Henrik’s Oslo

Get your walking shoes on! The walk will take you through Oslo's industrial heritage and a lot of interessting sights, including waterfalls. Long walk: Metro to Nydalen. Short(er) walk: Bus 20 to Sagene kirke. Akerselva divides Oslo into Østkanten and Vestkanten (East end and west end) and like in London west is posh and east is traditionally less posh. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akerselva

Telthusbakken and Damstredet have lovely small wooden houses. Painted in bright colours. Once very working class areas. Now very up-market. Towering above the area is Gamle Aker kirke. This church is the oldest building in Oslo still in use. Indulge yourself in the food market at Vulkan afterwards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Aker_Church

Gentrification at its best. Untill the 80ies this was borderline slum. Now it is clourfull and trendy. Tons of vegan designers living here. Still vintage and second hand shops to be found. Rodeløkka is a gem - where else do you find a wooden little village. https://www.visitoslo.com/en/activities-and-attractions/boroughs/grunerlokka/

You stay in Kvadraturen, meaning the square area, due to the grid system of the streets. This is where Oslo was moved by the danish-norwegian king Christian IV afte a fire had leveled old Oslo. The new city was, of course, named after the king, thus Christiania, later Kristiania (more Norwegian with k). The two houses across the street are some of the oldest houses in Oslo . The castle, Akershus festning, is even older though. There is a lot of history in this area. Exhausted? relax at Grev Wedells plass. https://www.visitoslo.com/en/product/?TLp=181186&Kvadraturen

From here a brisk walk will take you to most sights within 1-30 minutes. Public transport will take you farther. Get the app ruter. All about tickets https://www.visitoslo.com/en/activities-and-attractions/oslo-pass/ and https://ruter.no/en/buying-tickets/

Drøbak is an old fishing village 45 mi south east of Oslo. Small wooden houses, friendly locals, stunning location by the fjord and a lot more - bus zone 4. https://www.visitgreateroslo.com/en/product/?tlp=2263123&name=Drobak

Nothing like a bit of fresh sea spray https://www.visitoslo.com/en/product/?tlp=5417553&name=Family-cruise-on-the-fjord or take the ferry to Nesodden - public transport 2 zones. ferry leavs from Aker Brygge. Islands in the fjord. Ferries to Hovedøya, Langøyene, nakkholemn, Bygdøy. Public transport - 1 zone

The airport express train is much more expensive than the ordinary local trains, and they only take 3 minuts longer. Thus buying a 7 day pass for public transport - all 4 zones - upon arrival might pay off. Use the app "ruter" to buy the ticket. Tickets for public transport i.e. Ruter and VY are NOT valid on the airport express and vice versa. Local trains from the airport OSL/Gardermoen to Oslo city: R10, R11 and L12 direction Skien, Drammen, Kongsberg, Oslo. From Oslo S, nationaltheatret, Skøyen to the airport OSL/Gardermoen: R10, R11 and L12 direction Eidsvoll or Lillehammer.

This is not the world’s shopping eldorado. You may still find a few bargains. If you are a non scandinavian citizen, you can get tax refund in a lot of shops in Oslo. If you are looking for cool stuff, check out your neighborhood. Grünerløkka has a lot of vintage and second hand shops. Frogner and Bogstadveien are nice shopping areas too.

Oslo is an informal place and we dress accordingly. Most people dress casual at the office and then we dress up before going out, in particular in the weekends. Check out the weatherforcast before leaving: https://www.yr.no/sted/Norge/Oslo/Oslo/Oslo/langtidsvarsel.html Oslo has very distinct seasons and temperatures can range from + 32 C in the summer to -15 on a very cold winter day.

Every Norwegian with some self respect will do some sort of søndagstur, meaning sunday tour. In the winter ski is the prefered way. In summer a brisk walk in nature is the way to go. Yes, it has to be IN NATURE! Otherwise it is not a søndagstur. It should be at least 1 h long (as long as the potatos for the sunday dinner need to be boiled). I suggest metro 1 to Frognersetren then follow the wooden signs to Sognsvann, and from there metro back home.

The historic paddle steamer, Skibladner, named after the ship owned by the godess Frøy in norse mythology. The ship could sail as well on water as on land. This trip needs some planning and pre-booking, but if the weather is good it is worth every minute and krone. https://www.skibladner.no/home

Like in the rest of the universe smoking is slightly out of fashion. It is now forbidden to smoke in all public areas, and in private homes people smoke outside. You will find an ashtray/urn in the kitchen. Please smoke outside! If you come from areas where it is common to smoke more than tobacco, just forget it here, as this will easily cause quite a few unpleasant problems. You should also be aware that it is not legal to drink alcohol in parks and other public areas. However, if you behave, no one will bother on a sunny day in the park.

