Oslo
Oslo is a small city in a European context. Oslo is nevertheless a prosperous city with an increasingly international and multicultural feel. Everyone talks about how expensive Oslo is, and that’s probably true, if you don’t know the city and know where to go. Anyway, Oslo is generally cheaper than the rest of Norway, unless you buy an apartment.
The capital of Norway has a better selection of hotels, shops and attractions than any other Norwegian city. But it is probably not the most beautiful city in Norway. But definitely the one that has the most to offer tourists visiting!
The vast majority choose sensibly to visit Oslo during the summer months, when one can stroll around in the sunshine and temperatures often do not return for southern Europe. Oslo is a very green city, with large parks around the center where people gather for socializing, barbecues and sunbathing. There are also enough galleries, museums and activities for children that most people can enjoy some days in the Norwegian capital.
In winter, the center of Oslo is often a sad sight, although some decent winter days make the city very beautiful. In any case, the active tourist has a short distance to ski slopes and ski slopes. In fact, taking the subway is a short trip to experience great scenery and good skiing.
Get to know Oslo
Oslo is Norway’s capital and largest city, and lies at the heart of the Oslo Fjord. One third of Norway’s population lives here. Oslo was founded by King Harald Hardråde about 1050, in what is today the Ruinpark in Old Town.
After a major fire in 1624, the city was moved to the area at Akershus Fortress by order of King Christian IV, and renamed Christiania. At that time, the city had no more than 5,000 inhabitants.
After Norway became independent and Christiania became the capital in 1814, the population increased sharply, especially in the late 1800s. In 1925 the city got its old name Oslo, to mark that it no longer had anything to do with a Danish king. Oslo has now grown to almost 600,000 inhabitants.
City Profile
- Abbreviation: OSL
- Country: Norway
Downtown Oslo
Oslo’s obvious main artery is the parade street Karl Johans gate, which everyone just calls Karl Johan. It extends from the Palace in the west to the Railway Square in the east where you will also find Oslo’s magnificent Opera House. Along the way are several of the city’s landmarks. If you start at the castle, you will first pass the National Theater, where poets such as Henrik Ibsen and Bjørnstärn Bjørnson stand on the shelf outside. On the left you will see the university building.
A little further up the street lies the city’s venerable old Grand Hotel on the left, overlooking the student park. In front of you you can now see the Parliament building, the Storting, which was built in 1866. From here is by Karl Johan pedestrian street, with shops close in close on both sides. You will pass Oslo Cathedral on the left before the street rather down towards Jernbanetorget, the square in front of Oslo Central Station with a bronze statue of a tiger.
Aker Brygge in Oslo
South of Karl Johan’s western parts, lies one of Oslo’s most beautiful areas. At the bottom of the bay Pipervika is the Town Hall in front of the large and open Town Hall Square, with Akershus Fortress towering on a hilltop in the east and the lively Aker Brygge with its many serving places and shops to the west. The latter is the tourist and out-of-town visitor’s favorite place to eat and drink beer in the summer sun, which may explain why Oslo has a reputation for being an expensive city.
Locals most often choose other and less expensive neighborhoods. But it is an idyllic place to buy a bag of shrimp from the boats at the pier and sit on a bench at Akershus Fortress and have a great view of the boats going in and out of the fjord.
Bygdøy
From the piers in front of the town hall, boats go to Bygdøy, the large peninsula that juts out into the Oslofjord south of the city center. In addition to being a residential area for the more affluent, you will also find Huk, one of Oslo’s most popular swimming beaches here. One of the beaches is also dedicated to naturists. At Bygdøy are also several of the city’s museums. Viking Ship Museum, Norwegian Folk Museum, Kon-Tiki Museum, Fram Museum and Norwegian Maritime Museum.
Oslo Vest
West of the Palace is Majorstua, and in addition to being one of the city’s better residential areas, you will find one of Oslo’s most popular shopping streets here. It is called Bogstadveien, but eventually changes its name to Hegdehaugsveien. Here are many of Oslo’s more exclusive and expensive shops, and the range of shops extends from the corner of the Palace Park up to the long Church Road.
In Kirkeveien lies the main gate to the city’s largest park, Frogner Park. The Frogner Park houses the popular Frogner Bath with its water-runways, and Oslo’s and Norway’s foremost tourist magnet, the Vigeland Park with its 212 statues in bronze and granite by Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943). The most famous works are the 17 meter high Monolith carved out of one boulder, and the fascinating Sinnagag, depicting a furious boy.
Grünerløkka in Oslo
North of the city center is Grünerløkka. This used to be a tired working district. Grünerløkka, or just Løkka as many locals like to call it, is now one of Oslo’s trendiest neighborhoods for housing, shopping and nightlife. The number of coffee houses, bars and 24-hour chains (and rental prices) has been expanding in recent years, and has slowly squeezed out small colonial shops and grocery stores that have been on Grünerløkka for years. There are also several large public parks where people gather on sunny days. Sofienbergparken, Birkelunden and Olav Ryes place.
Greenland in Oslo
East of the city center is Greenland, which was traditionally one of Oslo’s poorer neighborhoods, where workers and immigrants mostly lived. Still, this is a multicultural district dominated by Oslo’s largest mosque and immigrant shops, but Greenland has now gained an active and popular nightlife. Beyond Greenland is Tøyen, where you will find Oslo’s Botanical Gardens, the Zoological Museum, the Geological Museum and the Munch Museum.
List of Oslo Acronyms
The most commonly used abbreviations about Oslo is OSL which stands for Oslo. In the following table, you can see all acronyms related to Oslo, including abbreviations for airport, city, school, port, government, and etc.
