Comment from TheBon
Time: July 14, 2008, 10:18 pm

Go see the sculptures at the Vigeland museet og parken Also, the Norsk Folkemuseum. Lots of very interesting architecture. I also went to see the ski jump from the Olympics and a lot of other architecture-related things. I’ve been told Bergen is spectacularly beautiful and a striking contrast to the very cold war feeling I got from Oslo.

Comment from stinkerbell
Time: July 14, 2008, 10:35 pm

lived there 8 years ago and I can second the above recommendation about going to Vigeland park. Also go to Akers Brygge, nice place to hang out. If you can manage I highly suggest the Norway in a Nutshell train ride (to Bergen where I also lived) and rides in the fjords. will try to think of more off the top of my head but those would be my DO NOT MISS items :)

Comment from Kirsten
Time: July 15, 2008, 12:01 am

I agree with the other commenters about the trip to Vigeland Park. Also, we really enjoyed a boat trip around Oslo Fjord. The Viking ship museum is worthwhile.

Comment from Jodi
Time: July 15, 2008, 12:26 am

Vigeland is a must! I also really enjoyed seeing Grieg’s home/studio/burial place. The fjords are my favorite part…

Comment from Vilde
Time: July 15, 2008, 12:49 am

I second the Norway in Nutshell ride! It isn’t a “tour” in the sense of having a guide, just a series of transportation tickets to that takes you to some spectacular places.

And yes: don’t miss the folk museum! Don’t miss the inside exhibit - they have some wonderful old spinning wheels. The Munch museum is also fun and quite small, but the main Oslo art museum is also wonderful.

Enjoy! Norway in the summer is a rare treat.

Comment from Cirilia
Time: July 15, 2008, 3:29 am

Well…you should definitely download the song “Oslo in the Summertime” by Of Montreal. It’s AWESOME, and you can compare and contrast, the song and the experience!

Comment from SAS
Time: July 15, 2008, 4:24 am

Camping in Oslo sounds completely lovely as well as the train ride! Cannot wait to see some photos.

Comment from Heather
Time: July 15, 2008, 4:41 am

Have fun Ysolda! Looking forward to hearing about it as Norway is on my list of “where to visit”.

Comment from Birgitte
Time: July 15, 2008, 6:52 am

Well, my best recommendations have already been mentioned: The Norway in a Nutshell trips to the fjords is what I would highly recommend (I know Scotland has some nice, wild scenery as well, but I think this will beat it ;)) - and in Oslo I’d also go for the Viking ship museum at Bygdøy (preferably go there by boat). Also, if you’d like to hang out in a cosy part of town with small shops, etc. go to Grünerløkka.
If you should go somewhere knitting/crafting-related (leave your brother at a café ;)) I think you should go to the Husfliden store next to the cathedral (there’s one by the ferries as well, but it’s not quite as nice). Husfliden stores are found all over Norway and apart from selling Norwegian yarn (Rauma, etc.) they also stock all other kinds of crafted Norwegian items.
I will actually be going to Oslo myself for a weekend from the 1st of August! No time for going to the fjords, but I will do the other things myself :D

Comment from Line
Time: July 15, 2008, 7:51 am

oooOO I’m from Oslo! I had no idea that your brother was living there!
I live in Copenhagen at the moment, but I’m going home next week!

I can recommend the train from Oslo to Bergen, or Stavanger, there is really great scenery, especially past Kristiansand. But it takes a while, around 8-10 hours, I think.

And maybe you’ll have time to visit Stitch and Bitch Oslo, I think they meet every Thursday, they have a group on Ravelry.

Comment from Line
Time: July 15, 2008, 7:53 am

I just read that you are going WITH your brother… I don’t know why I though he was living there all of a sudden.

Comment from Ebren
Time: July 15, 2008, 8:00 am

Oohh, I’m going to Oslo in September, so will watch this thread with interest. :)

Comment from Siena
Time: July 15, 2008, 8:10 am

Good choice of holiday goal, our country is beautiful in summer! Must see in Oslo: Vigelandsparken, the Munch museum and national gallery (if art is your thing). If the sun is shining, the best place to be is on the small islands in the Oslo fjord. Take the ferry from the town center (just takes a few minutes) and you can choose between several places with beaches and forest and relaxed atmosphere.
If you like hiking, take the tram to the end station and go into Nordmarka.

The train ride to Bergen has beautiful scenery and Bergen is gorgeous with old wooden buildings in narrow brick streets. Do not miss the cable car that gives you a stunning view of the surroundings.

And of course: Do visit northern Norway once, when you have more time.

