Oslo is the capital of the country of the fjords. Guides in Oslo. Money circulation and state budget

Despite the rather respectable age, the Norwegian capital is not striking in the abundance of historical monuments. However, this has its advantages: instead of being scattered over several dozen sights, the tourist always has the opportunity to calmly and thoroughly study the options already available, without turning the trip into a feverish collection of impressions.

It is customary to start a walk around Oslo from Karl Johan Street, which has become the very straight line that connected the Royal Palace, the railway station and the pier on its way. It is on Karl Johans Gate that the capital's Christmas tree is set up in December and most of the souvenir boutiques are located.

The architectural symbol of the city, which occupied the left bank of the Oslo Fjord, is the medieval fortress Akershus. People come here mainly to watch the changing of the guard ceremony and walk around the fortress palace with its intricate Renaissance interiors. In the center of Oslo, on Fridtjof Nansen Square, there is a laconic building of the City Hall: the seat of the city council meeting and the building that accounts for the main tourist flow. By the way, the silhouette of this austere brick building became widely known after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in it.

One of the sights of the Norwegian capital deprived (by the way, completely in vain) of attention is the Oslo Cathedral. A modest outward building, famous for its amazing stained-glass windows and organ music concerts, lurks on Stortorvet Square.

During the summer months the most popular place in the city becomes the building of the Metropolitan Opera, located on the shores of the bay. Stop by here to listen to the classic arias in a new version, look at the moving sculpture "Icy Sea" and at the same time determine where the 500 million euros went, which, according to official sources, the construction of the opera cost the city budget.

Spectacular houses of the 17th-18th centuries, in which half-impoverished creative bohemians once used to settle, await travelers in Darmstredet or the Old Town. Well, the most romantic green corner of Oslo is located on Sars Street, where the main botanical garden of the country has spread its rose gardens and exotic greenhouses. Constant revival reigns in Vigeland Park, which attracts tourists with its colorful sculptural monoliths by Gustav Vigeland and the evening light show.

All sights of Oslo

Museums

Search historical heritage Oslo follows not on its streets, but in museums, where prudent Scandinavians hid the most valuable artifacts and archaeological finds.

Most of the capital's expositions are devoted to navigation, which, in general, is not surprising: the homeland of the Vikings, after all. To understand how severe the Norwegian soul is tied to the sea, take a ride on the river bus to the Bygdö peninsula, where several museums of this direction are located.

Take a look at the Fram Museum and stroll along the deck of the legendary schooner, on which the restless Roald Amundsen set off to conquer the South Pole. Walk under the semicircular snow-white vaults of the Viking Ship Museum, where three funerary boats are kept, which, together with their eminent owners, sank to the seabed more than 1000 years ago and were raised from there at the end of the 19th century.

A non-trivial exposition awaits guests of Oslo at the Kon-Tiki Museum, which houses the wooden raft of the same name. It was on this fragile structure in 1945 that a group of Norwegian researchers set off to surf the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to repeat the route of the ancient Polynesians, which, apparently, provoked Fedor Konyukhov to his subsequent records. There is something to look at in the Maritime Museum of Norway, whose expositions acquaint visitors with the history of the development of fishing and whaling in the country.

Notorious "visuals" and fans of fine arts will be welcomed in art museums and galleries in Oslo. Try to take the time to tour the wealth of the National Gallery, where the creations of the Norwegian masters of painting dilute the canvases of Gauguin, Picasso and El Greco. Here is one of the versions of the legendary "Scream" by Munch, which in 1994 was mysteriously stolen from the gallery and just as mysteriously returned to it. By the way, about Munch: the "master of depressive painting" in Oslo has his own museum, which exhibits another author's copy of "The Scream", as well as several hundred other paintings made in a manner not quite typical for the artist.

You can see the progenitor of modern carpets, which was woven several millennia ago, at the Museum of Applied Arts, and at the Astrup-Fearnley Museum of Modern Art you will be shown phantasmagoric creations of contemporary artists and sculptors. Works by Matisse, Picasso, Leger, Moore and Klee are kept at the Henie-Unstad Cultural Center on Cape Høvikodden, 12 km from the center of Oslo.

All fans of the Scandinavian classics are invited to a tour of the Henrik Ibsen Museum on the street of the same name. It was in this building that the writer spent the last years of his life and, according to the city tale, uttered his mysterious dying words. Fine sunny days are best spent in the Norwegian Museum of Ethnography, which is an extremely colorful historical town with all its wooden buildings, workshops, cozy farms and, of course, the inhabitants dressed to smithereens.

Beaches

Despite the fact that the climate of Oslo does not favor a beach holiday, this does not stop the locals. bathing season in this part of the country it starts in mid-May and lasts until mid-August, so on the few warm days - by Norwegian standards - most of the population rushes to the seashore to sunbathe. The most popular beach in Oslo continues to be "Huk" on the Bygdøy peninsula. The coastline here is rocky, and the lack of sandy places is more than compensated by green meadows and lawns. For those who came to the sea “to see others and show themselves”, the northern part of the beach, which was occupied by nudists, is suitable. By the way, sun loungers and umbrellas are not held in high esteem here, so you will have to sunbathe on the boulders, and escape from the sun under the trees growing along coastline. You can get to the most advertised beach of the capital by bus (route number 30, stop "National Theater"), or by boat (departure from the Aker Brygge embankment). If you go north from Hook, you can come across a calmer beach called Paradisbukta.

The islands also have their fans, where swimming places are equipped with special retro-style cabins. Excellent conditions are offered, for example, by Songvann, whose coast is distinguished by a gentle slope into the sea and developed infrastructure, but it is better to go in search of beaches with soft white sand on Langoyene. There is a ferry service between the islands and Oslo, however, to get to it, you will first have to find the Vippetangen terminal on the Aker Brygge embankment. One of the most popular ferry routes is number 3, plying between the capital and the islands of Hoveda, Linda and Nakholmen.

Good to know: all the beaches in Oslo are absolutely free.

Holidays and events

The second addiction of every Norwegian (remember that the descendants of the Vikings had, have and will always have the sea in the first place) is music. Conventionally, all residents of the Norwegian capital can be divided into those who sing and those who listen. However, both the first and the second are related by a common love for all kinds of concerts, so the musical life in Oslo is more than rich. "Oya", "Norwegian Forest", "Inferno" - these and several other less well-known festivals of musical and performing arts are held annually at the venues in the capital.

At the end of May, every free citizen suddenly remembers that the blood of the fearless Eric the Red flows in his veins and hurries to the walls of the Akershus fortress, where the annual festival of medieval culture starts.

At the same time, the descendants of the Vikings themselves are not alien to some internal contradictions. As an illustrative example, one can cite the fact that in Oslo, in addition to the administrative division, there is also a social one. Despite the fact that it is considered bad form to “measure” income in the kingdom, Oslo itself has been divided into the elite - Western and worker-emigrant - Eastern parts for almost a hundred years. And if the first one is a nice neighborhood filled with cozy cottages owned by wealthy Norwegians, then the second one is built up with boring typical high-rise buildings in which families of poor immigrants huddle.

In all other respects, the Oslovians can be called typical Scandinavians: practical, strictly metering emotions, loving sports and outings in nature, slightly obsessed with natural materials, handing over bottles to recycling points so as not to harm the environment - in general, true patriots of their country with a special , unlike any other, mentality.

Public transport

You can move around Oslo by bus, tram or metro, the main thing is to purchase a single travel card in advance. You can find it at ticket machines, press kiosks, and stores like 7/11. A ticket calculated for 1 hour of driving around the capital costs 32 crowns. It is also allowed to buy it from a public transport driver, but at a price of NOK 50. A daily pass costs 90 kroons, a weekly pass costs 240 kroons. There is a 50% discount on tickets for children and pensioners. By the way, despite not the most attractive fares for public transport, it’s more expensive to ride around Oslo “hare”: fines for free riders here are simply extortionate - from 750 to 900 NOK.

Great option for small excursion Oslo's places of worship - City Sightseeing Oslo buses. They roam the city streets only during the high season - from April to September, from 9:30 to 17:00 and stop at the most memorable places. The cost of such a mini-trip is 300 kroons. For 215 crowns, you can admire the views of the city from the City Cruise ships sailing from the embankment (landmark - the opera house) and cruising along the Oslo Fjord from 9:45 to 15:45.

Taxis in the Norwegian capital are more of a luxury than a means of transportation. The classic fare of local taxi companies is 43 kroons for calling a car and then 13.5 kroons for each kilometer of the way according to the meter. Moreover, in the evening and at night, as well as on holidays, the rate can almost double.

You can succumb to the country's ecomania and rent a bike. The main companies that own local rental points are Oslo Bysykkel and Viking Biking. Rental rates are far from affordable. To take a bike to Oslo Bysykkel, you will have to buy a tourist card at the Information Office located at the Town Hall. The cost of a 24-hour card is 100 CZK, plus a refundable deposit of 3400 CZK. And even with such serious prices, the traveler will be allowed to ride only within Oslo. Viking Biking has its own rules: customers are not limited in choosing routes, and they charge 200 kroons for renting a bike for 24 hours. In addition, a fee of 125 kroons is charged for each day the vehicle is used in excess of the indicated time frame.

Car rent

There are practically no traffic jams in Oslo, so getting around the Norwegian capital by car is pleasant and interesting. You can rent a car right at Oslo Airport, where the largest rental offices are located - Europcar, Hertz, Avis. The average cost of a rental day is 900 kroons for an economy class car. Gasoline prices at local gas stations are usually kept within 16 kroons per liter, diesel fuel is slightly cheaper - 14.5 kroons. You will also have to pay for parking from 30 to 40 crowns per hour. Parking spaces are marked in yellow, gray and brown, which symbolizes the time for which the car is left - 1, 2, 3 hours. If you plan to spend the night, it is more reasonable to use underground parking for 180-360 kroons per day. Owners of studded tires who wish to enter Oslo will have to pay the traditional fee of 35 kroons (450 kroons per month), or pay a fine of 750 kroons. You can compare prices and book a car using the rentalcars.com service.

Connection

To minimize the cost of cellular communications in Oslo, it is better to get a SIM card from one of the local operators - NetCom, Telenor, Lebara Mobile. For example, the same Lebara Mobile has a MyCall tariff plan (the price of the starter package is 49 kroons), according to which calls within Norway will cost 0.49 kroons, and a minute of conversation with a Russian mobile operator is about 1.99 kroons, plus the connection fee - 0.99 CZK At the same time, if you call from MyCall to MyCall, the fee is charged only for the connection. In cases where mobile Internet is needed, then you can connect a package for 1, 3, 6, 10 GB of traffic for 79, 149, 219, 299 kroons, respectively. You can buy local SIM cards in the salons of cellular companies, stores like 7/11, magazine kiosks and gas stations.

How to save money in Oslo

Everything is expensive in Oslo - from housing to fines and public transport, so the first problem that a budget traveler who finds himself in the Norwegian capital faces is the question of saving money. Experienced backpackers are advised to bring dry rations with them in order to at least slightly reduce the cost of food, which, as a rule, “eat up” the bulk of the cash reserve. The same principle applies in the case of cigarettes and alcohol: it is extremely unprofitable to buy them on the spot: it is much more reasonable to stock up on everything you need even before departure. In addition, Norway boasts extremely high value-added taxes, so it makes sense to look for souvenirs in shops that support the Tax free system in Oslo.

You can earn a discount in the grocery store for a dozen or two crowns by handing over bottles. This is more of a form of extreme savings, but you can take comfort in the fact that in Norway this type of activity is not associated with a marginal lifestyle. Moreover, even very wealthy townspeople do not hesitate to hand over glass containers here.

If your minimum travel plan includes visiting museums and exhibitions, it makes sense to buy an Oslo Pass tour card, which is valid for 24, 48 and 72 hours and gives you the right to:

• free rides in city public transport;
• free admission to 30 museums in Oslo, including the National Gallery, the Ibsen Museum, the Munch Museum, and the Viking Ship Museum;
• access to free city tours, as well as access to the Frognerbadet and Toyenbadet swimming pools.

The 24-hour Oslo Pass is NOK 385, the 48-hour Oslo Pass is NOK 595, and the 72-hour Oslo Pass is NOK 745. There are significant discounts for children and pensioners (children - 210, 295, 370 kroons, tourists over the age of 67 - 315, 475 and 595 kroons).

In addition to cultural pleasures, the Oslo Pass can also provide practical benefits, such as saving money at a restaurant or a store. You can buy a tour card at information points right at the airport, at the Central Railway Station, the Aker Brygge embankment, in museums and hotels (not everywhere) or you can order it on the official website.

Where to stay

One of the most prestigious hotels in Oslo is the Grand Hotel. The institution has been operating since 1874 and can offer its customers a convenient location (500 m to the royal palace, a couple of steps to the metro), a spa center and an extravagant rooftop bar. The price per room corresponds to the level of the institution - from 2281 crowns for a standard double room with one bed. A similar double room with breakfast included in another "five" Oslo - Lysebu Hotel will cost around 2558 kroons. The feature of the institution is its own wine cellar and picturesque natural views, because the hotel is located on the Tryvannshuiden hill.

Of the simpler options located in the center of Oslo, one can name Smarthotel Oslo, Anker Hotel, First Hotel Millenium, Citybox Oslo, a modest room in which will cost 1017 crowns. If you have an extra 800 crowns in your wallet, try renting a studio apartment equipped with a kitchenette and a private bathroom. Those who want to cut housing costs as much as possible are waiting for city hostels, where they ask from 660 to 720 kroons for a double room with a bathroom. But keep in mind that usually the matter is not limited to this amount, since in such places it is customary to additionally “sell” linen and towels to guests for 45-70 crowns per person.

Food in Oslo

Simple, satisfying, but without frills and slightly provincial - this is how Norwegian cuisine can be described. With food, the harsh Scandinavians are not particularly wiser, preferring simple and high-calorie food to all kinds of delicacies. To understand the culinary direction in which Norwegian chefs work, it is enough to order lutefisk (a dish of pre-soaked in a soda solution, washed in water and dried cod), fried venison, sweet goat cheese geytust, forikol (literally - sheep in cabbage), potato dumplings and herring.

Breakfasts in most hotels and private homes in Oslo are increasingly approaching the English version - bacon, scrambled eggs, cheeses, jams and the same coffee that Norwegians absorb almost in buckets. For a full meal, the inhabitants of the capital prefer not to be distracted, being satisfied with a traditional sandwich (smorrebred).

