Tourist info – making the most of your visit

Depending on how long you want to stay, here are some tips from our own experience:

Oslo

Cheap/free

• There are loads of forests and lakes to walk around, all accessible by public transport
• Swimming in the sea/lakes – it will be Summer and hopefully warm enough to swim in the Oslo fjord and various lakes. Public transport again will get you to all the good places, including on the ferries out to all the islands.
• Sights of Oslo – The harbour, old fortress, palace, shops, coastline
• Cycle trip – Either a “proper” bike hired or borrowed for exploring the forests, or a “city bike” which is extremely cheap and will get you round all the sights of Oslo in style 🙂
• Opera house

Low cost

• Museums – lots of them, including open air. Viking ship museums and various others on Bygdøy are popular, and there is the ski museum up at the ski jump (which should be open by then – new one).

More adventurous (and pricey…)

• Norway in a Nutshell – can be done in a day or combined with a longer trip to Bergen or a stopover in the mountains. You will not regret this trip! A main train takes you Voss where you catch a coach to the largest of the Fjords in the centre of the mountains, and a boat takes you through the fjord before a mountain railway brings you back to the main train line back to Oslo/Bergen.
• Various mountain trips – Jotunheim and others too countless to mention. Jump on a coach for 4.5 hours or hire a car and treat yourself to stunning scenery. Some of the ski resorts have lifts open in the Summer so you can hit the mountains effortlessly, or take bikes up to cycle down 🙂
• Boat trips – Actually not that pricey if you consider the accommodation savings… but for not a lot of cash (maybe £70 each) you can stay for 2 nights on a ferry and visit Gothenberg, Copenhagen or Kiel in between. The downside is you are out of Oslo for a few days, but it’s a nice way to see the fjord and those of you planning longer visits may make good use of it.

Fredrikstad

Cheap/free

• Even better for swimming in the sea – explore the beautiful coastline, picnic on the rocks and swim at your leisure
• Explore the old town
• Wander the shops and “boardwalk”
• Take a cycle trip

Bit more adventurous

• Hire a car and drive to Sweden, for whatever reason?! (duty free perhaps ;o)
• Take a trip to Drøbakk or one of the other local areas of historical interest
• Rent a boat/kayak/canoe and take a trip out in the Oslo Fjord