Oslo is blessed with a huge amount of lakes that surround it, plus a decent coast line and to all these nature has added a beautiful river that somewhat cuts the city in two and offers great relaxing places all along.

It’s one of the best places to go for a picnic with friends, play outdoor games, take long or short walks, enjoy the waterfalls (that freeze in the winter and become very beautiful sights), feed the birds, run. And once you get bored of all these, you simply walk few minutes and mainly end up in a region with bars or shops since plenty of these have been built on the streets parallel to the river, especially in Grünerløkka.

The river starts up at the lake Maridalsvannet and flows all the way down to th fjord ending its journey next to the Opera house. The walk along this ‘green lung’ (which can be started at any point and it would still offer enough beauty) gives you the chance to admire old factories, mills and buildings, making it a visual history lesson.

My favorite spot along the river is the Møllerfossene where a huge waterfall forms at ‘the top’ and a bunch of tiny ones at the bottom of the big one. Plus the river walk by torch lights with the occasion of the Autumn equinox.

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Akerselva | Relaxing | Free
Akerselva | Grünerløkka
24 hours daily

Kafe Asylet is a place with history in the center of the city. As the name says, it used to be an asylum (for kids), hence the building has a certain aspect and atmosphere with its two floors and huge backyard. In the summer, that backyard is an ideal place to go for a drink with your buddies, since you can find plenty of long tables suitable for big groups.

The inside of the bar is best suitable for winter days I’d say. That’s because of the lovely fireplace where there’s always a piece of wood burning making it smell like winter. One can find both tables for two, since a fireplace on the background can be quite the perfect setting for romance, or long tables suitable for noisy happy evenings.

Food is served even if the choices are not too varied, but it’s one of the few places where you can have a taste of some Norwegian meals. And I do recommend the delicious cakes. The crew in the bar is made out of some of the friendliest I saw in Oslo.

If you’re into art, the place offers a display of paintings on its walls and they are for sale. They may be very strange at times, but well, that’s art. But they totally add to the charm.

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Kafe Asylet | Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (Norwegian) | Draught beer NOK 58
Grønland 28 | Grønland/Tøyen | +4722170939
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 00:30, Sat 12:00 – 00:30, Sun 12:00 – 23:00

A multi purpose arena/sport complex that offers increased amounts of fun both during the summer and the winter. In the warm season it hosts a roller-blade practice ground for all ages, while in the winter it turns into an ice skating rink, with a special track for speed skating. It is also a place where one can practice inner bandy and that actually hosted few editions of the World Championships. The way the hall is built also allows it to host soccer games. The venue usually opens in November for skating and they are listing their schedule on this link.

During both seasons, Valle Hovin is one of the largest concert venues in Oslo, able to hold about 40k people, both standing and seated. Among the names that held concerts there I could mention Pink Floyd, Metallica, Rammstein, U2, Michael Jackson, AC/DC. And I personally believe that a big advantage of this venue is its proximity to the city center, only few subway stations away from the Central Station. That is Helsfyr Subway station. There’s also few busses taking you right next to the entrance, but I recommend the subway for the very busy events when the traffic around the area is almost impossible due the flow of people on streets.

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Valle Hovin | Music, Relaxing | Skate rental NOK 40
Valle Hovin | East Oslo | +4722722818
Mon 11:00 – 22:00, Tue – Wed 10:00 – 22:00, Thu 15:00 – 22:00, Fri 14:00 – 20:00, Sat 10:00 – 16:00, Sun 11:00 – 16:00

This is not something for a 1-2 days trip to Oslo. But for a longer period, if time allows and you’re keen on spending few hours a week trying to catch up with some basic or advanced knowledge about how to play guitar, bass, piano, drums, how to sing or how the stage sound works, the AKKS school is the perfect solution. If you’re lucky and catch a one day seminar in one artistic field, that’s recommended for a short stay in the city. And even if the school is mainly trying to support girls in the beginning of their musical careers, I have seen plenty of guys attending classes as well.