Prices in restaurants specializing in national cuisine in Oslo are beyond reasonable (the average check for a modest lunch in an average cafe is 160 kroons), and tips are usually included in the bill. The East Asian street food saves the situation a little. You can eat a kebab or a hamburger in the city for 45-100 kroons. The cheapest way to feed yourself in Oslo is to cook on your own or have small picnics in the adjacent parks. Well, you can stock up on relatively inexpensive products in supermarkets like Rimi and KIWI.

Might come in handy: Most grocery stores in Oslo are closed on Sundays. And in those establishments where this rule does not apply, the prices of goods, as a rule, soar almost twice.

shopping

There are two shopping options in Oslo:

• Long and hard to save money in a bank account and lower it in one day in local boutiques.
• Wait for seasonal sales and buy everything the same as in the first case, but with a discount of 50 to 70%.

The main shopping thoroughfare of the Norwegian capital is Karl Johan Street. It is in her stores that the lion's share of souvenirs is purchased, taken away by tourists from Norway. It is full of both tiny shops and large ones. shopping centers like Byporten, OsloCity, Steen&Strom, EqerKarlJohan. Young people usually prefer Bogstaveien and Hegdehogsveien streets, where inexpensive clothing stores like H&M, ZARA, MEXX are grouped, attracting good quality products and affordable prices. For designer things, you should drop by the Grunerlökka quarter. They sell here mainly the creations of local couturiers, whose distinguishing feature is an extremely non-standard approach to tailoring. Shopaholics with a solid income usually flock to the Frogner area, as the prices for local antiques and designer furniture go through the roof. In Greenland, most of the shops are owned by immigrants, so it is customary to come here for exotic purchases. Fans of things "with history" will definitely fish out something interesting for themselves at the capital's flea markets (Vestkantorget, Slurpen).

What to bring from Oslo

Well, of course, trolls, the craze for which is slowly turning into mass hysteria, if such a term is generally appropriate for Scandinavians who are pragmatic and stingy with emotions. By the way, enterprising sellers of these little freaks assure that buying them better in pairs- and the owner of the shop has an extra fifty crowns, and the trolls are not bored. A wool sweater with a classic deer pattern is also a good option, but be aware that the right jumper costs 1800-2700 kr. Silver jewelry made in a deliberately handicraft style and household items painted using the rosemaling decorative and artistic technique look very non-trivial. Cheaper options for souvenirs in Oslo include products with Viking symbols, natural wool mittens and socks, and national clogs. Brunost cheese, Lacris salt candies and the legendary Aquavit are suitable as original edible gifts.

In addition, Oslo has amazing sportswear and fishing equipment stores where you can stock up on excellent training equipment and real Norwegian spinning rods. Well, an option for beautiful ladies is the perfume of the Norwegian brands Geir Ness and Moods of Norway.

Do not forget

• take a look at the Lofostua restaurant, where for 45 years they have been preparing the best lutefisk in all of Oslo;
• buy horned viking helmet. Well, or at least try it on if you are afraid to become the hero of bearded jokes;
• on a fine day, climb onto the sloping roof of the city opera building to sunbathe along with dozens of other Oslo residents;
• buy a ticket to the local Museum of History, which houses the most beautiful (from the point of view of archaeologists) of Egyptian mummies - the priestess of the goddess Min.

How to get there

• 9000 BC e. The first evidence of human presence in Norway.
• 4000 BC e. In the south of Norway there are agricultural settlements.
• End VIII- middle of the X century. Age of the Vikings.
• 872-930 King Harald the Fair-Haired begins the unification of Norway.
• 961 Hakon the Good, son of Harald Fairhair and the first Norwegian king to convert to Christianity, dies in battle.
• 1015-1028 Olaf II unites Norway and introduces Christianity in the country.
• 1030 Olaf dies at the Battle of Stiklestad. Subsequently, he becomes the patron saint of Norway under the name Olaf the Saint.
• 1070 Construction begins on the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim.
• XIII V. A short golden age of stability and prosperity.
• 1349-1351 The Black Death reduces the country's population by two-thirds.
• 1397-1536 Norway is part of the Kalmar Union with Sweden and Denmark.
• 1536-1814 Norway maintains union with Denmark.
• 1814-1905 After the Napoleonic Wars, Norway is united with Sweden.
• 1905 Norway gains full independence after a peaceful withdrawal from the union with Sweden.
• 1914 During World War I, Norway remained neutral.
• 1918 Norwegian women get the right to vote.
• 1940-1945 Germany occupies Norway during World War II.
• 1949 Norway is a member of NATO.
• 1968-1969 Discovery of oil fields in the North Sea. Oil production begins in 1971.
• 1972 Norway votes against joining the European Union.
• 1981 Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes the first woman to head a government formed by the Workers' Party.
• 1994 Norway votes against joining the European Union for the second time. Olympic Games in Lillehammer.
• 2008 Opening of the first Norwegian Opera House in Oslo.
• 2010 The Norwegian Nobel Committee is dissatisfied with China in connection with the award of the Peace Prize to Chinese political prisoner Liu Xiaobo.

Sports and recreation

In summer

Hiking and visiting glaciers. Most of all, Norwegians like to spend their leisure time “on their feet” (ga pa tur), that is, putting on a pair of shoes and stocking up on provisions, go for a whole day to wander among delightful places, whether it be mountains, fjords, forests or fields. There are countless trails here, a map of which can be obtained from local travel agencies. Some of the many Norwegian national parks (33 on land and 7 on the islands of Svalbard), such as Jotunheimen or Hardangervidda, are particularly good in this regard: most of the hiking trails are well equipped and marked with piles of stones or signs. Remember that the time for hiking is limited from May to October, and in the Far North it is even shorter. The weather here is changeable even in the height of summer, so do your research before you go. The Norwegian Travelers Association can provide you with more information, and they also run the hikes themselves (www.turistforeningen.no). A short summer is also suitable for traveling on glaciers.

Nygardsbre, the tongue of the Jostedalsbre glacier, offers the adventurous the opportunity to explore the glacier with an experienced guide on 2-5 hour excursions from mid-June to mid-September (www.jostedal.com). In addition, you can visit the Okstindan and Svartisen glaciers located above the Arctic Circle, for which you need to make inquiries at Rana Spesialsport (www.spesialsport.no).

Bike. Norwegian roads are relatively calm, so they are great for cycling in spring, summer and autumn. City streets began to be equipped with a bicycle path, and driving along country roads is rarely a concern. Bicycles can be easily rented, even in the countryside, where hotels often rent them out to their guests on an hourly or daily basis. In mountainous terrain, such a ride sometimes requires a lot of strength, and besides, it must be borne in mind that the distance is large, and along the way, especially in the Far North, one can rarely count on help. One of the most favorite routes runs along the "Miners' Road", going from the railway station Houtastöl or Finse (Finse) to Flåm or Boss, with a length of up to 108 km. There is also a cycling route along North Sea, which is part of the longest cycling route in the world, passing through seven countries. For more information and maps contact Bike Norway (www.bike-norway.com).

Fishing. In a country where there is so much water, one should not be surprised at the craze for fishing. You can go fishing in the sea or on the river. The Lofoten Islands are the most convenient for such activities, and the original fishing culture here is the best preserved, as evidenced by the old rorbu fishing huts, where you can rent.

Fishing trips are organized in many places in Norway, which can be checked with local travel agencies or you can purchase a fishing license sold at www.inatur.no.

This activity is popular in many places. The Lofoten Islands with their impregnable mountains are considered the rock climbing center, and the mountaineering school is located in Henningsvær (www. nordnorskklatreskole.no). In addition, one can note Jotunheimen with peaks up to 2000 m, the ridge of the Vesteralen archipelago (Vesteralen) and the ridge of the Lyngen Alps. You can also climb on the ice (frozen waterfalls) in Ryukan. The Norwegian Travelers Association (Den Norske Turistforening, DNT) provides training for rock climbers (www.turistforeningen.no).

Rafting, sailing and canoeing. You can raft along numerous rivers and by sea among the fjords. Rafting on the Vestfjord between the Lofoten Islands and the mainland is possible only with favorable wind and current. Sailing is mostly spread in the south of the country and around the Oslo Fjord. Rowing can be done wherever there is water, but the western fjords are especially picturesque, while in the Far North the places are calmer, there are fewer pleasure boats and ferries. For more information, contact the Norwegian Canoe Association (www.padling.no).

Wildlife and bird watching. In many places in Norway it is possible to see animals such as reindeer and elk, and in the Dovrefjell National Park and the more exotic musk ox (www.moskussafari.no) and in the county of Finnmark king crab. A huge number of birds (473 species) nest inland and on the coast. To combine bird watching with a crab safari, contact the travel agency Arctic Tourist (www.arctictourist.no) in Finnmark county.

Midnight sun. The midnight sun can be seen in many parts of Northern Norway from May to August depending on the latitude of the location. It is best to admire them from a hill or from the sea.

in winter

Running and skiing. Cross-country skiing is Norway's favorite winter sport, with over 7,000 km of ski slopes built by the Norwegian Travelers Association alone. Such trails are found even within Oslo, and most counties lay their own trails, sometimes lit up in the evenings, so that people can ski after work. The Jotunheimen, Rondane and Dovrefjell National Parks offer some of the best cross-country skiing in the country. In addition, skiing is possible in many places, from Geilo, Hemsedal and Trysil counties in the center of the country to Narvik in the north. The best time for skiing is February - April, but it is quite possible to ski from November to mid-May. Check the snow conditions at www.skiinfo.no.

Dog harnesses. In the north of the country, dog sledding trips are arranged, lasting from an hour to two to five days. You can either drive the team yourself, or sit tightly wrapped up, and leave all the work to the driver with dogs. For more information, please visit the information website www.visitnorway.com or the travel agency Nordland Adventures (www.nordlandturselskap.no).

Skates. With the advent of winter, outdoor skating rinks appear, including the one beloved by everyone in the center of Oslo, near the National Theatre. There are also natural skating rinks on frozen lakes, rivers and fjords, but check with the locals before heading there. On artificial ice rinks skates are usually available for rent, and sometimes lessons can also be taken.

Ice fishing (pimpling). For this kind of activity, a hole is drilled in the ice, through which the fish are then pulled out, getting a good catch even in winter. Bring waterproof gloves and a thermos of hot chocolate. Tour operator Competent Travels (www.competenttravels.no) from Tromsø offers three-day ice fishing safaris.

Northern Lights (Aurora borealis). Given a natural phenomenon the best time to watch is in October, February and March between 6 pm and 1 am. The brightest flashes are visible beyond the Arctic Circle, where there is less light pollution, but you can admire the northern lights further south. Going to watch such a spectacle, dress warmly.

shopping

Prices for consumer goods can be high, but about 3,000 shops across Norway are having a sale on tax-free items. Therefore, look for such stores with a sign about tax-free sale. VAT in Norway on many goods is 25%, and 12-19% can be claimed back by tourists from countries outside the European Union / European Economic Area.

Refunds can be made through Worldwide Money Back Network points at border checkpoints, airports, border ferries and cruise ships.

The quality of most goods is usually excellent, and the traditions of local crafts date back hundreds of years. Look for the salg sign in the windows, meaning a sale or an offer to sell at a better price.

Where to buy

The largest cities of the country Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger and Trondheim are equipped with magnificent shopping centers, but in small towns there are also interesting shops, especially those selling local handicrafts.

From major department stores like Glasmagasinet and House of Oslo to quirky fashion boutiques in up-and-coming Grunerlokka and the ultra-modern Majorstuen district, Oslo has a lot to offer. Aker Brygge is another block with a shopping center where an old converted shipyard houses shops, restaurants and bars.

In Bergen, the area around Bryggen, Strandkaien pier, Strandgaten and Torget square is full of interesting shops with local handicrafts, furs and knitwear. There is also the famous Fish Market, where you can eat, buy fresh fish and seafood.

Stavanger is famous for its glass products, so here you can visit glass blowers' workshops and buy their products in specialized shops. In Midtbyen, the center of Trondheim, near the main square, the Trondheim Torg shopping arcade has recently opened with 75 shops, not counting cafes and restaurants, and old-fashioned shops can be found on Jomfrugaten street, where trade is predominantly done by women.

There are plenty of other places to shop in Norway as well. For example, in Tromso, many shops and shops are located in old wooden buildings; and in the Far North, Sami handicrafts (duodji) made of silver and reindeer skins or bones are widely represented.

What to buy

Here is only a small list of those things that are either found only in Norway, or are of excellent quality.

Products of local crafts. Traditional crafts in Norway have existed for hundreds of years, and the origins of modern craftsmen using local materials date back to ancient crafts. Knitwear - sweaters, scarves, gloves, mittens and hats - are known all over the world for their quality. Handicrafts made of wood, glass, silver and jewelry, deer skins and woven products are in great demand among visitors. In the Far North, as already mentioned, Sami handicrafts are sold.

Local food and drinks. Norway is also famous for its food, from smoked salmon and dried fish to vodka like akvavitt (akvavitt), and Mack beer is brewed in the world's northernmost brewery in Tromsø. To resurrect memories of Norway, you can buy smoked venison or elk sausage and cloudberry jam to take home.

Cloth. Men's and women's clothing is often distinguished by a wonderful style, but only the price can scare away. Knitwear is usually heavy, but lighter items can be found. As a rule, there are more private shops here than chain stores, although in large cities products of well-known world manufacturers are widely represented. Norwegian fashion atelier Moods of Norway has made itself known in Japan and Beverly Hills (www.moodsofnorway.com) with its colorful designs.

Sport equipment. Norwegians are perhaps the most athletic people in the world, which is reflected in the local shops. Excellent all-weather and winter clothing is sold everywhere, including, along with skis and skates, complete ski equipment.

Entertainment

In a country as vast as Norway, with a population of five million, the quality and quantity of entertainment varies from one area to another, both in the city and in the countryside. Norway is famous for its musical and theatrical traditions, festivals are held here, especially in summer.

Tickets for cultural events can be pre-booked using the Norwegian branch of the American company Ticketmaster (tel: 81-53-31-33; www.billettservice.no). Sometimes travel agencies can help with this.

Music, opera and dance art

Classical music is heard everywhere in Norway, glorifying the name of the national composer Edvard Grieg. The Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra has a well-deserved reputation. He performs at his native city Concert Hall (Konserthus) from late August to early June (for tickets and repertoire, check www.oslofilharmonien.no). The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra performs at the Grieg Hallen (www.harmonien.no); there is also the Norwegian Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, created in 2009 and based in the city of Tromsø (www.noso.no).