Comment from Katherine
Time: July 15, 2008, 10:05 am

We’re touring Scandinavia for our honeymoon next year so I’ll be keeping any eye on suggestions and your experiences here. I recommend looking at Happy Cow for vegetarian/vegan places and also using the Guardian’s online Been There guide. And I saved this recently: http://bloesem.blogs.com/pages/christine-reporting-Oslo.html

Comment from Alice from france
Time: July 15, 2008, 11:58 am

Good Holidays Ysolda! I ever been in Norway but i was like five or four years old but in my memory the fjord was really stunning and viking museum too, the one with the viking boat, really impressive!
If i remember good oslo downtown is closed to car or maybe i mix with bergen?

Anyways spend with you brother good time there! Norway is a beautiful country!

Comment from Cornflower
Time: July 15, 2008, 12:47 pm

Have a wonderful time!

Comment from Sally
Time: July 15, 2008, 6:35 pm

I second the Husfliden recommendation - it’s a lovely shop. They sell everything to do with the folk costumes - gorgeous stuff. They have lots of yarn too. They have a website (not in english unfortunately, but the pictures are good): http://www.husfliden.no/hunf/Layoutpage.aspx?containerid=5002&pageid=5001
Look for yarn under “Garn” then “Garn kvaliteter”. Costumes are “bunad”. And I seem to remember a good cafe near the biggest shop which might come in handy…

Comment from Katie
Time: July 15, 2008, 9:15 pm

Lucky you! I spent a couple of days in Oslo last month - there’s an exhibition about the restoration of the stolen Scream and Madonna paintings there at the moment. I also found the Husfliden shop too, it was fabulous, my poor friends looked so bored as I wandered around ;o) The address is on this link (it’s very central): http://toveb.typepad.com/photos/garnbutiker/63husfliden.html (there are some other Oslo yarn recommendations on the same website too). Have fun!

Comment from Katie
Time: July 16, 2008, 7:22 am

ETA above that the exhibition is as the Munch museum, oops, sorry, thought I’d written that!

Comment from knitlass
Time: July 16, 2008, 12:48 pm

I was in Oslo for a few hours once, in between flights and managed to cram in a couple of things - the most memorable was looking at a painting of daisies in moonlight -it was in the same gallery as the scream, but (i thought) much more interesting. I can still picture it, and remember standing it front of it for ages. Food for the soul.

Comment from Ellie
Time: July 16, 2008, 2:25 pm

Hi there! Got family there and been many, many times. I second the Munch Museum, and also a cake shop (actually a pair of them) called Pascal which is absolutely amazing. And a cafe called Teddy’s which has kept the same decor since the 1950s. The sculpture park is where my Dad proposed to my Mum and is well worth a visit (because it’s pretty, not because of my parents’ engagement). Ummmm, the Gronelokke area is cool. And if you can take the train to Bergen, do. It’s worth it just for the train ride, but it’s a beautiful town with a great art and music scene. Sort of like a Scandinavian version of San Francisco. With a fish market, if that sort of thing rings your bell.

Comment from Ellie
Time: July 16, 2008, 2:28 pm

Oh, also, be sure to eat lots of skolebrod, lefsa, wienerbrod, tosca kake and other Norwegian baked stuff. It’s a great country if starchy carbs are your poison.

Comment from Janet MF
Time: July 17, 2008, 3:12 am

I fell in love with Bergen, going up in the cable car. It was raining but that didn’t detract from the beauty of the place.

Loved the photo of Arthur’s seat. How many time’s have I trolled to the top with the children in my Edinburgh days. My maternity hospital room looked out on Arthur’s seat (Elsie Ingles - now closed sadly). How I miss Edinburgh!

Ah well. Life moves on.

Enjoy your holiday.

Janet MF up in Yellowknife, Canada

Comment from stariel
Time: July 17, 2008, 3:49 am

I studied abroad in Oslo in 2002, but it looks like you’ve already gotten lots of great recommendations. So just have tons of fun and say hi to Oslo for me.

Comment from karen
Time: July 17, 2008, 5:32 am

Holmenkollen ski jump, Viking ships museum, picnic at Vigeland Sculpture Park, Husfliden, Folk Museum, eat some nummy yogurt, go anywhere near or on the water, and is it Akershus where the old homesteads are grouped together?? Have fun! (Ha det bra!)