I personally took the drumming course for intermediates. It was 8 sessions of 4 hours each, once per week. It was absolutely enjoyable. Really great atmosphere among colleagues, dedicated teacher and friendly environment altogether. Plus the school is mainly handled by volunteers, hence everybody is always willing to help you with information and suggestions. The rehearsal halls are available at anytime outside course hours, and that is very handy for someone with a hectic schedule.

Another really cool thing about the school is that they offer a ‘band class‘ where you learn a song together with other members of the band and after few weeks you end up performing it on the stage at the bar Blå (Check out the article).

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AKKS music school | Music | Instrument/vocal class NOK 1350
Brenneriveien 9 | Grünerløkka | +4722205011
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Some of the most common images in the postcards from Oslo are with sculptures from Vigeland park. It is part of the Frogner park, covering about 320,000m2 and hosting 212 bronze sculptures realized by Gustav Vigeland. These works of art reside along an 850 meter-long axis divided into six sections: Main Gate, Bridge, Children’s Playground, Fountain, Monolith Plateau and Wheel of Life. You can read about the meaning of each on the park’s website.

Each sculpture depicts people performing different actions, all together being part of a Cycle of life that the author has visioned. The statues are playing, running, dancing, jumping, hugging but few of the statues have a bit of an abstract touch.

Besides admiring the statues, I enjoy sitting in the grass, having a barbecue, playing various ball or card games, trying to walk on a rope, walk around the beautifully arranged roses or feed the ducks by the river. Occasionally, I spotted people training for various ‘sports’, from skate boarding, roller blading to fancier fire eating or one wheel bikes driving.

The Vigeland Museum is situated south of the Vigeland Park and as their website states, the majority of the Museum’s exhibition space is a presentation of Vigeland’s oeuvre. The museum represents the studio where Vigeland worked until 1943 and is currently hosting various art exhibitions, besides the artist’s sculptures, wood-works, drawings and books. In the mausoleum, which has an amazing acoustic, they host concerts that are listed on the museum’s website.

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Vigeland Sculpture park & museum | Art & culture, Relaxing | Adult NOK 40
Frogner park | Bygdøy/Frogner
Park 24 hours daily | Museum 15 May – 15 Sep Sun 12:00 – 17:00, 16 Sep – 14 May Sun 12:00 – 16:00

Emanuel Vigeland is the brother of Gustav Vigeland, probably most famous for his sculptures in the Vigeland park. But back in 1926 Emanuel erected this building intended as a future museum for his sculptures and paintings, which then he decided to also turn into a mausoleum where his ashes should rest after his demise, in an urn above the small door, making you bow to him when exiting.

There are no windows to allow light inside the mausoleum, so the first thing to expect is darkness, and only a ray of light coming in through the low entrance door. But once your eyes get used to the lack of light, you discover that the walls are filled with fresco paintings depicting, much like the statues in the park, images from human life, from birth and all the way to death. There’s sadness, joy, despair, eroticism, macabre. I can’t find a single word that could probably fully describe the images. Probably everyone would feel them in different manners anyway. Also each corner hosts a bronze statue depicting women giving birth.

My most intense experience in the museum was caused by its acoustics actually. The shape of the room gives an incredible trajectory to the sound waves, adding a pleasant echo. You should check the museum’s program in advance and if ever see an acoustic show do not hesitate to run for it. It’s a unique experience and considering the museum’s size, places are limited so be there in time.

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Emmanuel Vigeland museum | Art & culture | Adult entrance NOK 40
Grimelundsveien 8 | West Oslo | +4722145788
Museum Sun (15 May – 15 Sep) 12:00 – 17:00, Sun (16 Sep – 14 May) 12.00 – 16.00

Opera House is usually the quickest accessible destination upon your arrival in the city. It is a 5 min walk from the central station.

Built from 2003 ’til 2007, the Opera House was the winner of the 2009 Mies van der Rohe award, the European Union prize for contemporary architecture. It is currently Norway’s biggest culture and stage institution.

It is meant to resemble a ship and the coolest thing about it is that you can walk up on the roof and see a lovely panorama over the city of Oslo and the fjord. I also get to see random street shows or gatherings or simply enjoyed the sun and the cool air, since it has been build right by the water.

