16 hours in Oslo

On my way to Longyearbyen, Svalbard from Iceland, I had a 16-hour stopover in Oslo. I arrived there at 5.00 PM on April 14th and left the following day at 9.00 AM. I had already decided that I was going to spend the evening sightseeing in Oslo, so after I had collected my luggage, I paid a small amount to have it stored at the airport.

Originally, I was going to take Flytoget, which would take me to the center of Oslo in 19 minutes. But the price was ridiculous at 180 NOK each way, so instead I went to another train company and paid just 90 NOK each way and arrived in the center 23 minutes later. Honestly, in my opinion, Flytoget is one big joke with their high prices and I definitely recommend checking other options when going to the center from the airport.

Back home in Denmark, I had been told that Oslo was nothing special. But since I’m a capital collector, I had to see the city with my own eyes and I was so glad I did! Oslo surprised me in so many ways, being as beautiful, clean and somewhat peaceful as it is. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and there were beautiful flowers all over the city.

After spending two weeks in ice old Iceland, it was lovely to feel spring coming – even just for one evening.
I was amazed by Oslo and found myself taking hundreds of pictures around every corner. It quickly became one of my favourite capital cities and I definitely learned not to listen to other people’s opinions and instead just form my own.

I spent about two hours walking about in the city center, window shopping with my almost empty bank account and trying to find all the major sights.

One thing that I really wanted to see was the castle. This beautiful building with its 173 rooms is the official residence of the Norwegian monarch. I walked up the steps to the castle and looked back at a stunning view of the city – this is definitely a place that I would like to live in with a view like that! I just need to marry a prince now, it can’t be that hard 😉

Since there aren’t many people around in the evening, I almost had the castle to myself and spent some time studying the old building, the nearby park and the always serious soldiers guarding every entry to the castle.

Afterwards, I walked back to the center of the city and decided to go to the harbour to see the sunset. A decision that I would not regret! I have without a doubt found my favourite place in Oslo!

The harbour is so peaceful and offers great views of the many nearby islands. I spent some time looking at all the ships and enjoying the special atmosphere, before going to the old Akershus Fortress that was built in the 1290s to protect Oslo. Here I had a great view of the harbour and the beautiful sunset.

When it got dark at about 9.00 PM, I went to Burger King to get some (really healthy) food and stayed there for a couple of hours, talking to a nice local man and stealing their wifi, before heading back to the airport at 11.30 PM.

Despite only having three hours of daylight to explore Oslo, I made the most of it and saw all the sights that I wanted to see. I am very happy that I had this stopover and now I can add another city to my list of favourites!

I spent the night at the airport, camping with other people in the same situation as me and slept on a chair with my sleeping bag and a nice elderly mans suitcase to support my feet! I had quite a good nights sleep and managed to also sleep on the plane for a full three hours, so I was quite fresh when I finally got to Longyearbyen, where my next adventure started.

Off to Oslo? Download a city guide for for city with GPSmyCity here!