Oslo is great for a summer city break – you get to enjoy long sunny days away from the Bucharest heat and pollution. The first place to start your visit I’d say is the Waterfront Promenade. And it’s quite convenient to do so, as the Central Station is right next to the National Opera, one of the viewpoints along the promenade:
Continuing the walk westward, we get to see Akerhus Castle before arriving to Aker Brygge. This is a great place to get something to eat or lounge on a bean bag in the sun, drinking something unidentified because the description is in Norwegian. Not that it matters as long as it tastes good. Aker Brygge is one of the most recent construction projects in Oslo and you can see that in the architecture: modern, new, consistent. We took the elevator inside the glass Tjuvtitten Tower for a bird’s eye view of the area.
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- Akerhus Castle seen from on top of a beanbag
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- Residential area in Aker Brygge
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- Inside the Tjuvtitten Tower
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- … and the view from on top (weird colors due to the glass)
Another top attraction is the Royal Palace. It’s really worth having a stroll around the area. Well, unless you happen to come across a seagull devouring a pigeon, like we did. Didn’t know that was possible. Continue the stroll down Karl Johans Gate, but don’t expect any gates there. That’s just the name of the street.
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- The Royal Palace
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- A view down Karl Johans Gate
More far off to the west you can find Frogner Park. We visited it as part of a morning run – I find it best to visit parks running. Huge attraction, expect swarms of tourists. The park is known for its 200+ sculptures, all by artist Gustav Vigeland.
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- Sculptures in Frogner Park
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- Many electric cars and chargers throughout Oslo
Island hopping and the Oslo Fjord. Great activity for a day in the sun. Take advantage of the network of boats connecting the islands south of Oslo to go bathing and sight seeing.
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- A view towards Holmenkollbakken (ski jumping hill)
We reserved another day for some easy mountain biking north of Oslo. Rented a couple of trekking bikes from Viking Biking. Taking the metro as far north as possible, we started our ride from on top of a hill and mostly had an easy descend from there. The area was beautiful – forests, lakes – must be pretty awesome to have so much nature around your city – I guess, I wouldn’t know. The gravel roads were very decent and there were also many single trails for those with XC or downhill bikes.
