Forleden ble jeg spurt av en venn i London om jeg kunne komme med noen Oslo-tips, fordi en kompis av ham skulle besøke byen for første gang. Det kunne jeg, så klart! For noen dager siden fikk jeg også spørsmål her i kommentarfeltet om jeg kunne lage en guide for Oslo, så nå slår jeg to fluer i én smekk. Jeg deler tipsene jeg sendte til Geoff, slik at de kommer flere til gode!

Dette er på ingen måte en komplett guide, det er noen anbefalinger innen ulike kategorier, men jeg håper de kan komme til nytte. Jeg har sikkert glemt en masse… Bare spør om dere lurer på noe mer eller noe annet!

Forresten så vet dere vel at kategorien «Oslovely» her på bloggen inneholder mange år med Oslo-glede? Så bra.

Jeg gidder ikke å oversette teksten, faktisk. Fordi dere forstår engelsk, og fordi det er ferie, så jeg føler meg lat og vil ut i sola. Såpass får dere tåle, hihi.

Da kjører vi på!

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Welcome to Oslo!

Norway’s capital isn’t huge, but it has lots of charm and character, if you know where to go. My favourite part of the city is Grünerløkka. It has many parks and squares and independent shops, plus lots of places to eat and drink. I also recommend St. Hanshaugen and Sagene. Generally I think that the eastern and northern parts are the nicest, because they are less posh and expensive than the west and south. It’s a good idea to stay away from the area around the main street, Karl Johans gate. (Like in every city, this is where you find the over priced tourist traps and the soulless chain shops.)

Oslo is a great city to walk in. Strolling along Akerselva, the little river that winds through Grünerløkka, is always good. It’s also nice to walk along the waterfront (Havnepromenaden) down by the Oslofjord. If you want to visit one of the little islands, you can take ferries from Rådhusbrygga with a regular public transport ticket. It’s a perfect little adventure on sunny days.

For colourful, charming, old streets and houses, go to Rodeløkka and Damstredet & Telthusbakken. You get a glimpse of what Oslo used to look like!

Cafés
-ChillOut – Travel book shop with a café. Their chocolate & chili buns are AMAZING.
-Tim Wendelboe – We Norwegians love our coffee, and Mr. Wendelboe is world-famous for his roasts and brews. Who knew coffee could taste like this?
-Åpent Bakeri Frydenlund – Good bakery in a very pretty location, where I like to go up the winding stairs and look down on people, muaha.
-Fuglen – Cool place with a retro vibe, where you can buy most of the vintage interior, and where they serve great coffee and a mean chai.
-Vespa – Continental café with Italian coffee and pastries, and good lunch dishes, too!

Other cafés I like: Oslovelo, Supreme Roastworks, Peloton, Cocoa (for hot chocolate!), Liebling, Retrolykke (also a cute vintage shop!) and Java.

Restaurants
-Le Benjamin – French place with beautiful food and a great wine list. If they are fully booked, another good French one is Chez Colin, and that one’s actually cosier.
-Nedre Foss Gård – A quaint old farm building down by the river has been lovingly restored, and they serve delicious, Nordic, relatively fancy food. There is also a good brewpub upstairs (Bryggeriet), plus a wine bar on site (Radegast).
-New Anarkali – Great Indian food! (In case you get homesick, haha.) They have two restaurants in Grünerløkka.
-Balthazar – Charming Italian place right next to the cathedral in the city centre, but still kind of tucked away under some stone arches, and with a very cosy and quiet garden out back. Good pizza and pasta.
-Champagneria Solli – Wine bar which serves great tapas (where I happen to work part-time as a sommelier, haha). I recommend the baked chèvre, the carrot&mango salad and the scallops! We import our own cava, which is excellent, and since the owners want it to be available for everyone, a glass or a bottle of cava here is very good value for money.
-Funky Fresh Foods – Great vegan restaurant. They make the most amazing things!

For take-away (YES to dinner in a park!), I prefer Mini Sushi at Carl Berner, Bangkok Thai at St. Hanshaugen and Lahori Dera Tandoori at Grønland.

Parks with perks: St. Hanshaugen gives you a nice view, Vigelandsparken is an amazing sculpture park, and Ekebergparken has both views and art.

For a quick bite when you don’t really know what you want, there are three food halls in Oslo: Vippa, Mathallen and Torggata Bad (also known as Oslo Street Food).

Bars
-Schouskjelleren – Underground, atmospheric (is that a word?) microbrewery with great beers.
-Torggata Botaniske – Overgrown cocktail bar where they mix drinks using their own herbs.
– Rebell – Fun bar with a nostalgic eighties theme!
-Territoriet – Small, relaxed wine bar with lots of good stuff, where they only play music on vinyl.
-Svanen – Cocktail bar which uses classic Nordic ingredients, in an old pharmacy! (This place is actually on the main street, but it’s still worth visiting.)
-Tilt – This place has shuffle board and lots of old arcade games!
-Prindsen Hage – If the weather is nice, this huge backyard is the best place to hang out and get that lovely festival feeling.

I also like the following pubs and micro breweries: Flyfisher, Dubliner, Den gamle major, Gaasa, Grünerløkka brygghus, Oslo Mikrobryggeri, Crow, Brus, Henry & Sally’s, Brewgata, Røør.

Sights
-Botanisk hage – The botanical gardens need no introduction, these are always worth a visit when you want a green break. Free entrance to the gardens, tickets needed for the different museums.
– Astrup Fearnley-museet – Contemporary art museum in a modern, cool building right on the water. The entrance fee normally gives access to one or two temporary exhibitions, plus the standard collection, which has some truly great pieces. (I’ve also seen the two current exhibitions, and they are both very interesting, and so different!)
– The Opera House – The architecture is unique, an the the view from the roof (yes, you can walk all over it!) is beautiful. Free.
– Akershus Fortress – On a hill overlooking the water. I love a good medieval fortress, and the grounds are fun to explore, and entrance is free!

For a great view of the city, go to a hotel with a skybar. The prices there are as high as the buildings, of course, but that’s life. Examples are the Thief at Tyvholmen, Radisson Scandinavia by Holbergs plass, and the Radisson Plaza, close to the central station.

For a truly great view, take a hike! Oslo is one of the greenest capital cities in the world, a huge part of it is covered in forest. On a regular metro ticket you can get to lots of pretty places, like Frognerseteren or Sognsvann, and follow hiking trails from there. We Norwegians use this page to plan our excursions, but it’s in Norwegian. A quick search for Oslo+hike proved helpful, and I found this convenient article in English!

Enjoy your stay in Oslo!

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In other words: No need for translation here, haha! I was asked by a mate in London if I could provide some recommendations for a friend of his that was visiting Oslo, and a little while later I also got a blog comment asking for tips, so now I’m sharing the list here. (I couldn’t be bothered to translate it back into Norwegian, since most of my readers understand English anyway.) I hope it can be of use to someone!