Things to do in Norway
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Godt Brød
Bakery.
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Stryn Summer Ski Centre
Nowhere near the town of Stryn, despite its name, this ski centre is in fact on the Tystigen outlier of Jostedalsbreen, at its northernmost point. Here is Norway’s most extensive and best known summer skiing, and most of those photos of bikini-clad skiers you see around were snapped here. There are six red runs, one blue and a black. The longest alpine run extends for 2100m with a drop of 530m, and there are also 10km of cross-country ski tracks. A ski bus runs from Stryn (Nkr150 return, one hour) at 9.15am and returns from the ski centre at 4.15pm, roughly between mid-June and mid-July, depending upon snow conditions. Drivers will enjoy the scenic Gamle…
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Norwegian Folk Museum
Norway’s largest open-air museum and one of Oslo’s premier attractions is the Norwegian Folk Museum. The museum includes more than 140 buildings, mostly from the 17th and 18th centuries, gathered from around the country, rebuilt and organised according to region of origin. Paths wind past old barns, ele-vated stabbur (raised storehouses) and rough-timbered farmhouses with sod roofs sprouting wildflowers. The Gamlebyen (Old Town) section is a reproduction of an early-20th-century Norwegian town and includes a village shop and old petrol station; in summer (daily except Saturday) you can see weaving and pottery-making demonstrations. Another highlight is the restored…
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Det Kongelige Slott
King Harald V sleeps in Det Kongelige Slott, the royal palace, peering from a hill over the Karl Johans axis. Guided tours of 15 rooms are available in English, once daily at 14:00 (late June to mid-August). Tickets are difficult to obtain - ask the tourist office for details. The rest of the grounds comprise Slottsparken, an inviting public park that's free to enter. If you happen to be around at 13:30, watch the changing of the guard.
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Kroa
This pub and restaurant was reconstructed from the elements of a building brought in from Russian Barentsburg (the giant white bust of Lenin peeking from behind the bar – and sporting a Liverpool FC scarf when we were last here – gives a clue). Service is cheerful and mains verge on the gargantuan. Starters are more modest in size. Try, for example, the cured seal (Nkr78) or Arctic char (Nkr92).
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Åpent Bakerei
A neighbourhood café that serves coffee in deep, cream-coloured bowls and has unbeatable breads and pastries. A freshly baked roll (Nkr14) topped with homemade røre syltetøy (stirred jam) and enjoyed on the bakery’s patio, makes for one of Oslo’s best and least expensive breakfasts.
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Mucho Mas
What it lacks in authenticity, Mucho Mas more than makes up for in cheese and portion size. The full Mexican repertoire is on offer, including tacos, nachos and burritos (which are enormous); all dishes are offered in meat or vegetarian versions. Well-priced beer helps put out the fire.
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Fru Hagen
The low-key and always full Fru Hagen, ‘Mrs Garden’, serves sandwiches and burgers, all with a healthy side portion of vegetables. Its location facing Olaf Ryes plass also makes it good for people-watching.
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Atlantic Ocean Park
At the peninsula’s western extreme, sitting 3km from the centre, the Atlantic Ocean Park can merit a whole day of your life. It introduces visitors to the North Atlantic’s undersea world with glimpses of the astonishing richness of coastal and fjord submarine life. Children will wow at the ‘snails, seashells and weird marine animals’ section, and can dangle a line for crabs or feed the fish in the touch pool while the whole family will gasp at the enormous four-million-litre aquarium. Be there at 1pm (also 3.30pm, June to August) when the largest ocean fish thrash and swirl as they’re fed by human divers.
There’s also a sanctuary for orphaned seals and the…
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Tønsberg Castle
The remains of Tønsberg Castle, spread across the 63m-high hill behind the town, was the largest fortress in Norway in the 13th century. In 1503, the Swedes destroyed the fortress and little remains of the castle itself. Nonetheless, the modern (1888), 17m-high Slottsfjellstårnet tower provides a good viewpoint over the ruins. In front of the tower there’s a bronze model of how the castle looked in 1500. Parts of the 600m-long outer wall remain intact, while the extant medieval stone foundations include King Magnus Lagabøte’s Keep, the 1191 Church of St Michael, the hall of King Håkon Håkonsson and various guard towers. The park is always open.
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Vikingskipshuset
Even in repose, there is something intimidating about the sleek, dark hulls of the Viking ships Oseberg and Gokstad, which is why visitors to this unforgettable Vikingskipshuset often find themselves whispering. Only a few boards and fragments remain of a third ship, the Tune, built around the same time as the Gokstad and excavated in 1867 from the Oslofjord region. All were built of oak in the 9th century; the ships were pulled ashore and used as tombs for nobility, who were buried with all they expected to need in the hereafter: jewels, furniture, food, servants, intricately carved carriages and sleighs, tapestries and fierce-looking figures.
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Huset
It’s something of a walk to work up an appetite for the Huset’s highly regarded restaurant, on whose menu (Nkr495) reindeer and grouse feature regularly. The bar serves up pizzas (Nkr85 to Nkr100), whale in pepper sauce (Nkr165) and seal stew (Nkr155) and its signature hamburger med alt (Nkr96) – a meaty burger with all the trimmings, so juicy, a researcher told us, that lonely scientists in their tents dream of it. A curiosity for a place so far from the nearest vineyard: its wine cellar has over 20,000 bottles.
