Oslo, Norway - Worth a Trip?

This summer, I went to Oslo for a few days. The occasion was, that a friend of mine was doing Interrail through Europe, and as I am always looking for excuses to book a trip, this was perfect. I went for three nights and like that, I had two full days to explore the city. I flew from Zurich, Switzerland, to Oslo, Norway; you can read all about the flight here. 

 

When I arrived at the airport in Oslo, I took the special airport train called “FlyToGet”, which takes you almost directly to the central main station in the middle of the city. It's super convenient and less expensive than a taxi.

 

On the first evening, we just explored the surroundings, the weather wasn’t perfect that day. It was not raining, but super moist and foggy air, a typical “European gray day”. The second day started with a nice buffet breakfast in the hotel, and later, we explored whatever we could while walking: the opera house, the Akershus fortress, the royal palace, some gardens, and everything between the main attractions. Like always, city trips are never relaxing, they are the clear opposite, but so definitely worth it. In the late afternoon, the mission of finding the rooftop pool started. I can say, I’ve seen quite a few hotels in my time on this earth but finding that pool was a challenge on another level. We had to change elevators, walk through dark staircases, open doors without signage… But hey, why not, it’s stories like these that you tell weeks and months later and that make a trip unique to another. 

 

On the third day, we decided to take the train out of the city to “Holmenkollen” a ski jump and museum. It’s not that I’m a fan of ski jumping or winter sport in general, but this was impressive anyway and the view from the top of the ski jump was great. In the afternoon, we went for a fjord cruise on a hybrid catamaran. While most happy being under the water, on the water is also “just fine”. The fact that the boat drove completely electric made it super peaceful without any motor sounds and smells. 

 

After two fully packed days of exploring a new city, on Saturday it was already time to leave. While those days were great, I can also say, that you don’t need more time to explore Oslo. Three nights is perfect, I think if you want to do it in two, it’s also possible. 

To sum it up here, is it worth it? Sure, traveling and exploring is rarely not worth it, but Oslo is the wrong country, if you expect it to be extremely different in nature and/or culture compared to Switzerland. Sure, there are a few small differences, but overall, there is nothing such as a culture shock. Would I go again? Probably not again Oslo, because “been there, done that”, but I would explore other northern cities or plan an extended Scandinavia trip, which includes not only cities.