Jazz is very loved in Norway, and if the season classical music lasts from autumn to spring, then jazz festivals and performances fall in the summer. There are over 30 jazz venues in the country, including some outside the big roads. For more information, please visit www.jazz-clubs-worldwide.com. Recently, there has been a fascination with such a direction of heavy rock as black metal, and Norwegian performers of this music are very famous abroad.

Norwegian folk music has not lost its appeal, and after Alexander Rybak won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009, the halling folk dance and violin playing that sounded in the winning song gained even more popularity. The dance itself comes from the Hallingdal valley in Buskerud county.

In Oslo, right next to the harbour, a new Opera House has appeared, which opened its doors in 2008. The troupes of the national opera and ballet are located here (for performances, see www.operaen.no). This is the first opera house in the country with excellent acoustics, where foreign opera and ballet companies often perform, and in August a chamber music festival is held.

Theater and cinema

Norway can be proud of its theatrical tradition dating back to late 19th century dramas by Henrik Ibsen and Bjornstjerne Bjornson. National Theater in Oslo (www.nationaltheatret.no), Den Nationale Scene in Bergen (www.dns.no), Rogaland Teater in Stavanger (www.rogaland-teater.no) and Trendelag Teater in Trondheim ( www.trondelag-teater.no) are distinguished by an extensive repertoire, but where, of course, most of the performances are in Norwegian. In cinemas, films are almost always shown in their original language with Norwegian subtitles.

Night life

In cities such as Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger and Trondheim, with their bars and clubs often open after midnight all year round, there is a turbulent night life. During the summer, neighborhoods like Aker Brygge in Oslo are full of people dining under open sky. Bars usually close around 1:00 am and even later on weekends. Keep in mind that expensive liquor can make you spend a lot of money at night, but fortunately, some establishments have discounted drinking time after work or in the early evening.

In rural areas, nightlife is not so diverse, but even there, as a rule, there is at least one bar where you should look in order to communicate with the locals. Many county towns near the fjords come alive in the summer, and hotels often have bars open not only for guests, but for everyone. And the ski resorts have something to have fun in the winter at night. On the website of the Oslo Tourism Authority www.visitoslo.com you can find a practical guide "What"s on in Oslo".

Norway for kids

In Norway, children are especially carefully taken care of. In public transport, not only the entrance for baby carriages is provided, but also special seats in buses.

Most restaurants and cafes have high chairs and a children's menu. Often in hotels, campsites and other places of accommodation there are playgrounds, and sometimes even “paddling pools”. Cities and county centers are equipped with outdoor playgrounds, which are also available in many public places. When visiting attractions, in ski centers and on public transport for children, significant discounts are provided. In addition, most attractions sell family tickets.

Cities are not always the best place for kids, but Oslo does a lot to keep them entertained and occupied; for example, many museums provide live (interactive) communication with visitors (www.visitoslo.com). Just 20 km from Oslo is the TusenFryd amusement park (late April - early October, opening hours vary; admission fee) with numerous attractions, including the first 5D attraction in Europe and a water park. 15 km north of Lillehammer, the Hunderfossen family park (www.hunderfossen.no; opening hours varies; entry fee) has 50 attractions, including a troll park, a cable car ride, rafing and a full-size fairytale palace.

In winter it turns into a winter park. In Telemark, located 80 km west of Oslo, there is the largest water park in Scandinavia, Vo Sommarland (www.sommarland.no; June - August; admission fee) with 20 different ponds and water slides. In addition, clowns perform here, there is a Tarzan trail, rowing, and the only Master Blaster water roller coaster in Europe. The zoo in Kristiansand, just outside the city, is open year-round and has five parks, including a nursery and a northern wilderness experience, with animals from all over the world. Pirate ships and playgrounds have also been built here (www.dyreparken.no).

The Rockheim National Interactive Experimental Center in Trondheim (www.rockheim.until; Tue-Sun 11am-6pm; admission fee), opened in 2010, is dedicated to Norwegian rock and pop music. You can send your restless teenagers here after dinner.

The country has created all the conditions for children to play sports, so almost everywhere you can rent sports equipment like skis and skates, even for toddlers just starting to walk. Norwegian children start skiing and skating from a very early age and accompany their parents on hikes. There are always good coaches for children of any age.

Festivals and holidays

• January. Northern Lights Festival (Tromso).
• February. Opera Festival (Kristiansund).
• March. Ski festival in Holmenkollen (Oslo). Winter Festival (Narvik) includes sports competitions, concerts and a carnival. Birkebeiner ski race (lit.: birch-footed, bast-footed) (Rena - Lillehammer), a 53-kilometer ski marathon, where up to 12 thousand skiers participate.
• April. Amateur Jazz Festival (Voss), three days of jazz and folk music.
• May. International Festival Music (Bergen), one of the largest musical events in Scandinavia.
• June. North Cape Procession (Honningsvåg), a 68-kilometer march from Honningsvåg to the North Cape. Emigrant Festival (Stavanger and Kvinesdal) in memory of the Norwegians who moved to North America. Midsummer (everywhere), the summer solstice is celebrated. White Nights Marathon (Tromsø), starting in the north of Norway with the onset of white nights.
• July. International Jazz Festival (Kongsberg), open-air concerts and performances by foreign jazzmen. Games at the stadium "Bishlet" ("Bislett") in Oslo, international competitions in athletics. International Jazz Festival (Molde), Norway's oldest jazz festival lasting over six days. Day 29 July (olsok) (Trondheim), commemoration day of King Olaf the Saint; and Oi food feast! (Trondheim). Culinary festival Gladmat (Stavanger), "holiday of gluttony".
• August. International Folk Music Festival in Telemark, a celebration of folk music and folk dance. Feast of Peer Gynt in the town of Vinstra (Vinstra), celebrations in honor of the hero of the drama of the same name by Ibsen. Jazz Festival (Oslo), has been held since 1986. The Chamber Music Festival (Oslo), chamber music is played in Akershus Castle and Fortress.
• September. Marathon in Oslo.
• December. Christmas markets (Oslo and elsewhere). With the advent of Advent (in early December), unusual Christmas gifts, handicrafts and sweets are sold at fairs in many parts of the country on weekends. Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony (Oslo), held at City Hall every year on December 10

Public holidays

• 1st of January. New Year
• March, April. Good Thursday
• March, April. Good Friday
• March, April. Bright Monday
• 1st of May. Labor Day
• May 17th. Constitution day
• May June. Ascension
• End of May/beginning of June. Spirits Monday
• December 25th. Christmas
• December 26th. Boxing Day

Norwegian cuisine

Norwegian cuisine, which favors fresh, local products, has recently taken on a new face, and the local fish and seafood, from cod to arctic crabs and smoked salmon, is famous all over the world. There is something to try for desperate lovers of meat food: for example, in the menu the best restaurants more and more dishes from venison and elk appear. A new generation of chefs is rediscovering local dishes, sometimes sticking strictly to traditional cuisine, sometimes bringing in the flair of international cuisine.

Village food in Norway was usually prepared from what the local land gave at one time or another of the year. Many of the dishes that are still loved today date back to the old way of peasant or fishing life, so that on the coast, fish predominates in food, and game in the depths of the country.

The relief of the country, including the coast, farmlands, forests and mountains, testifies to the different food preferences of the Norwegians. Pickling, curing, smoking, salting, and pickling predated the advent of freezing, preservation, and modern food processing, and were used to store food through the long winter. Some meat and fish dishes have a strong flavor that takes some getting used to, but at its core, Norwegian cuisine is fresh, healthy and tasty, and the portions are quite generous.

But all of the above does not mean that you will find only Norwegian food here. Cuisine in Norway is becoming more and more international. Pizza, pasta and hamburgers are becoming just as commonplace as are lefse, Norwegian pancakes usually made from potatoes, and sursild, pickled herring with onions.

The cuisine of such countries as Italy, China, Thailand and India is widely represented, at least in large cities. In addition, in recent years, food festivals have begun to take place in the summer, where both Norwegian and international cuisine are presented. The food culture in Norway varies by region, and the table of an Oslo resident can differ significantly from what is eaten, for example, in Bergen or Tromsø, but local products are preferred wherever possible. As a rule, in rural areas, excellent restaurants can be found in hotels where they feed not only guests.

food festivals

Norwegians treat food very responsibly, so over the past decade food festivals have appeared in the country, a kind of celebration of gluttony. Norsk Matglede in Geilo, Gladmat in Stavanger, Norwegian Gluttony Fest in Ålesund and Oi! Trendersk Matfesival in Trondheim are just some of the festivities in a string of celebrations in honor of the local food. Their program is varied: from food tasting to cooking lessons, classes with chefs and special treats from local restaurateurs. Here, for the most part, strictly adhere to the traditions of Norwegian cuisine, standing at the origins of modern national cuisine, but the Gladmat culinary festival, held every summer on the banks of the picturesque harbor of Stavanger, tries to instill in it an international spirit. In Geilo, on the contrary, preference is given to small producers and natural products. Holidays often take place at the height of summer, when the stalls are taken outside, so you can enjoy your meal outdoors, admiring the beauties of Norwegian nature.

Where there is

In Norway, they try to eat relatively early. Although most Norwegians work outside the home, they eat dinner surprisingly early, apparently from the habit of the old days. It is unusual to see restaurants serving dinner from 5 pm, and in small towns it can be difficult to eat after 9 or 10 pm, when almost all the bars are closed.

What is

Most hotels serve an international breakfast, while for Norwegians, breakfast can be hearty and consist of one cup of coffee, always black. A working Norwegian can't do without a "dry ration" (matpakke) taken with him, even now, when eating out or buying a sandwich is in everyday life.

As you might expect, Norwegians eat more fish than many other countries, and fish has been a staple of their diet for centuries. But mollusks entered their diet later.

More than 200 species of fish and shellfish are found in Norwegian waters, some are caught on sea ​​spaces, others are grown. Norway is one of the world's largest suppliers of seafood, selling about 3 million tons of its catch abroad. Most often on the menu and on the market you can see cod, salmon, trout, herring, arctic char, pollock, anglerfish, mackerel and red salmon. But even such a variety is not enough, so we are also offered sea flounder, sea trotter, silver pollack, mole (sea pike), sea burbot, whiting, haddock, catfish, halibut and river flounder - and these are just the most common species.

As soon as fish is not cooked, but Norwegian cuisine is rather stingy with spices and seasonings: salt, pepper and a few herbs like dill and mustard seed are most often used. Boiling, stewing, poaching, smoking and salting are the favorite types of cooking fish, often served with one boiled new potato and a piece of butter. Perhaps the most famous Norwegian dish is gravlaks (gravlaks, literally "buried salmon"), salmon fillet salted with sugar.

Fish stew, usually based on milk, especially loved on the coast of the country, is made from a variety of fish and shellfish with the addition of vegetables and potatoes. Herring, salted with all sorts of additives, from mustard and onions to tomatoes and herbs, is another truly adored dish here. The taste of fermented trout (rakfisk), along with dried fish (lutefisk) soaked in an alkaline solution, moth or cod, takes some getting used to. They are usually eaten at Christmas, although the smell inherent in them may seem fetid to many. Dried fish (torrfi.sk) is incredibly popular here as a light snack. It is eaten both dried and boiled.

On the coast, especially the north, there may be such a dish as whale meat. Norwegians do not consider it shameful to eat it, and whaling in the north has been going on for more than one century. Whale meat roasts, whale burgers, and the like are available in many restaurants, though less frequently now that whale quotas have been cut.

Shellfish, which have only become a staple food since the second half of the 20th century, have gained immense popularity here, so that Norwegians now consume seafood in large quantities, including arctic shrimp, lobster, oysters, mussels, scallops and crabs. Especially good is the huge king crab caught near the North Cape. Crab feasts (krabbelag) are held in the summer, when crabs are eaten with plain bread, butter, and possibly a circle of lemon.

However, in Norway they are not limited to one fish and seafood. There are many meat dishes, and dairy products have always been adored. As for gluttons, there is something to offer desperate tasters. In the north, venison dishes, and also elk, including “buried elk” (gravet elg), elk salted with sugar, as is the case with the already mentioned salmon. In addition, pork, beef, chicken, lamb and mutton are widely used. Favorite meatballs (kjottekaker), often with sour lingonberry sauce or spices. Braised lamb with cabbage (farikal, “mutton with cabbage”), a warming dish in winter, is served with potatoes.

It is not uncommon for stalls or counters to sell all sorts of sausages as a light snack, including venison and elk salami, or simple hot sausages (varme pelser). Many restaurants offer dishes from seasonal gifts of nature: for sweets, gravies or marinades in summer and early autumn, fresh berries are used, a little later they are replaced by a variety of mushroom dishes, in autumn it's time for magnificent game, and in winter - hearty stews, soups and casseroles .

Vegetables on the local table, unfortunately, are not so generous, so vegetarians will have to dodge in search of something suitable, but this situation is beginning to change, at least in big cities.

Bread goes with many dishes, and it is represented by various cereals. Sandwiches here are usually open: all kinds of cuts are piled on a slice of bread.

Desserts consist mainly of fresh berries with sour cream or cream, and waffles served with melted cream and jam from all kinds of berries, most often strawberries, cloudberries, raspberries and blueberries, can be considered a Norwegian innovation.

What drink

Norwegians simply adore coffee, ranking first in the world in terms of the consumption of this drink (about 160 liters per person per year). Neither a short break, nor a friendly or family meeting can do without coffee, and any pastime is not conceivable without a large cup of coffee.

Coffee with spirits (karsk), a drink originating in Trønnelag, even appeared here. Usually vodka or moonshine is added to coffee.

In recent years, tea has become widespread, so that now there is a rich selection of tea in shops, hotels and restaurants. Non-alcoholic drinks and fruit juices of local and foreign producers are widely represented. In addition, in rural areas, many still prefer to drink a large mug of milk with dinner.

Norway is well known for its tough attitude to alcohol, but the Norwegians themselves love to drink. The country has introduced a state monopoly on the production and sale of wine (Vinmonopolet), and although the prices for alcohol in stores can be quite high, they are quite acceptable compared to prices in bars and restaurants.

