We will be in Oslo in late September for a week's vacation. Do we have enought time to visit Bergen without feeling tired and rushed? Or is a day trip/boat cruise from Oslo to the fjiords a better idea? In other words, is there enough to see and do in Olso (and the immediate surronding area) over 6 days without planning a trip to Bergen? Any suggestions greatly appreciated-- this is an unexpected trip we are planning and are really looking forward to visiting Norwy for the first time! Thanks!

Hi,<BR>Lucky you!!! Norway is great!! I'm a big fan!! There is a lot to do and see in Oslo and the surroundings. If I was you I would go for the Fjords. The nature in Norway will take your breath away. And maybe you can still squezze Bergen in. But go for the Fjords. Norwegians are very nice and helpful and they all speak English!<BR>Have tons of fun.<BR>Hilsen (norwegian for "greetings"),<BR>Sue

Oslo is a cute little village, but 6 days there without utilizing the quick, scenic rail service to the majestic Bergen area is ridiculously conservative.

I heard there is a rampant rats epidemic in Oslo. Can anybody confirm/deny?

Visited Oslo earlier this year for 5 days in June, which meant the days were quite long and it never really got 'dark' outside. September will be a different story. Plan day trips to Bygdoy and visit the wonderful museums there, including the Viking Ship Museum. Leisurly walk along Karl Johans Gate and enjoy the restaurants and shopping along the way. Norli is a wonderful bookstore to browse in and is just off KJG and near the university. Near city hall, visit Aker Brygge for more shopping and dining. The Akershus is beaufiful and the Resistance Museum (free of charge) is something to see. Can't miss spending time at Vigeland Park and its assortment of sculptures-it's like nothing else you've ever seen. A MUST is the Norway in a Nutshell tour, which can be taken in one day, or broken up and made as long a trip as you want. The Norwegian fjord country is breathtaking. You can take the train from Oslo, overnight in Bergen, then return to Oslo. The cities are as different as night and day, and each has its own charm and character. Norway is an expensive destination, so be prepared for sticker shock, but somehow seeing the majestic fjords makes you forget that. The country is beautiful and we encountered only the friendliest people as we traveled. You could always take a day trip to LilleHammer by train to get out of the city if there's time left on your itinerary.<BR><BR>Please feel free to e-mail privately if you care to. ENJOY!

I think there's a bit of ambiguity in that the questioner is thinking of an advertised fjord daytrip by boat from Oslo. I don't expect it's anything like the famous fjords; the Oslo area is geographically dull with low rounded hills vs the towering mts way out west.<BR><BR>Now there might be a way to visit them stopping a bit short of Bergen and taking the bus/boat/train extensions to the left and right of the tracks from something like Voss (Myrdal?). If you go all the way into Bergen and take the conventional loops (more than just nutshell), you end up repeating the Voss/Bergen train section many times. Could be confirmed in a few minutes on various web pages.

<BR>I have to agree with jt. Norway is absolutely beautiful, but Oslo isa dull city with rather boring surrounding. The famous fjords are NOT near Oslo. If I only had 6 days I would skip Oslo and fly to Bergen and take a round trip from there. Feel free to contact me if you need advice to my e-mail as listed above.<BR>AA

Re: Rats... yes, its been called an epidemic by the tabloids. Meaning one sees rats occasionally in comparison with never a few years ago - has been a minor problem in some outdoors restaurants in the city centre (esp. Saras Telt on Karl Johan). Nothing to worry about - worst that can happen is you see one.<BR><BR>That being said, I ditto those who say skip Oslo, head west. Town's nice enough, but there isn't much special about it.

Oslo, boring? I don't think so! There's a lot of really cool stuff to see there and it's a great place to walk around and shop.

Thanks for all the great information. Can someone please give me a description of what the "Norway in a Nutshell" tour is? How can it be done in a day? Where is there information on it (tour book, Fodors, etc.?) Can it be train only? Thanks.

Your last question equals another explicit posting regarding "the nutshell", hence I'll give my comments there.<BR>Anyway, Oslo is not at all dull, and the mentioned rat problem is silly to mention. When that is said, yes there have been thousands and thousands of rats discovered and killed recently. Reason is simple: Every time new holes are dug to give place for new buildings, another tunnell etc, the rats will appear, and subsequently killed. For the workers down there I guess it's a daily and common matter. For the rest of Oslo, the problem does not exist.<BR>Bjorn, Oslo

I was in Oslo in June and had a wonderful time. Debbie listed many interesting things to do. I’d like to add the Oslo City Hall, I haven’t often seen screamin’ art deco like that.<BR><BR>I also liked the Munch Museum. If you’re a fan of impressionism painting, it’s a must. He’s a bit more twisted than most of the impressionist painters. I enjoyed seeing his “Scream,” “Murderer” and “Sick Room.” <BR>

Here is how Norway in Nutshell can be done in one day from Oslo... you must stop short of Bergen in Voss as I posted elsewhere. The following web site gives the exact train times (and the wrong Euro prices; "Roundtrip from Oslo via Voss" should be 152, not 178).<BR>Look at the gorgeous fjord photos on all their trip ads!!!!<BR>http://www.fjord-tours.com/eng/notteskall-e.html

Do a keyword search on Norway in A Nutshell for more detailed information about this amazing tour. Also, rely on Bjorn's posts-we saw so much more of Oslo than we would have if it weren't for him! Thanks, Bjorn for making our trip earlier this year so wonderful. We especially enjoyed the charming little restaurant on Lille Herbern on Bygdoy, where even the waitress, after translating the menu into English for us, asked how, as tourists, we found the place-we mentioned that it was highly recommended by a friend from Oslo. IMHO, you are the most definitive source of Oslo information on this forum. Glad to see you're back!

