8-hour layover in Oslo - worth leaving the airport?

Getting out of the airportis a good idea. We did this some years ago with a much shorter layover time at Oslo. We wanted to see the Vigeland sculptures at Frogner Park:

http://www.visitoslo.com/en/product/?TLp=181601

We caught a taxi from the airport taxi rank to take us there, and we asked the driver to return at a specified time to pick us up. He was there on the dot and we were back in plenty of time for our flight.

You would have to leave the plane side secured area and then re-enter, but OSL is a relatively small and efficient airport.

You may need to get some NOK unless you can use credit cards all the way.

Fastest would be the Flytoget express train:
180 NOK each way
Mid-day departures every 10 minutes and something like 22 minutes between OSL and Oslo Sentrum

Cheaper and almost as fast is the NSB train:
92 NOK each way
Mid-day departures every 30 minutes or sooner taking 23 minutes to Oslo Sentrum

Convenient transit from the Oslo S
http://www.visitoslo.com/en/product/?TLp=182075
Or just enjoy walking around the center city area.

By all means, catch a local bus downtown. Oslo is physically not that large in the center city, and the hop on, hop off buses are great ways to see the city.

Thanks for the reassurance, everyone!

Edgar -- great point about getting NOK vs. using credit cards. I believe I managed to use a credit card last time we were there, with some trouble, but that was before all of our cards had a chip. I wonder if we would be able to use our chipped cards, provided we can get a PIN...

Frogner Park would be my suggestion too. It's a nice park with unique statuary. I'm not sure about getting from the airport. Worst case would be a taxi, but there may be better public transportation options.

The other choices, if Frogner Park doesn't excite you, would be the Viking Ship Museum or the downtown area where the city hall, palace, opera house, Akershus and Nobel center are located. My personal order would be Frogner first, Ship museum second and downtown third. I think you have plenty of time for either of the first two (plus getting to and from the airport) but probably not enough to really look around the city center.

Frogner Park would be my suggestion too. It's a nice park with unique statuary. I'm not sure about getting from the airport.

The Jernbanetorget metro station is a short walk from the Oslo S central train station. All if not most of the T line (T-1 etc) will get you to the Majorstuen station. Frognerparken (Viegland) is a short walk (couple hundred meters) from the stop. No fee to walk around the park but there is a nice cafe near the entrance. PS you need coins to enter the WC.

On returning to Majorstuen you can either go back to the central city or continue on the T-1 to Holmenkollen. The view from the top of the ski jump is expansive and the T-1 ride scenic. Ski Museum and Tower have an enhance fee. Transit 24 hour pass cost 90 NOK and you can bet it from the Ruter's Customer Service Center in front of the Oslo S station. You will be ahead after three rides. I believe you can credit card charge the pass at the service center.

If there is one place in Oslo you must see IMO it's the Opera house. It is absolutely cool to climb this iceberg and you get a great feeling for what life might be like in a fjord. And then of course Holmenkollen is the other must-see.

As others noted, Frogner Park is simple to reach from the airport. Take the Flytoget train downtown, then hop on the Tban. It might be one of my favorite parks in Europe, for the sculptures, the flower beds, the views, the open dog park, and the overall people-watching ambience.

It's also possible to take the Flytoget (airport express train) to or from the Nationaltheatret station. If you are closer to that station when you're ready to head back to the airport, that could make it easy.

With the good transit options in Oslo, it's one part of the world where I wouldn't hesitate to leave the airport for a couple of hours.

The Vigeland sculptures are amazing in beautiful Frogner Park. A must see in my opinion as well.