Beer has been drunk in Norway for a long time, there are many breweries here, for example Ringnes in Oslo, Nasha in Bergen, NE in Kristiansand and the northernmost Mack brewery in the world in Tromsø. In addition, strong alcoholic drinks like Akavitt and vodka are produced in Norway. Vikingfjord is a brand of Norwegian vodka. Well-known brands of Norwegian aquavit are Gammel Opland, Lime and Gilde, and aquavit is drunk mostly at Christmas. During the rest of the year, foreign varieties of alcohol are preferred. Wine is gaining popularity, which, however, is not cheap. Indeed, if you order wine for dinner, the bill will more than double.

Quite widely, especially in rural areas, moonshine (hjemmebrent), which is usually driven from potatoes, is widespread.

Accommodation

The standard of hotels in Norway is generally high. Prices can also be quite high as many hotels cater to business travelers. In summer or on weekends, there are significant discounts, when hotels offer special conditions to attract guests. In recent years, international hotel chains have begun to buy up smaller, family-run hotel businesses. Such moves do not appear to have led to a reduction in service levels, but to some extent contributed to increased competition and knock down prices. Please note that the main tourist season in Norway is very short, so not all rental conditions are valid all year round, although the situation is changing.

In addition to hotels, there are other accommodation options, in particular in the countryside there are boarding houses and rooms with accommodation and breakfast, accommodation in a farmstead, youth hostel, camping and, most of all, a separate house, the so-called hut, hytte (hytte ). Hotel associations such as the Historic Hotels and Restaurants of Norway (De Historiske; www.dehistoriske.com) have a number of idiosyncratic hotels throughout the country. On the coast, for example in the Lofoten Islands, you can stay in an old rorbu fishing hut or even in a lighthouse building. Norway's most extensive hotel pass, the Fjord Pass, provides discounts at 170 locations across the country (www.fiordtours.com). The Norwegian Tourism Authority will tell you where to stay, and you can book a hotel room online at www.visitnorway.com.

Camping

There are about a thousand campsites in Norway, ranging from one to five stars. Most campsites are open only in June-August, and only a few operate longer, including year-round for caravans. In addition, many places are equipped with cabins that can be rented for a week in the summer. The cost of a place is 80-150 CZK per day, with an additional charge for electricity. The Norwegian and Scandinavian Camping Card can be purchased at all associated locations, which entitles their holders to receive discounts, fast check-in and many other benefits.

The same benefits apply to the international camping card. Useful information can be found at www.camping.no and www.norwayd.irect.com. Under the Norwegian law on the right of access to public places, you can pitch a tent or sleep outdoors anywhere on open, unfenced land in the countryside for up to 48 hours, provided you are at least 150 meters from the nearest house. For longer stays, you will need permission from the owner of the land. In addition, please note that you cannot make a fire near the forest from April 15 to September 15.

Airports

Norway's main airports are Gardermoen in Oslo, Flesland in Bergen, Sola in Stavanger and Vaernes in Trondheim. In addition, Oslo is served by Sandefjord Airport in the town of Torp near the Sanefjord. Due to the distances and local terrain, it is not bad to travel around the country by plane, given the developed network local airlines. Norway has 16 major airports, including international flights, and 29 domestic airports. Taxis at major airports are not cheap. Oslo Airport Gardenmoen is located 50 km from the center of the capital, and here international and domestic flights are served by one terminal, where there are many eateries, duty-free shops, a tourist information office and a car rental service. The fastest way to get to the center of Oslo in 19 minutes is by the Flytoget express train, which departs six times an hour to the Central Station. In addition, they regularly commuter trains Norwegian State Railways, and in front of the airport there is a parking lot for intercity buses and taxis (www.oslo.no). Ryanair and other low-cost airlines fly to Torp Airport near the Sanefjord, 110 km from Oslo. Buses are served by the arrival of aircraft, and the journey takes 2-2.5 hours. In addition, trains and a shuttle bus (www.torp.no) run to Sanefjord. Bergen Flesland Airport is located 20 km from the city and is equipped with everything you need. Frequent bus services link the bus station and the Radisson hotels with the airport, and the journey takes about half an hour (www.bergen-guide.com).

Stavanger Sola Airport lies 15 km from the city center and is equipped, in addition to the conference center, with everything you need. A regular bus gets to the city in 20-30 minutes, taxis also go (t: 67-03-10-00, www.avinor.no).

Trondheim Vaernes Airport is located 35 km north of the city center and has shops and restaurants, a hotel, a lounge and currency exchange offices. You can get here by train, express bus, regular bus or taxi. The journey takes approximately 35-40 minutes (tel.: 67-03-25-00, www.avinor.no).

Travel budget

In cities and rural areas, prices for services are different in the high season and in the off season. Below are only approximate prices. As a rule, it is more expensive to live in cities than in the outback (with a few exceptions, like the well-known fjords).

Car rental. Prices fluctuate a lot. A weekly rental will cost from 2800 kroons for a small car to 3700 kroons for a large car. Many companies install a child seat for an additional price.

Hotels. Housing, depending on the cost of daily living, can be conditionally divided into cheap, affordable and expensive (for two, including breakfast): 1100 kroons, 1100-1800 kroons and over 1800 kroons. Prices can be significantly less than 1100 kroons, and much more than 1800 kroons. There are many special offers with discounts, Sunday rates and packages for tourists.

Food and drinks. Breakfast in a cafe or restaurant costs 50-80 kroons; lunch 60-120 kroons; dinner in an average restaurant without drinks 200-250 CZK per person; coffee or soft drink 20-30 CZK; a bottle of wine from 150 CZK; strong alcohol (400 ml) 80 CZK. Breakfasts and lunches at the hotel are profitable, and the first ones are especially satisfying, while most restaurants serve one regular dish for lunch.

Museums. 30-80 crowns. Children usually get a half discount.

Fuel. 12.20 kroons per liter of petrol and 11.20 kroons per liter of diesel fuel. Most gas stations are equipped with automatic pumps that accept banknotes and credit cards. Public transport. Traveling in Norway is expensive, but the buses and trains are comfortable. The average cost of a train ticket from Oslo to Bergen is 600 kroons.

Taxi is expensive. The road from Gardermoen airport to the center of Oslo will cost 610-720 crowns, depending on the time of day.

Tourist card. The Oslo Pass and Bergen Card give you free entry to many attractions, free public transport, and many more benefits. For more information, please visit www.visitoslo.com and www.visitbergen.com. On the site www. visitnorway.com contains information about all passes and tourist cards.

Bicycles for rent

Bicycles can be easily rented from a rental shop or local travel agency, guesthouse and hotel. Roads are usually not crowded, and bike paths are laid out in large cities. Please note that driving in mountainous areas can be difficult. There are few cities and villages, the distances between them are large, especially in the Far North, and the weather is changeable. Prices vary and depend on the quality of the bike and the terrain, around 60-350 CZK per day. Travel agencies usually have good maps and information about cycling routes. Two routes are especially picturesque, around the North Sea and the Miners' Road. For more information, please visit www.bike-norway.com.

Car rental

All major car rental companies are present in Norway, including Avis, Eurocar and Hertz, as well as competitively priced local Norwegian car rental companies. In most cities, you can find car rental companies, or rent them directly at the airport by making a reservation or upon arrival. Prices are usually lower the longer you rent a car, and there are special discounts in the summer and on weekends. As a rule, a car can be rented in one place and left in another. When renting a car, you must have a driver's license from your country of residence valid for at least one year. If you are not an EU citizen, you must have an international driver's license with you. Cars are rented to people over 19, but if you're under 25, you'll have to pay a young driver's tax of about 100 crowns per day. Insurance is a must, so make sure it's included in your car rental.

Climate

The Gulf Stream contributes to the establishment of a milder climate in Norway than it should be for such latitudes, so that the temperature in summer sometimes rises to 25-30 ° C. The temperature varies significantly in winter and summer, in the north and south, on the coast and inland, at sea level and on mountain peaks. The weather is also changeable, so that in many places it is a joke that "all the seasons fit in one day." From late June to mid-August, the days are sunny, and the air temperature is about 25°C, and the water is 15-18°C, except in the Far North. In the Arctic regions at this time you can observe the midnight sun. Spring and autumn are colder and damper. In autumn, in these latitudes, you can already see the northern lights (aurora borealis), especially in October, February and March. In winter, a significant part of Norway, with the exception of the coast, is covered with snow, and the temperature inland can drop to -40 ° C. On the coast at any time of the year it can rain, and even in summer the temperature here sometimes drops to 10 ° C, especially in the evenings.

Cloth

Because the weather can be changeable during the day, it's a good idea to wear something over the top to protect yourself from the vagaries of the weather. Even on a sunny day, try to take an umbrella and a raincoat along with sunglasses and a wide-brimmed sunhat. Norwegians are not prudish, so wear shorts and a T-shirt when sightseeing on a warm day. In the evening or when going on a boat trip, be sure to take a sweater with you. Sturdy shoes are important not only for hiking and outdoor activities, but also for walking on the cobbled sidewalks of many cities. In winter, warm clothes, boots, a scarf, gloves and a hat are needed.

Crime and security

Norway is a relatively safe country, with a low crime rate, especially in terms of serious crimes, so visitors rarely encounter crime. Rural areas are dominated by night theft or petty theft. Take the same precautions you would at home, keep an eye on your belongings, especially in crowded places and on public transport, and don't walk alone at night in dark places in big cities.

Car driving

Roads are generally calm, except for big cities(but even there traffic jams are rare) and are well maintained. In winter, winter tires are required (the timing of their installation varies depending on the location). Some roads in the Far North are closed in winter. In the spring, when the ground thaws, it becomes dangerous to drive on certain sections of the road. In mountainous areas, there are long tunnels, including the longest in the world, 24.5 km long.

Speed ​​Limit. Normally the speed limit is 80 km/h. In residential areas, it does not exceed 30 km/h; in densely built-up areas - 50 km / h; on a two-way road and on motorways - 90 or 100 km/h. Vehicles with trailers and trailers must not travel faster than 80 km/h, even on a faster highway.

Documentation. You must have a driver's license from your country of residence valid for at least one year, or if you are not a citizen of a country that is part of the European Union/European Economic Area, an international driver's license.

Traffic Laws. Drive on the right side, go around on the left and give way to vehicles moving on the right unless otherwise indicated. Seat belts are required in both the front and rear seats. The attitude towards drunk driving in the country is irreconcilable, therefore, selective checks of drivers are often arranged on the roads. The permissible level of alcohol in the body should not exceed 0.2 mg per liter of blood, so it is better to refrain from drinking alcohol while driving, otherwise the specified limit may be exceeded and, as a result, a large fine and even deprivation of rights are inevitable.

Accidents and breakdowns. In the event of an accident or breakdown, you must put up a warning triangle and wear a yellow fluorescent jacket. Emergency services: Norges Automobil-Forbund NAF, tel.: 0810-00-505, Falken, tel.: 02222 (toll-free) or Viking, tel.: 06000 (toll-free).

Electricity

Mains voltage 220 V/50 Hz, European-style two-pin plug. Just in case, bring an adapter with you.

Embassy and consulates

Embassy of Russia in Norway. Norge, 0244 Oslo, Drammensveien, 74 Tel.: (8-10-47) 22-55-32-78. Fax: (8-10-47) 22-55-00-70. Email: [email protected]

Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Kirkenes. Norge, 9900 Kirkenes, Postbox 98, Radhusplassen. Tel.: (8-10-47) 78-99-37-37, 78-99-37-38. Fax: (8-10-47) 78-99-37-42. Email: [email protected]

Consulate of the Russian Federation in Barentsburg (Svalbard). Norge, Svalbard, Barentsburg, Den Russiske Foderasjons Konsulat. Tel.: (8-10-47) 79-02-17-85. Fax: (8-10-47) 79-02-17-85. Email: [email protected]

emergency services

For the police, call 112, for an ambulance - 113, for the fire department - 110. For non-urgent matters, call the police at tel.: 02800.

Information for gays and lesbians

Legislation and, as a rule, the inhabitants of Norway treat representatives of sexual minorities quite tolerantly. Most of these types of travelers do not experience any inconvenience, but it must be remembered that Norway is a sparsely populated country, so there are not many places for them outside of large cities, although there are very few special bars or clubs there. A tolerant attitude towards supporters of same-sex love can not always be found in the rural outback, although you rarely encounter obvious intolerance. More information can be obtained from the Norwegian Union of Sexual Minorities, LLH: Valkyriegaten 15A 5th floor, N-0366 Oslo, Tel: 023-10-39-39, www.llh.no. They also have a section on the website www.visitoslo.com/en/gay-oslo.

Arrival

By plane. Many international carriers, including SAS, British Airways, Continental Airlines, Norwegian, KLM, Lufthansa and Thai Airways, fly to Norway either directly or with a connection. Local flights are operated by SAS, Norwegian and Wideroe.

By sea. There is a ferry service between Norway and Denmark operated by Color Line (www.colorline.com), DFDS Seaways (www.dfdsseaways.co.uk), Fjordline (www.jjordline.com) and Stena Line ” (www. stenaline.co.uk), and in addition, there are Color Line ferries from Oslo to German Kiel and from Swedish Strömstad to Sannefjord. In Norway, numerous ferries and ships ply along the coast: the most famous is the Hurtigruten steamship line between Bergen and Kirkenes in the Far North (www. hurtigruten.co.uk or www.hurtigruten.com).

By train. One of the options for arriving in the country, traveling through it and leaving it is associated with the purchase of a railway ticket like Interrail (for Europeans) or Eurail (for the rest). It can be booked prior to departure from your country via the Internet using the services of the Eurail Group (www.interrailnet.com) or by contacting European Rail at: 020-7619-1083 or at www.europeanrail.com (regular rail tickets within Europe).

Guides and excursions

English is widely spoken in Norway, so it is easy to find English-speaking guides and English-speaking excursions here. Many bus, boat and museum tours are available in several languages: Norwegian, English, German, French and increasingly in Russian, Chinese and Japanese. Travel agencies can book tours and guides and provide multilingual booklets of available tours. Some of the more popular tours, such as "Norway in a Nutshell", are run by Nutshell Tours and Fjord Tours (www.norwaynutshell.com and www.fjordtours.com). A useful list of travel agencies can be found at www.visitnorway.com.

Health and medical care

Norway is part of the European Economic Area, so that visitors from countries in this area are provided with the same medical care as Norwegians. Citizens of countries belonging to the European Union / European Economic Area must have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), issued via the Internet at www.ehic.org.uk; it is issued free of charge for five years. It is highly recommended to get travel insurance. Make sure it covers winter or extreme sports as well, if you're going to join them. No vaccinations are required to travel to Norway, and tap water is perfectly safe.

