketballs? No, they don't ! ;-))

  9. BavarianSojourn Reply
    01/08/2014 at 8:56 am

    WOW… The architecture!! The opera house really reminds me of the Black Diamond library in Copenhagen, wonder if it's the same person? 🙂

  10. Nicola Reply
    12/08/2014 at 5:50 am

    Looks great, it's been years since I went to Oslo and it was almost too cold to go out! How bad were the prices of meals?

  11. Pingback: 72 hours in Oslo - Part Three - Mum's Gone To ...
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