We have an entire day to explore Oslo, Norway before starting our Baltic cruise. Anyone suggest an itinerary of the must sees, to do's, how best to get around to explore Oslo? We have the entire day, early morning risers and can explore to late night. Would the hop on hop off be a good means of transportation to get around and explore the city? Is getting a City Pass wise to purchase? Thanks for any suggestions.
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
7050 posts
A Baltic cruise that departs from Oslo? Or are you going somewhere else to catch the cruise?
Anyone suggest an itinerary of the must sees, to do's,
It depends on what you are interested in. It's of no use to recommend the Munch museum if you don't like art e.g.
how best to get around to explore Oslo?
Public transportation and walking.
Would the hop on hop off be a good means of transportation to get
around and explore the city?
No, far from it.
Is getting a City Pass wise to purchase?
Maybe, it depends a bit on what you want to see and do.
Posted by
Salem, Oregon, USA
2756 posts
I had about the same amount of time in Oslo and it was very easy to walk around the central part of the city. I would recommend the Viking Ship Museum but it appears it is closed for rebuilding until 2026. The weather was too crummy for me to do one of the fjord lunch or dinner cruises (https://nyc.no/boatservice-sightseeing/) but it sounded like a fun way to see the city from the water.
Posted by
Washington DC
28246 posts
Rick has his top tips for most major cities right on this website. Here's Oslo:
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/norway/oslo Click on "At a Glance".
Posted by
11606 posts
We had limited time in Oslo too. Our hotel concierge sent us to the nearby tourist office. They mapped out a plan for us and directed to where we could buy transit passes. So easy. We used the buses, numbers were given to us by Oslo tourist office. Enjoy this wonderful city!
We visited the following:
The Viking Ship Museum , a must see. It is on an island just off shore so we also saw a Norwegian Folk Museum( traditional houses, stave churches)houses, and the Kon Tiki and Fram Museums on the island, all walkable. Then to the top spot, Vineland Park filled with wonderful sculptures. Also Munch Museum. Walked on the Opera House roof which slopes way down so easy to access. One seafood meal was on the Aker Brygge, on waterfront. Peel and eat shrimp are wonderful in Oslo.
Posted by
White Plains, NY
17 posts
My wife also had about 24 hours in Oslo before we took the Norway in Nutshell trip.
We'd second the suggestion to visit the opera house. If you're interested in architecture and/or opera, there's a 1-hr (interior) tour that we enjoyed. But exploring the roof is recommended even if you don't want to go inside. Right downtown.
Weather permitting, I'd also recommend Vigeland park. Take a tram--about 10 minutes (and uphill) from downtown. If you're there around lunch/dinner, you might consider a restaurant across from the park or on the street on the tram ride back to city center--although we didn't eat in this neighborhood ourselves.
We did RS's "Welcome to Oslo" walk (stopped by the National Museum--saw what we wanted to see in 1.5-2 hrs.); got to the City Hall after it closed. Interesting exterior, but we should have planned that better. And then we took his Grunerlokka/Gronland walk in late afternoon/early evening. We found good meals on Gronland St. (non-Scandinavian food) and another along the Aker River on this walk.
We didn't go to the Folk Museum in Oslo because we went to Sweden's version in Stockholm. If you don't have a folk museum on your itinerary (during a shore excursion on your cruise?), I'd recommend seeing this in Oslo. (But consider the weather--you're outside most of the time.)
Enjoy!