Oslo has a 24-hour pharmacy (apotek): Jernbanetorvet Pharmacy, Jernbanetorget 4B, N-0154 Oslo, tel.: 23-35-81-00.

Language

Norway has two official written languages ​​- Bokmål (bokmal, "written language") and Nynorsk (nynorsk, "new Norwegian"). Approximately 86% of the population uses Bokmål. In addition, in Norway, more than 20 thousand people speak the Sami languages, which are part of the Finno-Ugric language branch and are not related to the Norwegian language. English is widely spoken and taught at school from an early age.

Knowledge of some commonly used expressions in Norwegian, although not required, will be appreciated. Pronunciation can be a stumbling block, and in addition, the Norwegian alphabet has three additional letters for vowels, located at the end of the alphabet: æ, ø and å. Å is pronounced like “o”, æ like “e”, and ø like “ё”, and at the beginning of the word like “e”.

Cards

Most local travel agencies have excellent maps of their region.

Mass media

Radio and television. There are two leading television companies in the country - the state-owned NRK with four channels and TV2, also with four channels. All programs are in the original language with subtitles. Public radio is also dominated by NRK with three channels operating in the FM radio frequency band and with digital broadcasting.

Newspapers and magazines. According to the international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders, Norway ranks first in the world in terms of freedom of the press. The leading daily newspapers are Aftenposten, Dagbladet and Dagsavisen, but there are many more local newspapers and magazines. The Norway Post (www.norwaypost.no), which publishes news from Norway, is published in English.

Money

Currency. The monetary unit of Norway is the Norwegian krone (krone; denoted by kg or NOK). 1 crown is equal to 100 era (ore). In circulation there are coins in denominations of 50 öre, 1, 5, 10, 20 crowns and denominations of 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 crowns.

Exchange offices. Money can be exchanged at the airport and Oslo Central Station, as well as at many commercial and savings banks, some post offices, Forex offices and some hotels. The exchange is carried out mainly through Forex branches (as a rule, it is open Mon-Fri 8.00-20.00, Sat 9.00-17.00).

Credit and debit cards. Most well-known credit cards are accepted even in small establishments, which eliminates the need to carry large amounts of cash with you. ATMs are everywhere, and they are easy to use, and in all cities there will definitely be at least one such machine, but in the outback it is better to have some cash with you.

If you lose your credit card, call: American Express, tel.: 0800-68-100. Diners Club, tel.: 021-01-50-00. Mastercard, tel.: 0800-30-250. VISA, tel.: 0815-00-500.

Traveler's checks. Traveler's checks are gradually falling into disuse, but they can still be exchanged at a bank, Forex and other exchange offices. In banks, the exchange rate is usually more favorable.

Opening hours

The shops. Most shops are open Mon-Fri 10.00-17.00 or until 18.00, Sat 9.00-14.00. Shops in large cities and large shopping centers or supermarkets are open longer, until 20.00 or 21.00, and also on Sun. Some shops still close for lunch, especially in rural areas, and private shops usually close for two weeks or more in July or August.

Banks. Banks are open Mon-Fri 9.00-15.30, until 17.00 Thu. In summer (mid-May - mid-August) banks close at 2.30 pm every day, but exchange offices are open longer.

Police

Most police stations are open weekdays and have a duty officer to whom people can report a crime or other incident. The police phone is 112, the call is free even from a payphone.

Mail

Norwegian post boxes for both domestic and international mail are of the same color, red. Most post offices are open Mon-Fri 8.00-17.00 and Sat 9.00-15.00, closed Sun.

Public transport

In Norway, public transport connects many parts of the country, but remote rural areas or places in the Far North have to be reached by car or boat.

Aircraft. One of the best means of transportation around the country is air transport. There are about 50 airports in Norway, from where planes fly even to the smallest counties. The main domestic air carriers are SAS (www.flysas.com), Norwegian (www.norwegian.com) and Wideroe (www.wideroe.no).

The Norwegian State Railways, NSB, stretches for 3,000 km all the way to Bodø. Some of the tracks pass through amazing scenic spots, especially the Bergen Railway from Oslo to Bergen, the non-electrified Rauma Line from Dombas to Andalsnes, and the Flåm Railway from Myrdal to Flåm. For tickets, please visit www.nsb.no.

There are a number of bus carriers operating in Norway, the largest being Nor-Way Bussekspress with 40 routes (www.nor-way.no). Tickets can be bought online or at the bus station. If there is free space, you can carry a bicycle and skis with your luggage. The schedule of many buses is coordinated with the schedule of ferries or other bus routes intersecting with them.

Ferries/ships. A huge number of ferry and ship carriers serve the Norwegian coast. In many cases, these are steamship lines or car ferries linking the fjords and numerous islands to the mainland. It is often faster to cross the fjord by ferry than by the nearest bridge, which still needs to be reached, and many roads are connected by ferry crossings. Leading carriers are Hurtigruten, Fjordl, Tide, Fjordline, Kolumbus, Rodne Fjordcruise and Senja Ferries.

Religion

Approximately 80% of the country's population are Protestants belonging to the Lutheran Church. Such a figure is somewhat misleading, since a person is ranked as a church immediately after baptism, but in reality Norway appears as one of the most secular states in Europe, where residents attend church once or twice a year. About 10% of the population do not profess any religion, and the rest belong to one or another religion, from shamanism among the Sami to the Bahai religion.

Phones

Pay phones accept coins, telephone or credit cards and are easy to find in major cities. Phone cards are sold at newsstands, 7-Eleven chain stores, and similar stores. In the outback, including the Far North, pay phones are harder to find. Therefore, it is better to take a mobile phone with you or, in case of a long stay in the country, buy a Norwegian SIM card, bearing in mind the high roaming rates and the impossibility of receiving a return call.

Difference in time

Time in Norway is two hours behind Moscow time. When it's noon in Moscow, it's ten in the morning in Norway. Norway switches to summer time at the end of March and winter time at the end of October.

Tips

It is customary to round the bill in a restaurant or bar to the nearest 5 or 10 crowns, but it is rarely offended if this is not done. In case of good service in a restaurant or bar, you can leave a tip in the amount of 10% of the bill. Taxi drivers sometimes get slightly bigger tips, while, for example, they are not accepted in a hairdresser's.

toilets

Cities have many clean and tidy public toilets; in most cases, payment is made through a machine, the average cost is 5 kroons. In the countryside, toilets are not easy to find, but you can use, and often free of charge, restrooms at service stations, near the main square, or at travel agencies. Along the highways there are roadside parking lots with toilets, but in the outback and on country roads, latrines, of course, are not provided.

Information for tourists

The Norwegian Tourism Authority has 17 main tourist information offices in the country, and in addition there are many local tourist information offices, although some of them are only open during the summer. All bureaus display the International Tourism Sign (a white "i" on a green background). Employees are knowledgeable everywhere, often speak several languages, so they can tell about their region and book accommodation and excursions.

• Central Station Tourist Information Office, Trafikanten Service Centre, Jernbanetorget 1, N-0154 Oslo (Mon-Fri 9.00-16.00), tel.: 81-53-05-55, www.visitoslo.com.
• The Norwegian Information Office, Fridtjof Nansens Plass 5, N-0160 Oslo, Tel: 24-14-77-00, www.visitnorway.com, has information about Oslo and other parts of Norway.
• Bergen, Vagsallmenningen 1, N-5003 Bergen, tel.: 55-55-20-00, www.visitbergen.com.
• Stavanger, Domkirkeplassen 3, N-4006 Stavanger, men.: 51-85-92-00, www.regionstavanger.com.

Visas and passports

To travel to Norway, residents of EU countries need only have a valid passport with them. Arrivals from Canada, Australia, USA and New Zealand do not need a tourist visa if they spend no more than 90 days in Norway.

Citizens of other countries should make inquiries at the Norwegian embassy of their country. A tourist visa is usually issued for three months.

Norway is a member of the Schengen Agreement. Citizens of Russia and the CIS countries need a visa and a passport to visit Norway.

• “Ga pa tur”, which means “to take a walk”, is one of the features of a purely Norwegian attitude to life, when everyone, young and old, breaks somewhere, if not every weekend, then quite often. Dressed warmly and wearing strong boots, they go to nature, often their path lies in the mountains. A halt is certainly made in order to refresh oneself with the provisions taken, usually consisting of sandwiches with a thick slice of bread and hot black coffee from a thermos. On summer weekends, in many picturesque places in the country, whole families go to conquer peaks and fjords, in particular in 33 national parks.
• After the adoption by Norway in the XI century. Christianity, the first local preachers were engaged in the construction of churches in the once pagan lands. These so-called stave churches are medieval wooden structures, named after the supporting pillars placed in the middle, around which a wooden frame was then built. Previously, there were about two thousand such churches in Northern Europe, and very few of them have survived to this day.
  Twenty-nine stave churches, mostly from the 12th century, can still be seen today. The Stave Church from Urnes in the county of Sogn og Fjordane is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Olav Haraldson (995-1030) completed the unification of Norway, which he began in the 9th century. his ancestor Harald Horfager (Fair-Haired). He, who converted to Christianity in England, was destined not only to convert the country to this faith, but also to unite it. Long before all this happened, he fell at the Battle of Stiklestad, but soon miracles began to happen at his grave, now in Trondheim's Nidaros Cathedral, as a result of which he was venerated as a saint. Olaf becomes the patron saint of Norway. In 1997, the pilgrimage route to Trondheim, which was declared a European cultural route in 2010, was resumed.
• The Oslo Viking Shipbuilding Museum contains some of the most successful finds, including the Oseberg ship found in a burial mound on the Oseberg farm, near the town of Tønsberg, west of Oslo. The boat dates back to about 800 AD.
• When entering the house, do not forget to take off your shoes, otherwise you will make the first (and perhaps unforgivable) mistake.
• Nightclubs are restricted to adults, often aged 21 or older. Therefore, if you look younger than your years, take your ID with you.
• At Christmas, you can try soaked dried fish (lutefisk), lamb rib, partridge and, of course, alcohol: mulled wine (glogg, often diluted with stronger alcohol), juleel (Jula0l, Christmas beer) and akvavitt vodka, the strongest drink ( from grain or potatoes with the addition of cumin seed).
• Norwegians love black coffee, without milk, sugar, which they drink from a large cup. Nor do they suffer from insomnia at all.

Founded more than 1000 years ago, Oslo received capital status only in 1905 with the re-establishment of the Norwegian kingdom. Three quarters of its territory is a real "countryside": forests, lakes, islands - even the geographical center is located in a huge forest. Oslo is the only capital in the world where you can go skiing in winter and swim in the sea and relax on the beach in summer.

At the same time, it has dozens of art galleries, about 50 museums and an unusually rich cultural life. Everyone who comes here will find their own Oslo. Someone - the capital of the kingdom with the beloved king and queen, someone - the city of modern art, where the most daring architectural projects, such as the futuristic building of the Opera House, which looks like an alien ship that has landed on the shores of the Oslo Fjord.

How to get to Oslo

Search flights to Oslo

Transport

Subway, bus, tram and ferry routes cover the entire city and allow you to quickly get to any point in it. Everywhere there is one ticket, which is sold at ticket machines, 7/11 stores, specialty and newsstands. A one-time pass for 1 hour costs 35 NOK (if bought from the driver 55 NOK), for a day - 105 NOK, for a week - 249 NOK. The price of tickets for children (4-15 years old) and pensioners (over 67 years old) is 2 times lower. Prices on the page are for October 2018.

The fine for ticketless travel is 750-900 NOK.

Double-decker sightseeing buses City Sightseeing Oslo (official site in English) from April to September from 9:30 to 17:00 ply along the ring route and make 18 stops in the most interesting places in the Norwegian capital. The traffic interval is 30 minutes, adult / child tickets cost 300/150 NOK and are valid for 24 hours.

An analogue of a bus tour is a City Cruise summer mini-cruise on a boat (off site in English) using the Hop-on - Hop-off system with 5 stops. Departure from the embankment at the Opera, 5 flights a day from 9:45 to 15:45, tickets for 24 hours adult / child cost 225/120 NOK respectively.

Taxis can be found at special parking lots, stopped on the street with a wave of your hand or called by phone. Landing - 45 NOK, then 14.50 NOK per 1 km, the minimum trip will cost 119 NOK. In the evening (after 17:00) and at night (after 22:00) time, on weekends and holidays, tariffs increase by 20, 40 and even 60%.

Bicycles for rent

The Oslo Bysykkel bicycle network rental points (official site in English) are open from 6:00 to 0:00 from March to November. The cost of a tourist card for using the network is 100 NOK, the validity period is 24 hours, the deposit is 3400 NOK (blocked on a bank card); You can purchase it at the Information Office next to the Town Hall. Movement is allowed only within the city.

Viking Biking (off. site in English) does not impose restrictions on the geography of trips. It provides city bikes at NOK 200/400 for 24/48 hours and NOK 125 for each day thereafter. Renting a sports bike costs NOK 275/550 and NOK 175, respectively.

Rent a Car

At Gardermoen airport and the city itself, all the world's car rental leaders are represented - Avis, Hertz, Sixt, Europcar and others. The cost of renting an economy class car, for example, a Toyota Yaris with a manual transmission and air conditioning, starts from 900 NOK per day or from 3000 NOK per week.

There are practically no traffic jams in Oslo, but speed bumps are very common. The price of gasoline at city gas stations is about 16 NOK/l, diesel fuel - 14.50 NOK/l. Street parking in the center is paid on working days from 9:00 to 18:00 and on Saturday from 9:00 to 15:00 - 30-40 NOK per hour. Depending on the color of the marking - yellow / gray / brown - the car is not allowed to be left in the parking lot for 1/2/3 hours. Fine for violation of parking rules - 500-750 NOK.

For long-term parking, it is more convenient to use underground and garage parking - 40-60 NOK per hour or 180-360 NOK per day.

Those who enter Oslo on studded tires (winter tires are mandatory in Norway from 1 November to 15 April) must pay a special fee of NOK 35 per 24 hours or NOK 450 per calendar month. To pay the fee, a special sticker (sold at gas stations) is used, which is pasted on the windshield. An alternative to a sticker is a fine of 750 NOK.