This can test the limit on your credit card, or it can be very reasonably priced for very decent food, all depending on where you go. Again, stay away from the main streets. Alcohol is what stretches the budget in Norway. This is because mother welfare state thinks alcohol is no good for us. If you want to try typical norwegian cuisine, you probably end up eating pasta, pizza and sushi. No, we do not eat lutefisk or whale meat on a daily basis. If you are in the mood for traditional stuff, you might try “kjøttkaker, lapskaus, ertesuppe, raspeball, duppe and fiskekaker.

1. Avoid it. 2. The tram rules. 3. Bikes and pedestrians jump into the road - you get the blame if you kill someone. *Never drink and drive! Even that little glass might be unwise. We locals solve this by agreeing who will be the driver before we go out. *Don’t dial and drive! *Use your seat belt. *Lights shall be on even if the sun is shining. *Always let pedestrians cross. *Mind those speed-limits 30, 40, 50 km/h in particular. *Don´t bother paying the tolls. If you drive your own car an invoice will show up in you mail. Rental companies deduct it from your card.

Most rules from the rest of Europe applies. However, Norwegians are generally not very good at small talk and dealing with strangers just for the fun of it. Alcohol tends to reverse this, and late saturday night people will be talking loud and a lot, the downside being that nobody understands what is being said. As a foreigner you can break the ice by asking "do you come from here?" We are obsessed with dialects and where people come from, so it's always a good idea. The weather is another safe topic.

Norway is a very informal place. Unless you are a member of The royal family, you will be spoken to with “du” (like tú, du). The formal “De” (vous, Sie, Usted, Madam, Sir) is never used. When entering shops, bars, taxis, the local bus and the pay desk say “hei” In the morning, before 9ish, you can say “god morgen” (good morning). There are of course quite a few more greetings, but for most of us good afternoon sounds way to formal, so back to “hei”. When you leave, say “ha det”. Although most Norwegians are quite impolite, it will never hurt tossing in a few thanks, which is “takk”.

The home is very important. It is our castle, retreat and it expresses who you are. Our homes are constantly being refurbished, improved, re- and de-decorated. When you enter a home in Norway, you will notice that all shoes are lined up by the entrance door. Norwegians never use their outdoor footwear inside. One uses socks or indoor shoes. Norwegians also love to make it cosy - “koselig” - at home. This involves tons of candles. We also love all things running on electricity. Which means that only war zones have more houses consumed by fires than here.

The good news you won't starve in this area as there is something open 24/7. You will find supermarkets at Oslo S, Oslo City and a few small basic supermarkets in the streets just outside. If you are a gourmand, you should try "Gutta på haugen", "Fjelberg fisk og vilt", "Jacobs på Holtet", "Strøm-Larsen" and Vulkan.

Breakfast or lunch on a tight budget? Try the app togoodtogo where you can be food from local hotels, kiosks, bekeries etc. You get cheap food and you prevent food from being wasted.

Oslo has attracted immigrants from all corners of the world. Today the most diverse parts are Grønland and Tøyen. Grønland starts just behind the Central station. It is a cool place to walk around. Buy some fruit&veggies the selction is second to none. Have a coffee at the old fire station in Grønnlandsleiret or enjoy Oslo ceapest beer at Star Gate, conveniatly located just across the bridge which leads to Grønland. On your way home walk trough the Botanical garden.

Check yr.no before heading to Oslo so you pack the right clothes. NO, there are no polar bears in the street and probably not one little speck of snow. Climate change has made Oslo city centre, your place here, snow free. However, snow is often to be found just a metro ride up in the mountains surrounding Oslo. Climate in Oslo is thus quite similar to what you find elswhere in Northern Europe i.e lots of rain. 4 distinct seasons. A sunny summerday could mean +32 C and a cold winterday -15. rest of the year something in between. The unstable weather is thus a conversational ice breaker too.

You don't have to be British to enjoy an afternoon tea break at Perch. The tea is excellent and the location perfect. Sipp and see the city walk past. http://www.perchstearoom.dk/

The Twist at Kistefoss museum is worth a twist to visit. https://www.kistefosmuseum.com/?__geom=%E2%9C%AA

Oslo is the only city i Norway, thus all Norwegians living outside hate it, seeing it as a place wasting their tax money on nonsense. However, any kid in rural Norway moves here asap. In Oslo they join a rather multi cultural crowd making Oslo lots of fun. Oslo has many nick names, the two most known being: "Tigerstaden" the tiger city, thus the statue outside the Central station. The other is "byen med det store hjertet", the city with the big heart. If you travel elsewhere in Norway, remember to tell the locals there that you really didn't like Oslo - to dirty, noisy, dangerous, expencive