welcome to my oslo travel guide!

This isn't an official or sponsored guide. It's just my version of what I think it's worth seeing in Oslo and that I recommend to people who don't have a lot of time in the city. Before planning a visit to Oslo, there are important things to keep in mind:

1. As of 2016, Norway is the fourth most expensive country in the world.
2. Oslo is the most expensive city in Norway and the most expensive for traveling (at least according to Trip Advisor).
3. Be prepared to pay a lot for things that you might not be used to pay a lot for, like food.

You can get almost anywhere in Oslo by public transport. The cheapest option is the 24hr pass that costs 90kr and you can buy at any convenience store (Narvessen, Deli de Luca, etc). You can find prices and discounts on ruter.no, but if you're visiting for less than 7 days, most discounts don't apply.

If you REALLY are on a budget, I recommend you:
a)go to another city.
b)bring your own food, like bread or cookies, so you can save a lot.

You have been warned! (I don't set the price on things, so there's no use in complaining about it to me). If you still want to come to the city, these are the places I recommend. The names of the museums have links to prices and schedules.

VIGELANDSPARKEN

Vigelandsparken is the largest sculpture park in the world by one artist. It took Gustav Vigeland 35 years to complete. There are over 200 bronze sculptures and 20 or so made of granite, including The Monolith, which is 17m high and composed of 121 intertwined bodies.

There's free entrance and it's open 24/7 (in leap years, it's open 366 days!). You can reach it by tram 12 or bus 20. The stop is called: Vigelandsparken. You can also walk from Majorstuen metro station; two blocks to the right of the station.

the National art gallery

This gallery has famous pieces like Rodin's The Thinker & Edvard Munch's Scream, probably Norway's most famous painter. It has 24 rooms that represent 4 art periods, and a temporary exhibition room downstairs. It's closed on Mondays. It's FREE on Thursdays! The same ticket gives you access to 4 museums: the national gallery, the modern art museum (not the Astrup Fearnley, which is also modern art... for hipsters), the architecture museum, and the industrial design museum (my favorite of them all).

This museum has student discount (I prefer Thursdays). Schedule and pricing changes by season, so it's best to check out the museum's website.

Useless fact: In Disney's Frozen, the decor of the castle where Ana and Elsa live is this gallery (you can clearly see it when Ana sings "For the first time in forever".) 

​BYGDØY museums

Here you can find the Fram (the first ship to complete explorations in both poles), the maritime museum, the Kon-Tiki museum, which comes with its own Easter Island tiki outside the building given by the Chilean government, the viking ship museum and the people's museum (Folkemuseet).

Take bus 30 to Bygdøynes to get here. You can't take the wrong one, because it's the only one that goes there. Stops have pretty obvious names like Vikinskipene y Folkemuseet. The stop for the Fram and Kon-Tiki is Bygdøynes; you can clearly see them from the bus. Each has its own price and schedule, so it's best to check each website.

If you're into ships and polar explorations, these museums are worthy despite the price. If you're not, the area is worth visiting because the views are pretty and the buildings are nice. If you enter the museum shops at the viking ship, Fram & Kon-tiki, you can see the whole thing without paying (don't tell anyone I told you how to NOT pay for things... but go check them out!)

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​the train station

If you get to Oslo by plane or train, it's very likely you'll end up here. There's a tiger outside that people like. To get to Oslo from Gardemoen, get a ticket at
 nsb.no and save some money if you book in advance. If you're traveling by train to other cities in Norway, it's also likely it leaves from here. You can walk to Aker Brygge from here. If you take the main street right in front of the station (Karl Johann gate) you'll get to the Castle, and you'll pass the Parliament and the National Theatre. The Opera House is 2 blocks to the left.

AKER BRYGGE

The main pier in downtown Oslo, where you can find cool graffiti, the Akerhus Castle, more sculptures, the City Hall, the Nobel Peace Center, the Astrup Fearnley Museum and take ferries to the Bydgøy museums and tour the Oslo fjord. It's an open area so you can walk around it any time.

Several buses (30, 31, 32, 54, 70, 74, 83...), trams (12, 13 y 19) and ferries stop here. Stops are called Aker Brygge or Rådhuset.

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​AKERSHUS fortress

A medieval castle, which was also a prison and looks like a movie set. A Danish king ordered its construction in 1290 after Oslo was attacked and didn't have enough protection. Swedish and Danish besieged it several times; the Nazis took over in WW2. Now it's the Armed Forces Museum and there are guards in pretty suits that you can photograph (don't expect them to smile, they're not allowed). You can see most of it for free, except inside the castle. Sometimes you can see police horses (so watch out for poop while you're there!). Go to the visitor center first to get a detailed map. The main doors close at 8 p.m.

Useless fact: There's a copy of this castle at Disney World in Florida.

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SETERSTUA​ RESTAURANT 

This is one of my favorite spots in the city; not very touristy for foreigners or people who are not into skiing. To get there, take subway line 1 to Frognerseteren and get off at the last station. I recommend you find a seat on the left side of the cart because there are amazing views from Besserud to Frognerseteren. You can see the whole city and fjord. Follow the arrows at the last station to get to the restaurant and you'll get to a super viking cabin with viking decor.

At the back of the cabin there's a cafe (expensive, here are the prices) where you can get traditionally Norwegian food. I recommend the day's dish (dagens rett) and rømmegrøt (sour cream porridge). You can eat reindeer and moose. You can also not buy anything and just check out the cabin.

If you love skiing, in your way back get off at Holmenkollen, where there's a ski simulator, a zipline, a ski jump platform and the Ski Museum. Check prices and schedules before you visit.

the opera house

A building made or glass, marble, and oak, which seems to be coming out of the water and has a postmodern design that we peasants are not meant to understand, but we snap anyway. You can enter the building for free but access to the halls only happens where there's a performance and you have a ticket. You can walk on the roof at any time. At the back and to the left of the building you can see famous auditing firms who have their own fancy buildings. That area is called The Barcode.