Norway Trip Part 5 – Oslo
Our journey across Norway was coming towards its end. So far we had travelled to Bergen where we spent a day exploring the city. We’d then taken the Bergen to Oslo train as far as Voss where we spent the day running in the hills, walking in gorges and chilling by the lakeside. We’d then detoured to Gudvangen and spent two days kayaking up the Nærøysfjord and down the Aurlandsfjord to Undredal, complete with some wild camping overnight near Drydal. We’d then boarded a boat to Flåm, ridden the amazing Flåm railway to Myrdal and rejoined the Bergen to Oslo train as far as Gol where we spent another day exploring the town and surrounding hills.
Train to Oslo
We were now leaving the hills behind and heading back towards the city. We were off to the Capital, Oslo, for some cultural experiences. This part of the train journey was a few hours long so we’d booked tickets in the Pluss carriage. These have upgraded seats, better headrests, clever tables, more legroom and free tea and coffee on hand. To be honest, it wasn’t really necessary as the standard carriages were more than comfortable enough, but we didn’t know that when booking.
We settled into our seats and watched the world go by.
The forested slopes and rushing rivers of the mountains gave way to more agricultural lands with rolling hills and fields. The railway was once again lined by lupins. The rivers became wider and lazier and we followed the edge of some huge lakes. The lake of Krøderen went on forever and then we travelled south along the tranquil shores of lake Tyrifjorden. Cabins and chalets were dotted along the lakeside and people were out in boats, swimming and SUPing on its waters. Lily pads grew in the more sheltered bays.
Gradually the lakes narrowed and we were following a river that had a number of hydro-power dams along its length. The landscape changed from agricultural farmland into more urban landscapes as we pulled into the small city of Drammen (pop. c. 68,000). Temperatures outside were up to 32ºC by now. We continued on through ever-increasing urbanisation towards the capital city of Oslo and the end of the line. We got off the train and were catapulted into the usual hustle and bustle of the transport hub in a major city.
There were people rushing everywhere and information overload! We took some time to download the apps we’d need to buy tickets for the next part of our journey – a tube ride a few stops out of the city to our hotel for the night.
It was all fairly straight forward and we were soon travelling with the commuters on the metro. We got off at the correct stop, found our bearings and within a few minutes walked to the hotel where we checked in and took refuge in the peace, quiet and air-conditioned coolness of the hotel room. It was now quite late in the evening. We’d eaten on the train (once the hotdogs had been halved in price to reduce food waste!). We therefore just chilled in the room, made plans for tomorrow and then went to bed.
Oslo
The following morning we had a large breakfast courtesy of the buffet breakfast. The Scandic Helsfyr hotel was a large hotel and it was busy for the first hour at breakfast, Soon these people headed off in a convoy of coaches and things became a little quieter. We had a leisurely breakfast and then once again packed up our rucksacks, loaded them onto our backs and fronts and checked out of the hotel. We were heading back into Oslo for the day but would then head out to an airport hotel in the evening ready for a flight home tomorrow morning.
After a short metro ride into Oslo Central we found the luggage lockers and left most of our stuff there for the day. We then found our way out of the station and headed into the impressive architecture, statues and fountains of Oslo. Old met new here as traditional buildings were overlooked by modern towers. The Oslo Library building looked impressive. Things were relatively quiet at this time of day so we wandered around the wide walkways and sculptures and then onto the equally impressive Opera House.
The Opera House has a roof that you can walk on so we walked up to the top for some views out over the harbour and the rest of the city.
Back on terra-firma, we walked past a city beach where people were already swimming in the water and sun-bathing in the ever-rising temperatures. Once again the sun was shining and temperatures in the low 30’s were expected.
We headed off to the Edvard Munch Museum. This was another impressive building that houses a number of galleries and exhibitions dedicated to Edvard Munch. It contains many of his artworks, including of course the most famous of them all, The Scream.
I headed up to the top to take in the views, but it was too high and too exposed for Anna. We stopped for a while in the restaurant for drinks and a ‘Scream Burger’. Anna was a little more sensible with her choice and went with waffles!
Oslo Boat Trip
We then decided that the city was getting a little too busy and a little too hot for us. A boat trip with hopefully a cooling breeze was in order. We wandered through the streets of Oslo to another quayside in front of the Oslo Town Hall. This was an imposing building completed in 1950 and had huge pedestrianised areas and statues in front of it. We sat in the shade for a while watching people go by and waiting for our boat.
We were soon onboard. It was quite busy but we had a table to ourselves and enjoyed a two-hour trip out around the harbourside and into the Inner Oslofjord. We passed a number of islands with holiday chalets on them and people swimming in the waters. There was boat traffic of all sizes everywhere, from sea kayakers up to massive cruise ships and ferries.
The commentary from the sightseeing boat was interesting. It was however very hot and despite being on a boat there was no breeze at all.
Nearly time to head home
Back on dry land, we wandered through the busy streets of Oslo, past the Norwegian Parliament buildings and fountains where people were cooling off in the waters. We passed statues and the Cathedral and then headed back into the central station.
Here we retrieved our luggage and found the train (and tickets) for the express train to the airport. This took us out of the city through more rolling fields to the airport where we walked to our hotel for the night. We treated ourselves to a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant and then headed off to bed ready for an early morning start the next day.
Homeward Bound
No breakfast in the hotel for us today as we needed to be at the airport for 6am. We were there on time of course and soon had our luggage dropped off and were checked in for our flights. We had breakfast en route to the gate and then had an easy flight back to Manchester and a pleasant drive home. Amazingly all planes, trains, boats, buses, trams and everything else had been on time and ran smoothly. The clear skies meant that we had good views of Norway from the air, even if we flew quite a way further south than we had travelled over land.
Back at home we unpacked, sorting things out and relaxed for the afternoon. We may have had a sneaky look at some more kayaking trips in the evening but we did resist booking anything!
All in all, it had been an excellent trip. We felt as though we got to see many different sides of Norway. Two major cities, two impressive fjords, lakes, rivers, mountains, forests, various towns, ski resorts and many different landscapes. Oh, and some waterfalls! That said, it also left us wanting more. We only travelled between Bergan and Oslo so stayed in the south, we now want to explore some of Norway’s northern reaches. Plush Hotels, a lakeside hostel, ski chalets and wild camping meant that accommodation was varied too. All were clean, comfortable and quiet. Actually, the camping wasn’t that comfortable but that’s to be expected. The weather was amazing throughout, if a little too hot for us. Not something you’d expect from Norway. The entire place had a feeling of safety and calmness too. I think we’ll be heading back at some point.
1 Response
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
What an absolutely amazing, varied holiday. It must have taken a lot of research and organisation ,but well worth it .That’s the bit that puts me off travelling!
So glad you both had a great time x