Communication and Wi-Fi

In order not to go broke on communication services, it is useful to purchase a SIM card from one of the Norwegian mobile operators - Telenor, NetCom or Lebara Mobile. SIM cards are sold at operators' offices, newsstands, 7/11 mini-markets and gas stations.

A good option is a MyCall SIM card from Lebara Mobile worth 49 NOK, half of which is transferred to the card. A minute of conversation with a subscriber in Norway will cost 0.49 NOK, a call to Russia to a landline/mobile phone - 0.69/1.99 NOK. The connection fee for each call is NOK 0.99. Those who need large amounts of Internet traffic can subscribe to a 1/3/6/10 GB mobile data package for NOK 79/149/219/299. To replenish the balance, special cards are used, which are sold there.

When calling from one MyCall SIM card to another (MyCall), only the connection fee is charged.

There will be no problems connecting to free Wi-Fi in the Norwegian capital. It is available at the airport and railway station, in all hotels in the city, catering establishments, museums and public places.

Oslo Pass

The Oslo Pass tourist card is a real gift that allows you to optimize your travel budget. Its owner receives the right to free public transport and free access to 30 of the best museums and art galleries in the city, including the Ibsen Museum, the Oslo National Gallery, the Viking Ship Museum, the Norwegian Maritime Museum, the Norwegian Ethnographic Museum, the Munch Museum. In addition, with the card, you can participate in walking tours of the city and visit the pool complexes Toyenbadet and Frognerbadet free of charge.

Oslo Pass for 24 hours costs 395 NOK, for 48 hours - 595 NOK, for 72 hours - 745 NOK. There are separate cards for children (4-15 years old) - 210, 295 and 370 NOK, respectively, and pensioners (over 67 years old) - 315, 475 and 595 NOK.

A nice bonus - discounts in a number of restaurants and shops, on some excursions and entertainment, including a 20% discount on an excursion to the Opera and a visit to the Tusenfried amusement park, 15% on a City Cruise mini-cruise (for Oslo Pass holders for 72 hours the discount is 100%.

Oslo Pass is sold at the Information Centers located at the airport, at the Central Railway Station, on the Aker Brygge embankment and the pier near the Town Hall, in some hotels and museums, as well as online at the office. website (in English).

Oslo beaches

The most popular beach within the city is "Hukkoden" or simply "Huk" on the Bygdøy peninsula. You can get to it by bus number 30 from the National Theater or by boat from the Aker Brygge embankment. The rocky coast alternates here with green lawns and small sandy areas. The northern part of the beach is given over to nudists. There is a cafe, water bike rental, beach volleyball courts. There are no sunbeds and umbrellas - they are replaced by pine trees and smooth boulders.

To the north, a 10-minute walk from the "Hook" is a beautiful and less crowded beach with speaking name"Paradisbukta" ("Paradise Bay").

Entrance to all beaches in Norway is free.

Many Norwegians prefer beaches on the islands - there are about 40 of them in Oslo. Some have special bathing houses with stairs leading straight into the water. More than 100 years ago, they were built for dressing up, and smugglers used them for illegal alcohol trade. The islands can be quickly reached by ferry from the Vippetangen terminal next to Aker Brygge. Ferry number 3 follows a circular route to the islands of Howedoy, Lindoy and Nakkholmen, ferry number 94 to Langoyene with a long sandy beach, which is well suited for families with children. Fans of warm water can choose the beaches on Songvann Lake with a very gentle approach, where there is all the necessary infrastructure.

Skiing

In winter, many people in Norway, young and old, go skiing. More than 2,600 km of trails for cross-country and alpine skiing have been laid in the city of Oslo.

Public transport in Oslo is equipped with special compartments for ski equipment.

The largest ski resort in the capital is Trivann Winter Park (official site in English), located in the upper part of the Holmenkollen district, where you can drive from the city center in 20 minutes - first by metro to Frognersetern station line 1, then by resort shuttle .

Trivanna has 18 slopes of all difficulty levels - from black to green with a maximum vertical drop of 81 m. The length of the longest one is 1500 m. high class and 5 ski schools. At night, all trails are lit, you can ride until 22:00. An adult / children's ski pass for 1 day will cost 430/340 NOK, respectively.

The skiing season lasts from late November to mid-April.

But you can climb the observation deck (it is also the starting point) of the Holmenkollen ski jump without skis. This is one of the first designer ski jumps in the world - the national pride of the Norwegians. More than 450 km of flat tracks are laid at its foot, and the stages of the Biathlon World Cup are held.

Oslo Hotels

In Oslo, there are hotels of all categories - from pretentious "five-star hotels" to modest apart-hotels. A significant part of them belongs to the Scandinavian chains Radisson, Scandic, Thon, Clarion Collection. Many hotels in the Norwegian capital do not have a "star" classification, in terms of service they correspond to 3-4 *.

The main thing that unites all Oslo hotels is obscenely high prices for accommodation.

5* hotels with swimming pools, spa centers and other joys of life are in demand among successful businessmen and high-ranking persons. The price of prestige and comfort is 1600-4000 NOK for a double room. The cost of a room in 4 * hotels is 1000-1700 NOK. In the most popular 3 * hotels - 800-1400 NOK.

Hostels are the choice of those who are used to counting money. A double room with a bathroom costs 660-720 NOK. You can get a big company in an 8-bed room - 1840-2080 NOK for everyone, or get by with a bed in a dormitory room for 230-260 NOK. You will have to pay separately for bed linen and towels in hostels - 45-70 NOK per person. Another budget option is apartments with a kitchenette for those who prefer to cook their own meals. Price from 650 NOK.

shopping

The Karl Johans Gate pedestrian street is home to the world's leading stores, including H&M, Benetton and Zara. There are also several large shopping centers and department stores here: Oslo City, Byporten, Glasmagasinet, Steen & Strom, Paleet and Aker Brygge. And on Akersgata Street, the popular design house in Norway, Moods of Norway and House of Oslo, with two dozen firms specializing in interior design and lifestyle, work.

On the east bank of the Akerselva river is a place favored by young Norwegian designers - Grunerlökka. Frogner and Bygdøy Alle are famous for interior design and antique shops. There are many exclusive boutiques selling everything from lingerie to kitchen utensils. In Greenland, many shops are owned by immigrants selling fruits, vegetables and spices. Here you can also get good discounts on exotic textiles and gold items. Other famous shopping spots are Majorstuen, Bogstaveien and Hegdehogsveien.

The cutest souvenirs from Oslo are troll figurines, the most practical are the famous Norwegian sweaters, warm and expensive. A good sweater can replace a jacket and costs 1800-2700 NOK. Silver jewelry with runic symbols and souvenirs exploiting the former glory of the Vikings are very popular: magnets, T-shirts, beer mugs. In specialized stores, a strong Scandinavian "Akvavit" is sold, which is driven from potatoes and insisted on cumin or coriander. The most authentic souvenir is "rosemaling" - a traditional flower painting on wood. In the 18th century, Norwegians covered furniture, walls, and even the whole house with bright ornaments. Now they limit themselves mainly to small forms, painting wooden utensils, panels, caskets.

Cuisine and restaurants in Oslo

Norwegian cuisine is simple and thorough. Her main hit is "lutfisk" - dried cod soaked in an alkaline solution of a very specific taste and appearance. But some argue that the dish is quite edible. Next in popularity are herring and salmon - fried, pickled or smoked. Local specialty Oslo herring - boiled herring rolls with white cream sauce. In any self-respecting institution there are dishes from venison, elk, snow partridge. Traditional delicacies include whale meat steaks. The best fish restaurants with specialties can be found on the promenade of Aker Brygge. Many mid-range restaurants, cafes and patisseries are located north of the railway station and on the way from the Cathedral to the Royal Palace.

It is not customary to leave tips in restaurants - they are already included in the bill.

Food in Oslo is not cheap. Street fast food will cost 50-90 NOK, a standard set at McDonald's - 100 NOK, pizza - 110 NOK, lunch in an inexpensive restaurant - 160 NOK, a good dinner - 400 NOK per person. The prices of drinks also bite: cappuccino - 36 NOK, a glass of homemade wine - 70 NOK, beer - 60 NOK, cocktail - 110 NOK. Establishments with Asian cuisine are more humane: rolls - 70 NOK, chicken with rice and vegetables - 90 NOK, lentil soup - 50 NOK.

With a limited budget, a direct road to food markets or to Rimi, KIWI, Lidl supermarket chains, and then to a picnic in one of Oslo's parks.

Guides in Oslo

Entertainment and attractions

Since the time of the Vikings, the best view of the city opens from the shores of the Oslo Fjord. From here, the most famous building of Norway and the main attraction of the capital, the cube-shaped red brick town hall, where every year on December 10, in the presence of the royal family, the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony takes place, looks especially impressive.

The high left bank of the fjord seems even higher due to the medieval fortress Akershus located on it, under the walls of which cruise ships moor. On the low right bank, the high-tech houses of the Aker Brygge embankment crowd each other. IN good weather its cafes and even wide wooden steps descending directly to the water are always filled with vacationers.

Another favorite meeting place and Sunday walks for Norwegians is the Gustav Vigeland Sculpture Park: 227 naked figures carved in stone or cast in bronze, reflecting a person's entire life path. This is the world's largest collection of works by a single master, which Vigeland worked on from 1907 to 1942.

6 things to do in Oslo

1. Find out what Norwegian waters are rich in at the morning fish market in front of the town hall.
2. Find Henrik Ibsen's favorite table in the cafe of the famous Grand Hotel.
3. Arrange a photo shoot in the Blue Hall of the City Hall, where banquets are held in honor of Nobel laureates.
4. Climb to the roof of the Opera House for the best views of the city and the Oslo Fjord.
5. Hear the howl of the wind in the wheelhouse of the legendary schooner Fram.
6. Taste a couple of dozen types of Norwegian herring and choose the best one.

Museums

From the Aker Brygge embankment, it is easy to get to the peninsula of Bygdøy by boat from the Astrup-Fernley Museum of Contemporary Art, built by Renzo Piano, and the Munch Museum, which contains the best works of the artist, including the famous "Scream", included in the list of the most famous paintings in the world.

Oslo for kids

Oslo is good because it can give everyone a fairy tale. The main thing is not to make noise in the Norwegian Open Air Museum of Ethnography when you pass a tree with a hollow - then from there you can hear the singing of the trolls, who are taught music by an old furry troll. The log peasant houses standing here with turf-covered roofs, barns on stilts, log cabins with small windows were assembled from different regions countries.

Next to the rural buildings, a whole city block has been recreated with half-timbered houses, a grocery store, a pharmacy, a bank, a pumping station and even a wooden prison brought here from the center of Oslo. Here you can ride in an old horse-drawn carriage, try traditional unleavened bread baked by a friendly peasant woman in national costume, and on Sundays see a folklore performance in front of the wooden church, which is more than 8 centuries old.

But a real fairy tale happens here around Christmas, when the Norwegian Santa Claus - Yulenissen with his wife Nissemur and a huge bag of gifts slowly walks along the streets of the museum town.

Weather

Average monthly temperature, °C day and night

Holidays and events

Oslo hosts a wide variety of theatrical and opera performances, performances of folk dance ensembles, concerts and festivals all year round: the Norwegian Forest music festival, the Oya and Inferno festivals, jazz and chamber music festivals. The fantastic new Opera is a great place to watch world class opera or ballet.

On the last weekend of May, during the Medieval Festival, the Norwegian capital returns 6-7 centuries ago. In the Akershus Fortress, ancient music sounds, jousting tournaments are held, anyone can practice archery or crossbow shooting. The medieval market is a brisk trade in jewelry, handicrafts and culinary delights prepared according to old recipes. Period-appropriate costumes are welcome.

On the night of June 23-24, on the feast of St. Hans, bonfires and fireworks blaze throughout Norway, driving away all evil spirits. The spectacle is not only beautiful, but also strictly regulated. You can have fun on the shortest night of the year in the Holmenkollen area.

natural conditions

One of the main attractions of the capital, as well as the country, are the fjords, that is, river valleys processed by the glacier and flooded by the sea.

The climate is temperate, oceanic, with mild winters. In January, the temperature can drop to -5 ° C, and in July it stays within + 16 ° C. Approximately 677 mm of precipitation falls annually.

Population, language, religion

The population of the capital is 495 thousand people. As part of the suburbs and satellite cities, Oslo forms the urban agglomeration of Greater Oslo with a population of over 700 thousand people, which is about 18% of the country's population.

The official language is Norwegian. As for religion, in this respect the composition of believers is quite homogeneous: about 95% profess Protestantism (Lutheranism).

History of development

The city was founded in 1048 by King Harald III Harderode. At the end of the XIII century. it became the residence of the Norwegian kings, and in 1572 the center of the Danish administration in Norway. After a fire in 1624, Oslo was rebuilt, it was rebuilt in a new place and named Christiania in honor of the King of Denmark and Norway, Christian IV. Under this name the city in 1814. was recognized as the official capital of Norway. This date is, as it were, a starting point for the development of the city in industrial and commercial terms. In 1924 it was renamed Oslo.

During the Second World War, the Norwegian capital was occupied by Nazi troops, and was also one of the centers of the Resistance movement.

cultural significance

Unfortunately, few old houses of the 19th century have survived, even fewer of the 14th-18th centuries. Mostly modern buildings predominate. The city is located on two banks of the Akerselv River near the Eastern Railway Station. On the eastern shore of Pipervika Bay, the remains of the Old Town with the Akershus Fortress, which was built around 1300, in the 15th-16th centuries, have been preserved. rebuilt. From the Old Town to the north and northwest depart the regular quarters of the center of modern Oslo with the main street Karl-Juhansgate. It starts from the station and goes from east to west to the royal palace, built at the beginning of the 19th century. The street, as it were, connects these two architectural sights. It has clear divisions into zones. The transitional part rests against the parliament building. It has many shops and street venues with performing musicians. The second part of the street stretches from the National Theater and the University to the palace. Other architectural monuments include the Baroque Cathedral (1690s) and the Functionalist Government House. In the northern part of the same bay is the City Hall building with rich sculptural decorations on the outer walls and paintings on historical themes in the interior. Behind the Town Hall, on Karl-Juhansgate Street, and behind the port, the business part of the city is concentrated. The western part of Oslo (Vestkante) is replete with numerous parks, including the famous Frogner Park with a giant sculptural ensemble of G. Vigeland.