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Hummer & Kanari
Behind the bar sit row upon row of liqueur and spirit bottles for mixers and shakers. Here at the downstairs bistro, you order at the counter. Upstairs, it’s waiter service. But both call upon the same kitchen, which turns out ample portions of pasta (Nkr110 to Nkr130) and pizza (Nkr100). To save the decision-making, simply sit back, put yourself in the cook’s capable hands and go for the best the sea can offer that day, ‘Hummer & Kanari’s selection of fish and shellfish.’ (Nkr245).
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Kon-Tiki Museum
A favourite among children, the worthwhile Kon-Tiki Museum is dedicated to the balsa raft Kon-Tiki, which Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl sailed from Peru to Polynesia in 1947. The museum also displays the totora reed boat Ra II, built by Aymara people on the Bolivian island of Suriqui in Lake Titicaca. Heyerdahl used it to cross the Atlantic in 1970. For a full rundown on the life of this extraordinary explorer who achieved a lot in his lifetime, see the boxed text, p132.
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National Gallery
One of Oslo’s major highlights is the National Gallery. It houses the nation’s largest collection of Norwegian art, including works from the Romantic era and more‑modern works from 1800 to WWII. Some of Edvard Munch’s best-known creations are on display, including his most renowned work, The Scream. There’s also an impressive collection of European art with works by Gauguin, Picasso, El Greco and many of the impressionists: Manet, Degas, Renoir, Matisse, Cézanne and Monet.
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Torget Fish Market
For price and atmosphere, it’s hard to beat the fish market. Right alongside the harbour and a stone’s throw from Bryggen, here you’ll find everything from smoked whale meat (Nkr349 a kilo if you can live with your conscience) and salmon to calamari and chips (Nkr130), fish cakes (from Nkr89), prawn baguettes (Nkr45), local caviar and, sometimes, nonfishy reindeer and elk. Stallholders are usually happy to make up a take-away platter or prepare a sealed bag to take home.
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Jugendstil Art Nouveau Centre
Everyone from serious aesthetes to kids out for fun will get pleasure from this art centre. The introductory Time Machine capsule presents ‘From Ashes to Art Nouveau’, a high-tech, very visual story of the rebuilding of Ålesund after the great fire, while the displays offer carefully selected textiles, ceramics and furniture of the genre. It’s in and above a renovated chemist’s shop that has retained its magnificent corkscrew staircase and 1st-floor dining room.
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Verdensteatret
Norway’s oldest film house will satisfy both cinephiles and thirsters after great cafés. The bar is a hip place with free wi-fi, occasional live music and weekend DJs. At other times, the barperson spins from its huge collection of vinyl records, so expect anything from classical to deepest underground. Peek into the magnificent cinema, its walls painted roof to ceiling with early 20th-century murals. It shows art house and independent films on an ad hoc basis.
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Bryggen Tracteursted
This is one of the great Bryggen eating experiences. Housed in a 1708 building that ranges across the former stables, kitchen (note the stone floor, which meant that it was the only Bryggen building allowed to have a fire) and Bergen’s only extant schøtstuene (dining hall), this fine restaurant does fish soup (Nkr98), steamed mussels (Nkr125) and a selection of Norwegian tapas. The food’s good, but the atmosphere is the major drawcard.
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Hamnøy Mat Og Vinbu
Hamnøy Mat og Vinbu is a welcoming restaurant run by three generations of the same family (the teenage boys are coopted for washing-up duties). It’s well regarded for local specialities, including whale, bacalao and cod tongues. Grandmother takes care of the traditional dishes – just try her fish cakes – while her son is the main chef. Its fish is of the freshest catch, bought daily from the harbour barely 100m away.
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Ekeberg Restaurant
An early example of functionalist architecture, the 1929 Ekeberg Restaurant once attracted long lines of spectators eager to be seen enjoying a beer outside this angular, painfully white nonconformist building. After falling into disrepair in the 1980s, the restaurant was renovated and reopened with a classy menu and slick bar. If nothing else, go for the view.
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Flyt
Build your own burger at this friendly restaurant and bar, picking the size of your meat, fish or veggie filling and selecting its extras and trimmings. With an outdoor activities theme, its beer’s ice-cold and the music’s heavy metal and rock. The intimate upstairs cocktail bar fills to capacity after midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
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Nordic Ventures
Nordic Ventures is one of the best activity centres of its kind in Norway, offering tandem paragliding flights (Nkr1200), parasailing (Nkr450) and even 180m-high, 115km/h bungee jumps from a parasail (Nkr1600) ! As its motto says: ‘Be brave. Even if you’re not, pretend to be. No-one can tell the difference.’
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Engholm's Husky
Engholm's Husky, in the lodge bearing the same name, offers winter dog-sled and cross-country skiing tours, as well as summer walking tours with a dog to carry your pack - or at least some of it. All-inclusive expeditions range from one-day dog-sled tours (per person around NOK1100) to eight-day, off-piste Arctic safaris (NOK11,500).
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Havfruen
This elegant riverside restaurant specialises in the freshest of fish. The quality, reflected in the prices, is excellent, as are the accompanying wines. The short menu, from which you select between three and eight courses, changes regularly according to what’s hauled from the seas.
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