Our adventure for a day in Oslo began when we were greeted at the airport by our friend Matt wearing a bright red ski suit and a wig! Matt walked up to us before we really understood who he was and presented us with Viking helmets!
We arrived at Matt’s house in Oslo to unpack and freshen up after the long two flights from Australia. We dumped our luggage on the bedroom floor and decided unpacking can wait for later, we need to explore! First on the itinerary was a stop at Frognerseteren, one of the highest places to catch a train in Norway, which is placed at 469m above sea level. At this height, we could see the whole city! Time for a little stroll to the Frognerseteren Restaurant, a very traditional building made from wood with classic red window panes. With limited vegan options, we decided to sit on some benches out the front, eat the snacks that we had brought with us and absorb the scenery of the city below.
After satisfying our appetites it was time to continue further down the beautiful track to Holmenkollen, which is used as a ski slope in the winter season and is the home for a famous Winter Olympic ski jump! You can get to the top of the ski jump for sightseeing for a small price though we found it just as pleasing from the ground.
A short train ride down to Majorstuen and a little tram ride to the Frognerparken landed us at a tourist hot spot where hundreds of sculptures are placed around a park called Vigelandsparken. The angry baby statue is the most famous – you can usually spot it from the crowd around it. We sat down in the park and had a few more snacks to boost our jet-lagged energy levels for the rest of the day. Another hop, skip and a tram ride up to the city to see the Oslo City Hall where the Nobel Peace Prize is presented each year, which might not be too much to look at from the outside, but the inside, yeah quite nice!
A short stroll around the corner from the hall we found ourselves entering Akershus festning, a fortress with an armed guard standing at the entrance. Unfortunately, we forgot to take photos, perhaps the machine gun scared us off. Wandering around we came across cannons perched up at the top of a hill overlooking the ocean. Lucky they were out of order! We walked around to where the ferries arrive from Denmark which also housed a food hub named Vippa. This place had all types of cuisines, Ethiopian, Thai, dumplings, and felafel. We got some dumplings – 7 of them – which cost around $25! That’s when we found out that food in Norway can be quite expensive!
With our stomachs now full it was time to head towards the city centre which showcased the architectural magnificence of the opera house. This musical landmark hosts a stunning exterior and unequalled interior. You can walk to the top of the opera house, but by this stage, our feet were quite sore and our jeg lag was peaking at an all-time high! It was time to explore the main road of Oslo, called the Karl Johan where we stumbled upon a vegan Cornetto ice cream in a corner store called Deli de Luca. This is a very pretty street, lined with huge pots full of bright purple violas. At the end of the street, we could see the Royal Palace, though our feet begged us not to visit which we kindly agreed with. The boat harbour looked like a valid alternative instead since it was a boat ride to one of the islands to have dinner! With Matt’s partner Arne insight, we all boarded the boat to Gressholmen Island.
There is one restaurant on the island called Gressholmen Kro which have a vegan option on the menu! This perfect timing meal was a gorgeous bean dish with coconut yoghurt on top. The flavours were like an orchestra in our mouths! A short walk and a sudden stop at the dock area had us on our way home to recover completely.
Our bodies had already fallen asleep and we would have been instantly accepted into the next zombie movie the way we were moving. With a soft pillow and some blackout blinds dreamland, was almost instantly upon us. What a day full of sightseeing Oslo!
For more of our travel adventures, check out our travel page!