For art lovers, it also offers a wide variety of shows from Ballet, Opera and concerts but also a multitude of exhibitions. Plus there’s a souvenir shop located inside. And if you’re more curious, take a trip around to have a peek inside the rooms where the scene settings and costumes are being manufactured. But the trip to the top of the roof is my absolute favorite thing about the Opera House.

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Opera House | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Kirsten Flagstads plass 1 | Centre | +4721422100
Outside 24 hours daily, Inside Mon – Fri 10:00 – 23:00, Sat 11:00 – 23:00, Sun 12:00 – 22:00

The Korketrekkeren is a famous tobogganing track at winter, where both adults and kids pick up or rent sledges and slide down for quite a distance on a track that follows an old Olympic bobsleigh run.

In the summer though, the fun is not in the same category. Unless you can find a of sleigh that goes down the dirt road. But I went down the track by foot a couple of times and I find it as pleasant as any other track through the woods surrounding Oslo.

And its big advantage is that you just take the subway 1 to the last station, Frognerseteren and walk down to the run to another station. The bonuses I got were some of the coolest views over the city and fjord, funny leftovers from the winter time – broken sledges, and even some clothing items.

I haven’t done it, but I saw many who just ride their mountain bikes down. Plus the track passes by the famous ski jumping Holmenkollen (check the Holmenkollen article), so you get to check its looks as well (to visit it, you need to walk away from the track).

For berries lovers like me, it can be a paradise at the beginning of the track if the season is right. Sometime in August, that is.

Info about weather and a webcam can be found at the Norwegian sleigh association.

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Korketrekkeren | Relaxing
Frognerseter | West Oslo
24 hours daily

Every year on December 10th the peace prize is awarded inside the Oslo City Hall. The history of the event itself, plus a lot of inspirational exhibitions that trigger communications on themes such as peace, war, resolving conflicts – all these have a home inside the peace center located few meters away from the City Hall.

Until the mid 80s the place was used as a railway station actually and then as various press centers, therefore its experience is in the field of communications. The exposition in the main hall seems to be mainly dedicated to the winner of the previous year, with information about his or her life and work.

The Nobel peace Center’s interior has been recently redesigned to offer a high tech experience where you can interact with certain objects, read information on smaller or bigger devices and even get your photo taken with the Norwegian prize winner, Fridtjof Nansen, and have it printed as souvenir. A list of current exhibitions can be found here.

Speaking of souvenirs, I recommend a visit in the center’s gift shop since they have rather special peace related objects, including some lovely handcrafted jewelry. The center offers tours in English as well and it can be interesting to hear information from the back stage of the Nobel prize awards.

Make sure to check the Opening hours page since there are several Free entrance days during the year.

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Nobel peace Center | Art & culture | Adults NOK 80
Nobel Peace Center | Centre | +4748301000
1 Sept – 16 May, Tue – Sun 10:00 – 18:00 daily

One of the most representative buildings for Oslo, the ‘Rådhus’ houses the City Council, city administration, and art studios and galleries. It is located in the main touristic harbor of the city with a lovely view from its stairs. And actually those stairs are used by a lot of skaters and skateboarders to learn new tricks, so you get more of a show than the view over the city.

The building where The Nobel Peace Prize is presented to the winner on 10th of December each year is full of architectural details, huge wall paintings and tapestries, exquisite furniture, statues, from one end to another so a trip around it is a sightseeing it itself. And don’t forget to check the collection of gifts that the city has received from all over the world.

On top of it there is a  carillon that plays its multitude of bells every day on the hour from 07.00 to 00.00.  Concerts are regularly played on the carillon during the summer. On this page one can read in English about the building, its history and functionality and find out some more numbers and technical details.

Also in the square located in front of the building and on one side, there are few beautiful fountains where kids play in the warm summer days.

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Rådhuset/City Hall | Art & culture | Free
Rådhuset | Centre | +4723461200
09:00 – 18:00 daily