The royal residence is very beautiful, literally immersed in greenery. Near the Queen's garden there are ponds where swans swim. In the same garden there is a bronze figure of one of the rulers of the past era. In total, the park contains about 150 works by the sculptor Vigeland (1869-1943). The style of the park is close to French (regular layout, as well as fountains, stairs and flower beds), but the sculptures of this master give the park a special, purely Norwegian hue. In general, there are a lot of sculptures in the city. One of them is the statue of the first King Haakon by Niels Aas, located on the 7th of July Square. Also noteworthy is the sculptural composition based on an old pastoral plot, placed among the flower beds near the theater building.

There are many museums in the city. In the center, next to the old buildings of the State University, there is the University Historical Museum (Museum of National Antiquities), which contains unique archaeological exhibits from the ancient and early Middle Ages. Near it is the National Gallery with the most significant collection of art works in Norway, the creations of the painter and graphic artist J.-K.-K. Dahl, paintings of various schools of the 19th and 20th centuries. Fans of expressionism can recommend the museum of the world-famous artist Edvard Munch. Also in the center is the Museum of Applied Arts.

The Norwegian Museum of Folk Life and the log buildings of its branch, the Open Air Museum, are very interesting. There are collected log buildings of old peasant estates from all over Norway. Nearby are three more unique museums. The first is the Viking Ship Museum with a collection of amazing archaeological exhibits - ancient Scandinavian elegant keel ships, on which the ancestors of modern Norwegians plowed the seas. Another museum is "Fram". Its main exhibit is the egg-bottomed keel ship of the same name, built to withstand the pressures of the Arctic ice. The third museum, Kon-Tiki, houses a private collection owned by Thor Heyerdahl. The two main exhibits of this museum are the Kon-Tiki balsa raft and the Ra-2 papyrus boat.

There are quite unusual museums in Oslo: the Ski Museum with their collection from ancient times to the present; Museum of conservation. The city has the National, Norwegian, New and Norwegian Opera Houses. There are educational institutions: the university, opened in 1811 in architectural complex middle of the 19th century; Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters; conservatory; State Academy of Arts. The largest libraries in Oslo are the university and the city.

Oslo is the main cultural center of the country.

Information for tourists

Despite the fact that tourists usually stay for a short time in the quiet and modest capital of Norway, Oslo is worthy of attention. Once on the Aker Brigge embankment, any tourist will surely want to look into one of the many fish restaurants that were schooners and yachts in the past.

It will be interesting to visit the mini-brewery on Bogstadvien Street, where anyone can follow the whole process of its production. An extract from the law on alcoholic beverages is also interesting, stating: “It is forbidden to serve strong alcoholic drinks on Sundays and holidays, as well as before 13.00 and after midnight on weekdays. Wine and beer are allowed to be served daily.” In Oslo, adding vodka to water and milk is common.

One of the most visited areas of Oslo, in addition to the waterfront, is the Bygde peninsula, where the famous museums of the capital of Norway are concentrated. Perhaps, most of all other tourists are interested in the Museum of Thor Heyerdahl - Kon-Tiki - and the famous papyrus boat"Ra-2". The peculiarity of Oslo is that car roads located underground. Perhaps for this reason, the city seems quiet, even provincial, compared to other Scandinavian capitals. The rhythm of life also corresponds to this, as if conducive to calm philosophical contemplation.

Trondheim - the ancient capital of Norway

Trondheim is located in the northwestern part of the country, off the coast of the Trondheims Fjord. The city was founded by Olaf Trygveson in 997 and was originally called Nidaros, which means "mouth of the river Nid" in Norwegian. Until 1152, Nidaros was the capital of the Norwegian kingdom, from 1152 it became the ecclesiastical capital of the state (the residence of the Archbishop of Nidaros was located here). In the XIV century. the city was renamed Trondheim (from the Norwegian "trondru" - the generic name of the indigenous population and the German "heim" - "village, dwelling"). The historical part of the city occupies a peninsula near the river Nid Elv.

In the XII-XVII centuries. construction was carried out historical center city, many buildings of that period are now valuable architectural monuments. In 1140, the laying of the Catholic Cathedral, made in the Romanesque-Gothic style, took place. Its construction continued until 1320. The construction of one of the main attractions of the city - the Archbishop's Palace - dates back to the 12th-13th centuries. The architectural appearance of the city as a whole was formed under the significant influence of the Romanesque and Gothic styles. Great originality of the ancient capital was given by ancient wooden churches - stavkirks, the architectural forms of which were formed back in the 11th-12th centuries.

Until 1380 coronation ceremonies for Norwegian monarchs were held in Trondheim. Similar celebrations took place in the Nidaros Cathedral, which was built in the 11th century. and was repeatedly rebuilt and reconstructed in the future.

In 1774-1778. in Trondheim, Stiftegorden was built - the residence of the Norwegian kings, created in the style of classicism. For the construction of this magnificent building, ancient architects used precious wood. From the end of the 17th century city ​​streets were built according to a single regular plan.

In the XVIII-XIX centuries. In Trondheim, industry began to develop, especially handicraft production of art products and fish processing. The city has become one of the most important port centers in Norway.

Since 1814, the city of Oslo was declared the official capital of Norway, however, in Trondheim, in the Nidaros Cathedral, the solemn coronations of monarchs who assumed the Norwegian throne resumed.

In January 1930, the city decided to return historical name- Nidaros, but already in 1931 it was renamed Trondheim again. In 1940, the city was occupied by the troops of Nazi Germany, and only in May 1945 Trondheim was liberated from the invaders by the Resistance army. Throughout the entire period of the Nazi occupation, Trondheim was one of the active centers of the resistance movement.

In the post-war years, the construction of modern Trondheim began. Local architects, adherents of old traditions, tried to preserve the medieval appearance of Trondheim in the general plan of the city, so even new buildings and structures are made in the styles of pseudo-Romanesque architecture, Gothic, Neo-Gothic. The designs of many modern buildings resemble examples of old Norwegian wooden architecture.

Currently, Trondheim is the administrative center of the fylke (administrative-territorial unit) of Sør-Trøidelag. The food, machine-building, ship-repair, clothing, and woodworking industries are successfully developing in the city. A university has been opened in Trondheim, there are a number of museums, including the Museum of Applied Arts, Music Museum Ringwe, National Museum. Art Industry Museum of Northern Norway, Art Gallery. Now Trondheim is one of the largest Norwegian cities and a port of great importance for the economy of the whole country (annual cargo turnover is over 1 million tons).

Oslo is the capital and largest city of Norway with a population of 673,469 (as of 2018). The city is located in the southeastern part of the country and covers an area of ​​454 square kilometers. From 1624 to 1877, Oslo had a different name - Christiania (Norwegian Christiania), and from 1877 to 1924 it was also called differently: Christiania (Norwegian Kristiania).

Oslo is located on the banks of the fjord of the same name, the width of which at the entrance is 15-30 km, and the length is about 102 km. The city is surrounded by wooded hills and mountain peaks.

Oslo is the oldest capital northern Europe. On the site of one of the suburbs of the current Norwegian capital in 1050, King Harald III Severe built a settlement called Opslo or Oslo, which was badly damaged by a fire in 1624. After that, King Christian IV moved the inhabitants closer to the Akershus fortress (Norwegian Akershus, 1290), where the future city of Oslo was founded.

Oslo, called Christiania during the Danish rule, was a small town whose rapid development later owed to the unification of Norway with Sweden. Not the last role was also played by the favorable geographical position of the city on the Scandinavian sea coast facing Europe.

After the restoration of Norwegian statehood in 1905, the city of Christiania acquires the status of the capital of the kingdom. By the decision of the Norwegian Storting (parliament) on January 1, 1925, the capital of the country returned its historical name - Oslo.

Today, the residence of the king, the parliament (Storting), the government of the country are located in the capital. In 1952, the Winter Olympics were held in Oslo.

Based: 1048
Square: 454 km 2
Population: 673 469 people (2018)
Currency: Norwegian krone
Language: Norwegian
Off.site: http://www.oslo.commune.no

Current time in Oslo:
(UTC+1)

Today's Oslo is the main industrial, transport and Cultural Center countries. It develops mechanical engineering and metalworking. Machine-building plants in Oslo produce equipment for power, pulp and paper, electrical and radio-electronic enterprises, platforms for offshore oil production. New industrial enterprises are being built only in the suburban area of ​​the city.

How to get there

By plane

Direct flights

The capital of Norway can be reached by planes of the low-cost airline Norwegian, flying from St. Petersburg. Aeroflot planes fly from Moscow to Oslo.

Connecting flights

Almost everyone flies to Oslo European airlines, so that with a connection you can get to the capital of Norway by any European carrier that operates flights to Russian cities. Below are the main options for connecting flights.

• Lufthansa: via Frankfurt from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara.
• Austrian Airlines: via Vienna from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar.
• Brussels Airlines: via Brussels from Moscow.
• Swiss: via Zurich from Moscow, St. Petersburg.
• SAS: via Stockholm and Copenhagen from Moscow, St. Petersburg.
• Czech Airlines: via Prague from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Kazan, Perm, Ufa.
• Air France: via Paris from Moscow, St. Petersburg.
• KLM: via Amsterdam from Moscow, St. Petersburg.
• Finnair: via Helsinki from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg.
• Air Malta: via La Valletta from Moscow.
• Air Baltic: via Riga from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad.
• Estonian Air: via Tallinn from Moscow, St. Petersburg.

Oslo's main international airport is Gardermoen. It is located 45 kilometers north of the city. The journey from Moscow to Oslo by plane takes 2.5 hours. You can read more about the airport (how to get to the city and other information).

By train

You can also arrive in the capital of Norway by train. Direct branded international trains run from Moscow (Lev Tolstoy) and St. Petersburg (Repin, Sibelius) to Helsinki, from where, in turn, you can get to Oslo.

All trains arrive in Oslo at the Oslo Central Station (Oslo Sentralstasjon, or Oslo S), located in the city center at the beginning of Karl Johans Gate Street.

You can travel from Stockholm to Oslo by high-speed train, which travels in just 4 hours and 50 minutes. Ticket price starts from 80 euros. 2-3 such trains run daily. You can check the train schedule and ticket prices, get information about promotions and discounts on the station website.

On a ferryboat

Ferry service between the ports of Europe and Oslo is very well developed. The city's port is a 15-minute walk from the city centre. Every day, ferries from Kiel, Copenhagen and Frederikshavn arrive at the port of Oslo.

For example, from neighboring Sweden it is very convenient to get to Oslo by water: a ferry arrives daily in the summer from the Swedish port of Strömstad to the city of Sandefjord in Norway. This trip will take 2.5 hours. Trains and buses run regularly from Sandefjord to Oslo.

Many ocean cruise liners also stop in Oslo, usually during the summer.

From Russia, the easiest way to get to Oslo by water is through Stockholm. You can read about how to do this in a special article " Ferries from Russia to Scandinavia are not just a means of transportation".

By car

Oslo can also be reached by own or rented car. If tourists are traveling by car from the continent, then the best way to get to Oslo is by crossing the ferry leaving the city of Frederikshavn in Denmark. Frederikshavn is a large ferry terminal, from where car ferries depart to several ports around Oslo, as well as to the city of Gothenburg in Sweden. Another option is to take a ferry in Copenhagen to several ports in western Sweden, or a ferry from Helsingør in Denmark to Helsingborg in Sweden.

Arriving in one of the above cities, you need to move along the E6 highway, which goes through the cities of Helsingborg and Gothenburg to Oslo. This route approaches Oslo from the south. To get to Oslo from Stockholm, you need to use the E3 highway, which connects to the E18 highway, which enters Oslo from the east. Moving from Bergen, autotourists enter Oslo from the west side along the E16 highway.

Those who suffer from seasickness can travel from mainland Europe via several bridges from Denmark, bypassing Copenhagen and Malmö. More complete information about transport in the city of Oslo is contained in our special material.

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Climate and weather in Oslo

The climate in Oslo is temperate, oceanic, with mild winters, due to the presence of the warm Gulf Stream, which passes near the Norwegian coast.

Weather forecast

Monthly weather in Oslo

Reviews of tourists about Oslo by months

Transport

Public transport in Oslo is very well developed. It is represented by the network bus routes, six metro lines (T-bane), trams, water transport and taxi. A common feature of all public transport in the city is extreme punctuality and comfort.

In the Oslo public transport salon, passengers can get a free leaflet with a timetable for this type of transport, which will indicate stops and departure times this route. In addition, at each stop there is a mandatory scheme of traffic in this area of ​​the city with a schedule. The driver announces the next stop to the passengers by voice. In addition, trams and buses above the driver's cab have a running line that every minute reminds of the route number, direction (terminal station), and the name of the next stop. The intervals of movement of all transport in Oslo are 5-10 minutes. The entrances to the bus, tram and railway car are located very low - the bottom step is flush with the sidewalk, which makes it quite comfortable for people with disabilities to use transport.

Photos of Oslo

Districts

The city of Oslo, together with the suburbs and satellite cities of Asker, Sandvika, Östre Bærum and Hollerud, forms the Greater Oslo agglomeration with a population of 1,422,443 inhabitants (2010).

On January 1, 2004, the reform of the administrative-territorial division took place in Oslo, as a result of which 17 districts were allocated. Below we provide a list of areas with population in brackets (as of January 1, 2009):

1. Gamle Oslo (41 452
2. Grünerløkka (43 961)
3. Sagene (33 631)
4. St. Hanshaugen (31 550)
5. Frogner (49058)
6. Ullern (29 839)
7. Vestre Aker (42 756)
8. Nordre Aker (45 024)
9. Bjerke (26 863)
10. Grorud (26 020)
11. Stovner (29 651)
12. Alna (46 029)
13. Østensjø (45 042)
14. Nordstrand (45 710)
15. Søndre Nordstrand (35 258)
16. Sentrum (905)
17. Marka (1615)

The districts of Sentrum (city center) and Marka (forest and agricultural areas) are not strictly politically independent districts.

As for the geographical division of the city, the Western part (Vestkanten) and the Eastern part (Ostkanten) of Oslo have been mentioned since the 19th century.

The population of the Western part is ethnic Norwegians and immigrants from European countries living in private houses and cottage settlements spread over the territory stretching to Baerum, one of the suburbs of Oslo. The number of inhabitants of this part of the city is 196 thousand people (as of 2009).

The standard of living of the local population is the highest in Norway, the average income of residents is almost twice the national average.

