Getting Your Bearings:
Opera House is in lower right--RCCL's Vision of the
Seas is lower
left at Vippetangen pier--Akershus Castle
Fortress is where white ship is docked--City Hall is above it on the quay
with the Royal Palace behind it in the triangle--Aker
Brygge shopping area is to the far left upper edge of photo.
With its number of residents around
500,000, Oslo is one of the smallest populated capitals in Europe but one of
the largest capital cities regarding land area in the world (175 square miles).
Oslo is a modern city with a convenient communication system of buses,
trams, ferries and a fabulous underground system of trains to take you all
around town, into the wilderness or out to one of the islands of the inner
Oslo fjord, all in less than 20 minutes. But you will also find
interesting touches of medieval history from 1000 years ago. Oslo has
been rebuilt several times because of numerous fires, yet parts of its
history was well preserved and remains intact.
The city is full of parks, museums, churches and other beautiful places. It
is also heavily forested, almost park-like, making it quite attractive to
visitors who want to explore the city. Cruise passengers with only a day in
Oslo can see much of the city on foot. One word of warning--if you decide to
dine ashore, be aware that Oslo is one of the most expensive cities in
Europe to live in or visit.
The piers available in Oslo in 2009 will be Søndre
Akershus (on Akershusstranda near Castle),
Vippetangen (near Castle and Opera House),
Filipstad (near Aker Brygge)
and Sørenga (near Opera House) . The
Revier-pier was closed in 2008 due to work with a tunnel in the
bay but the "Opera Cruise Pier” / Revier pier will reopen in 2009 and
become an attractive cruise pier in addition to Søndre, Akershus and
Vippetangen.
On my first cruise to Norway I was excited
to get to know these wonderful people.
My Mother-in-law was Norwegian.
And boy--could she cook! So many
Norwegian recipes have been handed down
through our generations because of her.
I looked forward to getting to know the
Norwegian culture and people and enjoy a
thoroughly pleasant visit in Oslo. And I was
not to be disappointed. On the first
trip we were lucky enough to have a
wonderful guide booked through our cruise
ship excursion desk. Her name is Gerd and she led us through an exciting,
educational and exhausting 6-hour
tour. Coincidently, she has a
friend in the States who lives near me, so I
see her occasionally and we email often.
Lucky you--if you end up with a lovely
Norwegian lady guide named Gerd.
DOCKING
Your ship will sail up the
70-mile-long Oslofjord for a few hours before you reach Oslo. You will not
see any craggy-steep mountain fjords in this part of Norway like you will in
Western Norway. The Oslofjord is relatively narrow, with lots of small
islands dotted with cottages. Rolling hills surround the fjord, but they are
not very high.
There are only a few cruise ship
docks, but all are within easy walking distance from downtown. The most
you'll have to walk is 20 minutes (if you are at the closest dock you are
about five minutes from City Hall).
From our balcony at the
Vippetangen pier, the first thing we see is the new
opera house, an amazing modernistic marble and granite structure that rises
out of the fjord like a giant ice floe. Visitors can actually take a
walk on the white marble roof.
Akershus Fortress
Nearby, is Akershus Castle (across the
street from the cruise ship pier Søndre Akershus). Akershus Fortress has been both a fortress and a
royal residence throughout the centuries. The castle was substantially rebuilt
in 1527 by Christian IV, the Danish-Norwegian builder King. It actually dates back to
1299, when it was built on a small peninsula to protect the harbour. Today,
this old military fortress with a castle on its grounds,
consists of a chapel, army barracks and several museums: the Defense
Museum and the Resistance Museum among them.
The 17th-century renovations of the castle
included magnificent banqueting halls and
reception rooms that today are now used only
for State occasions. Interestingly
enough, directly below these halls sit dank
medieval dungeons and underground
passageways. During World War II, the castle
was used as a prison for resistance fighters
captured by the Nazis.
In front of the museum is a memorial to the
Norwegian Resistance, located at the place
where 42 of its members were executed. Free
entry into the fortress is either through a
gate at the end of Akersgata or over a
drawbridge at the southern end of Kirkegata.
The Castle may be closed if being used for
Royal functions. The grounds are open 6 am to 9 pm; after 6
pm, you must use the Kirkegata entrance.
Everyday at 1:30 PM you can see the changing
of guards.
The Fortress is situated right above the
Oslo harbor and has many lawns and parks. Amazingly...cars run right below
it in the Festningstunnelen which drastically cuts down the time it takes
to travel across the city. The carp pond itself was recreated in
the 1960s having been refilled for about 100 years.
The Presentation (Waiting) Room
The Banquet Hall
The Chapel
You might want to stop for refreshments
while visiting at Akershus. There are two
establishments; the Karpedammen Café and
Café Festningen. The
Karpedammen
Café is for outdoor service only
where you can enjoy al-fresco refreshments
during the summer and it is licensed to sell
alcoholic beverages – closed in inclement
weather. The café is situated by the carp
pond in the central fortress area.
Café
Festningen
is located on the lower part of the
fortress, inside the Norwegian Armed Forces
Museum and serves hot and cold dishes.