Comment from Lisbeth Bula
Time: July 17, 2008, 8:04 am

I live a 2 1/2 hour drive from Oslo (Rjukan) and have a sister living close to the city. Every year we do something touristy in Oslo. Vigeland- a must. This year we did a walk along the Aker river from the part of town called Bjølsen down to Grunerløkka (mentioned in another comment to this post). Then we walked over to the Munch museum to see the famous paintings. The botanical gardens is also right there. A great day! (have half the walk documented at my old blog so far: http//:lisbethbula.blogspot.com)
One year we did a tour a the castle that you’ll find right at the end of Karl Johan, the main street down town.
Have fun! Great blog and web site you have!

Comment from Lisbeth Bula
Time: July 17, 2008, 8:05 am

..forgot to add my new blog adress…

Comment from marie
Time: July 17, 2008, 11:17 pm

i second the bergen and Norway in a nutshell tour - much more interesting than Oslo! The trainride to bergen takes six hours and takes you across the mountains and down to the coast. Bergen is a lovely place, and you can go yarnshopping at pinnsvindesign. Then you go back to Oslo via the nutshell tour, it takes a day to go back to oslo this way.

Comment from Sissel
Time: July 18, 2008, 8:05 am

I would recommend the Tech museum, http://museumsnett.no/ntm/
This site lists the museums and it has an english button too.
I do hope you enjoy your trip to Oslo, The weather should be nice. I live up north but are visiting family down south, We are spending our day in Oslo today and I have my own yarny agenda. Hirr Hirr

Comment from lucia
Time: July 18, 2008, 5:12 pm

I’d recommend Stranda, or Geiranger fjord, the second largest and one of Norway’s most beautiful fjord. And on the trip, you can also combine with other sight seeing spots such as the Trollstige foss (the waterfall of the Troll Ladder), etc. You can take a bus there, around 8 hours one way.

The Folk Museum at Bygdøy in Oslo is pretty cool, and maybe a good choice for both you and your brother since the museum also has a lot of handwork collection. I remember there is a workshop or an exhibition in a small cabin where some ladies demonstrate how to re-use and mend old outfits by old techniques. Cool place!

there are several yarn shops in Oslo. Husfliden is a good choice. In Oslo city, Oslo’s biggest shopping center, there are Strikkedilla. There is another one (sorry, I don’t remember the name)by the side of the subway station at Majorstua in Oslo.

Every saturday there is the handwork mass or market at the church ground next to the shopping street Karl Johan in Oslo. Sorry, I forget the name of the church, but it is pretty obvious, since there is only one big church next to the shopping street.

Comment from Teaandcakes
Time: July 20, 2008, 3:03 pm

I was in Norway a couple of years ago - veggie food wasn’t easy to find, but we did ok.
Vigeland sculpture park was awesome, and I’d also really recommend the Norway in a Nutshell trip - we decided to do pretty much the same trip but book all the tickets independently, and it really only meant a bit more hassle at times (eg people with the NiN tickets got priority on the boats, and one of the bus journeys only went twice a day if you weren’t on that trip). If I did it again I’d just get the NiN tickets.

Comment from glittrgirl
Time: July 21, 2008, 2:12 pm

I stayed at Bogstad Camping years and years and years ago with my parents in a cabin. I remember getting a bus from there into Oslo which was very convenient…. Can’t make any further recommendations than above - but Theresa is not far from Oslo …… I did find this though, which looked interesting…

And the Kon Tiki museum was good, as was the Museum which holds the Fram…

If you do the train ride up to Bergen (which is really pretty) you should try and get to the National Knitting Museum there….

Have fun!

Comment from Emily
Time: July 30, 2008, 9:16 pm

All of the above suggestions are excellent. We spent almost a whole day at the Folk Museum and loved it. I also really enjoyed the Kunstindustrimuseet, Oslo’s Museum of Decorative Arts. They have a collection of clothing that is stunning.
We also went to the Blaafarveverket (a museum dedicated to cobalt mining) several hours outside of Oslo - it’s a fascinating place, with lots of information about the history of Norway’s trade with China and the glass-blowing industry. And there is a cafe onsite that serves the BEST Norwegian style pancakes with strawberries and cream. Mmmm.
Have a wonderful time!

Comment from Helene
Time: August 10, 2008, 8:15 am

Have you been on your trip yet? If not I have to agree with those recomending the viking ship museum, very interresting both for its architecture and it’s contents :)

If you want to see some wild scenery I have a better guggestion than Bergen, wich has been mentioned a couple of times here. The train from Oslo will take you stright through one of the most spectacular valleys in Norway, and right to the fjords - to Åndalsnes. There you will find one of Norways leading spinnerys - Rauma Ullvarefabrikk/Rauma yarns.
http://www.raumabanen.com/index2.php
(Be sure to click the little pictures on the left!)