360 thousand people live in the Eastern part, of which 60-80% are immigrants from the North and East Africa, Central Asia. The population is accommodated in block-type multi-storey buildings built in 1985-1995. Closer to the city center are old five-story buildings, in which workers lived in the middle of the last century. The standard of living in this part of Oslo is the lowest in Norway.

The construction of the new housing stock is developing in concentric circles, diverging around the city along the highway in the direction of the surrounding cities: Drammen, Lilleström and Moss.

What to see in Oslo

Karl-Johans-Gate street

Karl Johans Gate is the main street of Oslo, crossing the city from east to west from the East Railway Station to the Palace of the Norwegian Kings. The street is famous for a large number of shops and stalls of street vendors, open-air galleries of artists, performances of musicians and actors right on the pavement.

Royal Palace

The Royal Palace is the residence of the reigning King Harald V. If the king is in the palace, his own standard, decorated with gold, flies over the roof of the building. If the king is absent, the flag of Crown Prince Haakon is visible above the palace. The entrance to the palace is closed, but you can walk along the Palace Square, admire the view of the center of Oslo and watch the changing of the guard - the royal guards in bowlers with a tuft of feathers and dark blue vests - at 13.30 daily.

Storting meeting building

The Norwegian parliament - the Storting - is located at the intersection of Karl Johans Gate and Akersgata. The Storting was established in 1814, but did not have a permanent meeting place at that time. In 1866, the Storting received its own residence - a neo-Romanesque palace, a round building with two wings on the sides, designed by the Swedish architect Emil Langlet. An interesting fact: the two lions guarding the building were created by the convict Gudbrand, who was involved in the construction due to a lack of labor. The parliamentarians liked the lions so much that Gudbrand was canceled according to the law death penalty. Entrance to the building is free, but visits are only possible in groups.

city ​​hall

The building of the city hall is one of the most noticeable in the appearance of Oslo. It was built between 1933 and 1950 by the famous architect Ragner Östberg. Despite the gloomy brown brick façade, the inside of the building is decorated with bright frescoes. It is worth seeing the Blue and Gold Halls, which were the venue for a banquet and a ball in honor of Nobel laureates. You can also climb the tower of the town hall and admire the panorama of the city.

Akershus Fortress

Akershus Castle and Fortress (XIII-XVIII centuries) is an ancient, legendary fortification in Oslo. The castle was founded by King Haakon V Magnusson in the 1290s. Akershus Fortress was the first example of stone architecture in Norway. Having survived the Swedish siege of 1308, the castle burned to the ground in 1527 as a result of a fire that started from a lightning strike, after which it was rebuilt.

In 1624, under the walls of the castle, King Christian IV founded a new city, which received the name of Christiania. Since 1811, the Akershus fortress has been used as a prison, and since the beginning of the last century it has been turned into a museum. During World War II, the Gestapo settled in the castle and owned the building for 5 years. After the war, restoration work continued, and in 1976 the castle was opened to the public.

The "museum" peninsula of Bygdø

The Bygde peninsula in Oslo is called the museum peninsula Byugde, as there are numerous museums here: the Norwegian Folk Open Air Museum, the Viking Ship Museum, the Fram Museum and the Kon-Tiki Museum. You can read more about these objects by clicking on the relevant links.

Vigelan Sculpture Park

One of the most famous sights of Oslo is Frogner Park, located in the western part of Oslo, more precisely, part of it is Vigelan Park, created by the self-taught sculptor Gustav Vigeland in 43 years. The park covers an area of ​​30 hectares, it features 227 sculptural groups made of granite and bronze, reflecting almost the entire gamut of human relationships. Most of the figures are people engaged in certain activities: running, wrestling, dancing, hugging, etc. At the same time, each sculpture is designed to convey to the visitor a certain set of emotions, often quite difficult to perceive.

Munch Museum

The Munch Museum is a museum dedicated to the work of the famous Norwegian artist and graphic artist Edvard Munch. Today the museum contains about 1100 paintings, 4500 drawings and 18000 graphic files of the master. In addition to the canvases, the museum exhibits some of the artist's personal belongings, including those that he bequeathed to the city of Oslo after his death in 1944. The grand opening of the museum took place in 1963. On August 22, 2004, 3 paintings by Munch were stolen from the museum by a group of armed criminals: "The Scream" and "Madonna".

St Olave's Cathedral

St. Olav's Cathedral was built from 1843 to 1856 under the direction of the architect Schirmer. The church keeps a wonderful altarpiece - an exact copy of the Sistine Madonna by Raphael, donated to the temple by Queen Josephine. The dome of the church, made of Italian marble, was donated to the temple by Pope Pius in 1857. In 1953, this modest parish church became Oslo's main Catholic cathedral. In 1957, the temple was restored by architects Tamas Tis-Evenson and Sigurd Ostberg. The structure has acquired a new main altar, columns in the naves made of Norwegian granite and a beautiful organ created at the Jogensen factory in Oslo.

Cathedral

The Cathedral in Oslo is the third temple standing on this site - on the Stortorvet market square. The first building here was built by Jarl Sigurd I the Crusader at the beginning of the 12th century in honor of Saint Hallvard, the patron saint of Oslo. For half a century Hallward Cathedral was the most important church in the city. In 1624, King Christian IV moved the city under the walls of the Akershus fortress, after which Hallvard Cathedral fell into disrepair and was almost completely destroyed. In 1639, the temple was rebuilt, but after 50 years it burned to the ground. Then a third temple was built in its place, which has survived to this day.

Old Church of Acre

The Romanesque-style Acre Old Church is actually the oldest church in Oslo. Its building was built by order of King Olav III the Peaceful in 1080 from limestone. The church stands on the site of a former silver mine, mentioned in the chronicles "History of Norway" since 1170. The church still carefully preserves legends, according to which countless treasures are hidden in ancient mine shafts, guarded by evil dragons.

Amusement park Tusenfried

Tusenfried Amusement Park is the most extreme amusement park in Scandinavia, located 15 km from Oslo, it was opened on June 11, 1988. The park has a completely unique attraction: "Speed ​​Monster", which is a racing car with a capacity of 6000 horsepower, reaching a speed of 90 km/h in two seconds. During the ride on the "Speed ​​Monster" the visitor falls into a state of weightlessness 7 times.

Holmenkollen Ski Jump

The Holmenkollen ski jump is Norway's sports mecca, the newest ski jump in the world and one of the first designer jumps to incorporate the latest technological innovations in its field. It is located at the highest point in Oslo.

Ski Museum

The Ski Museum is located inside the Holmenkollen Ski Jump. Skiing, as you know, is considered the national sport of the Norwegians. The exposition of the museum will acquaint tourists with the ancient history of skiing, with the use of skis by the famous polar explorers Nansen and Amundsen in their expeditions. In the Ski Museum you can also see different types of skis from ancient times to the present day.

Where to go in Oslo

Attractions

Museums and galleries

Where to eat and drink

Entertainment

Parks and recreation areas

Transport

Shops and markets

Private guides in Oslo

Russian private guides will help you get acquainted with Oslo in more detail.
Registered on the Experts.Tourister.Ru project.

Purchases

The most popular souvenir from Norway is a handmade wool sweater with traditional ornaments. The largest selection of sweaters is in the gift shop. The sweater can also be purchased at, where, by the way, there is also its own online store. Sweaters are also sold in all major souvenir shops, they cost about 700 crowns.

Of the Norwegian souvenirs that can and should be worn, it is worth bringing slippers, mittens, scarves, socks and T-shirts from Oslo. Slippers and mittens in Norway are sewn from various kinds skins and skins: elk, seal or seal (from 315 to 330 crowns). Scarves are also good - thick and long, which can be wrapped around the neck several times (up to 350 crowns).

You can buy thick woolen hand-knitted socks with national ornaments. They are sold not only in souvenir shops, but also in all other ready-made clothing stores (from 19 to 25 crowns). T-shirts with national symbols are also a popular tourist souvenir from Oslo (up to 450 kroons).

Another very popular souvenir from Norway is the troll figurine. Their range is huge - from trolls made of wood and ceramics to soft toys, you can buy them at almost any outlet in the country. Prices for trolls start from 35 crowns.
Also, as gifts for adults and children, you can bring a variety of toys from Oslo: elk, deer and norg dolls. The most popular Norg doll in Norway is Ludwig, with a sagging nose and a yellow scarf around his neck (from 100 crowns).

In addition, tourists bring from Norway in general and from Oslo in particular: products made of tin and silver, ceramics, porcelain, wooden plates and vases with paintings, skins of elks, deer and goats, woolen tapestries, fur products, glass.

Read more about shopping in the capital of Norway, souvenirs, shops, sales, tax refunds and much more in our special material. "Shopping in Oslo: shopping in Scandinavian colors".

Food and drink

The concept of Norwegian cuisine in general, and the cuisine of the city of Oslo in particular, known today, developed not so long ago - only 250 years ago, when potatoes were brought into the country, which soon became the basis of Norwegian cuisine. Until that moment, the cuisine of this northern country was dominated by simple products - herring, flour and milk, on the basis of which inventive Norwegians prepared a wide variety of dishes with a minimum set of ingredients.

Today's Norwegian cuisine consists of natural, low-fat dishes, characterized by the almost complete absence of sauces.

A large proportion of traditional Norwegian dishes are prepared from seafood. There is an assortment of fish on the table of local residents: herring, salmon, cod, trout, halibut, mackerel, catfish. During the summer season, the cuisine is enriched with excellent Norwegian shrimps. Excellent dishes are made from whale tenderloin, which can be bought at the fish market or ordered at a restaurant, although whale hunting is known to be very limited, so such dishes cannot be called cheap.

Norway's authentic seafood is herring, which the country has been trading for over a thousand years. IN winter period Norwegian farmers even fed herring to livestock when there was a problem with hay. There are a lot of recipes for cooking herring in national Norwegian cuisine: for example, it is beaten with wooden mallets, soaked and eaten with butter and mustard. Cold appetizers, pates, salads, soups, main courses are also prepared from herring, sandwiches are made with it and pies are baked. After passing the smoking procedure, the herring turns red and acquires a specific spicy smell.

Main fish dish local cuisine- "lutefisk" (lutefisk). Soaked in lye, dried cod is boiled, resulting in the fish becoming as juicy as freshly caught. It is served with pea pudding, fried bacon, potatoes, goat cheese and mustard.

As for meat dishes, fried pork ribs, as well as canned lamb and sheep heads, which are traditionally cooked for Christmas, are traditional dishes for Oslo residents. In the autumn-winter period, Norwegians serve “forikol” to the table - a dish of lamb meat with stewed cabbage and peppercorns, baked with brown flour sauce.

Norway is a country of hunters, so you can order elk and venison in many restaurants in Oslo. The meat of these animals is an environmentally friendly food, as they all live in natural conditions in the surrounding forests.

Brown goat cheese is traditional in Norway and comes in a wide variety of varieties and colors. The same applies to pastries: bread, buns and pies.

Of the drinks, Oslo residents prefer coffee and milk, in terms of per capita consumption of which the country occupies almost the first place in the world.

The most popular alcoholic drink in the country is akvavit, or akevitt (akevitt, Linie-akevitt). It is prepared from 40% potato or grain alcohol infused with spices and herbs. The tradition of preparing aquavit says that this drink acquires a real taste only when it crosses the equator (linie) twice, sailing in the hold of a ship to Australia and back. In winter, Oslo residents warm up with a hot liquor called gløgg, brewed from red wine with spices, raisins and almonds, very reminiscent of European mulled wine.
The people of Oslo also respect beer. The most popular local beer in the country is Rignes, which has quite a decent taste at the level of well-known European breweries.

The climate of Norway with bright summer nights contributes to better ripening of berries. It is here that the most delicious and fragrant strawberries in Europe grow. Therefore, the most popular dessert in Norwegian cuisine is strawberries with cream, called "strawberries in the snow."

Restaurants and cafes

The inventiveness of Norwegian cuisine has contributed to the fact that this country has given the world some of the world's most famous chefs, some of them work in the restaurants of the city of Oslo. As a rule, these are extra-class establishments included in the Michelin Catalog (you can see the list of "Michelin" restaurants in Oslo and read about them). Good restaurants with traditional cuisine, offering seafood, are located in the city center - on the Aker Brygge promenade or on Holmenkollen.

If the level of food in expensive restaurants is not consistent with the budget of your stay in Oslo, there are always many cafes and eateries cheaper in the city. They are located in the neighborhoods around Jongstorget, Grönland and Grünnerlökka.

Communications in Oslo

Phones

Payphones can be found throughout Norway. They can be red (accept coins of 1, 5 and 20 crowns, except coins with holes, and plastic phone cards), black (only accept coins) and green (only accept plastic phone cards). Phone cards are available in denominations of 35, 98 and 210 kroons and are sold at Narvesen kiosks or post offices. The cost of a minute of conversation starts from two kroons. Cheaper calls can be made from 17.00 on weekdays and during weekends and holidays.

The international code for Norway is 47 and the area code for Oslo is 2.

To call from Russia to Oslo, you need to dial: 8-10-47-2-subscriber's number. From Russia from a mobile phone: +47-2-subscriber's number. To call from Oslo to Russia, you need to dial 00-7-city code in Russia-subscriber number. A minute of conversation will cost 2 crowns.

In Oslo, the GSM 900/1800 communication standard is common. Roaming is available for all major Russian operators. You can save on phone calls to Russia by buying a Libara SIM card at any more or less large store in Oslo. In this case, a minute of conversation will cost 1 kroon.

Internet

Mobile Internet access in Oslo is provided by Russian operators Beeline and Megafon. The number of Wi-Fi access points is steadily growing in the city. Regular access is provided by Internet cafes and libraries. There are few Internet cafes, their location must be specified in advance. The cost of this service varies between 1-3 euros per hour. Most hotels and hostels offer free internet.

Safety

Norway in general, and its capital Oslo, are some of the quietest and safest tourist destinations in Europe. Just in case, tourists should write down or memorize useful reference numbers before the trip:

Useful Phones

Tourist information in Oslo

At the Oslo Tourist Office, travelers can find out everything they need about the city, change currency, buy tickets for excursions and the Oslo Pass, and buy souvenirs. In addition, employees information center help you book a hotel room. If tourists leave Oslo by train or bus, tax-free checks can be cashed at the tourist office.

Oslo Tourist Offices

• Oslo Pass. You can choose a hotel using a variety of filters: hotel star rating, hotel type (hotel, apartment, villa, hostel, etc.), cost, hotel location, ratings of people who visited the hotel, Wi-Fi availability and much more. .