City Hall
From the castle walls you can see City Hall
and the twin towers of Rådhuset behind the City Hall. The roof
of the eastern tower has a 49-bell carillon which plays every hour. There is
a public square in front of the building and this is also where you can buy
your Oslo Pass at the Tourist Information Center. The City Hall houses the City Council, City
administration, art studios and galleries. Its characteristic
architecture, artworks, and the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony makes it one of
Oslo's most famous buildings. The twin-towered,
red brick building (Rådhuset) evokes strong opinions. People either love the
architecture and decor or hate it. The Rådhuset has a wonderful series of
murals and wood carvings from Henrik Sørenson and Edvard Munch.
Murals inside City
Hall
Square in front of City Hall
THE NOBEL PEACE CENTER
The Nobel Peace Center
opened on 11 June 2005 in a stylishly
converted late 19th century railway station
in the centre of Oslo.
(Not to be confused with City Hall which is
the location where the Nobel Peace Price is
awarded every year on December
10.) Platforms
became galleries and the exterior became a
glowing white Italian structure facing the
medieval brick castle, Akershus.
Between the two, they placed
a large art sculpture that represents peace.
The Nobel Peace Center presents all the
Nobel Peace Prize laureates with art and
history exhibits and combines exhibits and
films with digital communication and
interactive installations, and has already
received attention for its modern design and
use of state of the art technology.
AKER BRYGGE (HARBOR)
For more than a hundred years this was a shipyard, but in
1982 the old wharf was turned into a big, modern center with shops, restaurants, bars
and pubs, offices, luxurious apartments and leisure-boat docks. Today it is
one of the most popular places in summer, full of both wealthy locals and
tourists.
THE ROYAL PALACE
The Norwegian Royal Palace (Slottet) is a
huge structure located at the end of Oslo's
main street, Karl Johans Gate. The palace is
the official residence of the Norwegian
Monarch and was completed in 1849.
At present, Norway’s King, Harald V, actually lives at
the Skaugum estate in Asker, just outside
Oslo, but spends his working day at the
Palace while the three princesses of Norway
live on estates in Oslo, Fredrikstad and Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil. Slottet, the Royal
Palace, is surrounded by beautiful gardens.
The changing of the guard takes place each
day at 1:30 in the afternoon and visitors
to Oslo can now
wander
through the grounds since it is open to the
public. However, all visitors must follow a
guided tour inside the palace. The tours
last about one hour and begin every 20
minutes. See times and costs:
HERE
THE
NATIONAL
THEATER
Nationaltheatret
opened
in 1899.
The
main
building,
designed
by
architect
Henrik
Bull, is
situated
in the
center
of Oslo,
close to
the
Royal
Castle
and the
old
University.
With a
central
location
in the
capital
and a
leading
position
in
theatrical
life,
the
National
Theatre
of Oslo
is
Norway’s
principal
theatre.
SHOPPING on KARL JOHANS
GATE
The city center is
marked by numerous,
pedestrian-friendly
areas featuring friendly
boutiques with art,
jewelry, and handicrafts
galore. The greatest
concentration of
shopping downtown is
found along busy Karl
Johans gate and its
intersecting streets.
Here, department stores
like Steen and Strøm,
the Paléet shopping
center, and specialty
shops like Tanum – one
of the city’s most
popular bookshops – are
must-dos for
shopaholics..
SHOULD YOU PURCHASE
YOUR SHIP'S EXCURSION
TICKET - OR, ON YOUR
OWN-OR THE OSLO PASS?
Check to see how long
you will be in port and
what you really want to
visit in that length of
time. The points
of interest above can
easily be done on your
own--by foot. But
it would be a shame for
you to miss the other Oslo places of interest
that are more famous
outside the city area.
Those are...
The
Viking Ship Museum,
Norwegian
Folk Museum,
Vigeland Sculpture Park, and The Holmenkollen ski jump
with its views of the
city (and a wonderful
Norwegian Restaurant).
The OSLO PASS:
The Oslo Pass provides free travel on all public
transport, free admission to museums and sights, free parking in all Oslo
municipal car parks, discounts on car rental, restaurants and
much more. If you are
familiar with the street names in Oslo;
where the stops are; how and where to
transfer to other buses and trams to get to
your destination-- you are in a good
position to see much in a day.
However, remember to include time it takes
waiting for buses. And know that taxis are
very expensive in Oslo.
We
compared time, cost, and the availability of
an experienced guide provided by our ship's
excursion ticket to "On Your Own" this time,
to get the most out of our visit in such a
short time ashore. You may decide, as we
did, to let the driving to someone else so
we could concentrate on the beautiful
scenery of the countryside and the
historical information of a city-- not to be
missed.
For directions to Tourist Information Centers to buy your Oslo
Pass, Click On Oslo Pass link : HERE
The
tourist information centre at Trafikanten
lies in front of Oslo Central Station (Oslo
S).
The tourist information centre by City
Hall is located in Roald
Amundsens gate, between Karl
Johans gate and Oslo City Hall.
.