Having returned from Norway three weeks ago, I found that the two nights and two days we spent in Oslo to be not nearly enough time. It is a beautiful city, with many things to do. Debbie's comments were spot on. I would add a trip to the National Gallery, which has a number of the Munch paintings, and other paintings by Norweigian and other artists. It's free, and just the right size, so you don't have to spend all day there. I will repeat -- FREE. And probably one of the best art museums I've been to. Ever. Artists that I've never heard of before that I will now, always remember.<BR><BR>I disagree, however, that it is expensive, with one exception: alcoholic beverages. There is a horrendous tax on alcohol, so a glass of wine cost the equivalent of $10 and a beer about $8. On the other hand, we stayed at a really nice hotel in a big room that accommodated our family of 3 for $125/night with a huge all you can eat buffet breakfast. One of the hotels recommended by Bjorn (thank you, Bjorn). <BR><BR>The trams were so much fun. Get a 24 hour or longer pass. The pass gives you access to the boats (if they're still going at this time of year) to the Viking Ship museum. The area around that museum is really beautiful. The Vigeland Sculpture Park was in the oh-my-god-wow! category. If its warm, just on the other side of the monolith is a little outdoor stand that has the best shaved ice since Hawaii.<BR><BR>We had to race through it all, and we still didn't get to the ski jump or the amusement park (I'm big on wooden roller coasters, and word has it, they've got a fantastic one there).<BR><BR>We did the Norway in a Nutshell tour from Oslo to Bergen; spent the night in Bergen, then headed back to Oslo the following day. That is indeed worth a trip, but you can play it by ear. You should be able to do both without feeling rushed. One thing though. I would take the overnight train back to Oslo from Bergen and spend the entire day in Bergen as well as sleeping there at the end of the nutshell thing.

I am leaving for Scandinavia next week. I am flying into Copenhagen spending 4 days there, I am taking an overnight ferry to Oslo for 2 nights. I am staying at the Grand Hotel. Then I am off to see the Fjords. I have not been able to find out if any 2 or 3 day Fjord cruises are available. I can devote 6 or 7 days in total to Norway.

Thanks Shannon, Debbie and JT! This is all GREAT information.<BR>Please forward any and all restaurant recommendations!<BR>Bjorn, what is the weather like in late September?<BR>Thanks again!

Hi again. Well, we had our 13 y.o. with us, so I have to admit we spent a lot of time at every branch of Peppe's Pizza throughout Norway. Which was, actually, very good Chicago style pizza, and good value for money. Good ceasar salad too.<BR>But for "real" food, there are a bunch of good restaurants along the Aker Brygge (wharf area on the other side of City Hall). We had a GREAT meal at a place called something like D.J. Louise's -- fantastic fresh seafood seasoned just right, and a pretty darned decent bottle of wine. For the three of us (and my son can pack in the salmon), with libations, it came to just over $100 (about $35-40 of which was for the wine). I seem to recall a place called Lofoten or something like that on the wharf that also looked good.<BR><BR>On weather: check out www.cnn.com/weather. From there, scroll down to "world" and under choose a region: Europe (duh!), then find Oslo and click the "go" button. It gives you a five day forecast, which changes daily, and gives the highs and lows in both farenheit and centigrade. I spent a lot of time checking that out before I left, and it was really useful.

M.<BR>I'm sorr for this late response. Also for my mailserver beeing down, in case you have forwarded anything. Tomorrow I hope things will be on track, though.<BR><BR>Wheater late September: Must expect showers west of the mountains. Eastern part (Oslo) tends to have bright days. But you never can tell. Last sept was dreadful all over.<BR>This year summer semems not to end at all. August already have borken all records, and so far September sun hours and temperatures are heading for unbeatable records!! In fact, last Sunday we had a Oslo fjord sea swim. 21C in air, 20 in the sea.<BR>But autumn for sure will come. Do not expect more than 12-15C during day.<BR><BR>Most important though is the daylight hours. Last week of Sept sun will rise in Oslo app 7 and set app 7. Bergen 20 minutes later.<BR><BR>Meaning that any excursion should take this into regard.<BR><BR>Nutshell roundtrip from Oslo within one day? Forget about it. Most probably the Flam Gudvangenn ferry will sail once a day: A morning trip eastbound, and a 1500-sailing from Flam to Gudvangen. Meaning youll have to take the 820 or something from Oslo. <BR>Then it is possible to get the night train back from Voss, but what is to be experienced in darkness that you cannot equally well experience at home?<BR>My suggestion therefore is to make an overnight at Stalheim. Youll get there before dark. (http://www.stalheim.com ) Then an early! rise to connect with the Bergen Oslo day express from Voss.<BR>OR: Make an extra day in Bergen. Preferably with an overnight before returning to Oslo by the morning train.<BR><BR>OR: Make the Oslo-Bergen one-way nutshell (with Stalheim overnighting) Plane back.<BR><BR>Bjorn, Oslo

M<BR>Oslo restaurants.<BR>Louise's at Aker Brygge has a good reputation. The fish restaurant Lofoten also at Aker Brygge has a number one rep concerning seafood, though.<BR>When that is said, I would try to find other places to eat than AB, both regarding price and quality.<BR>And as prices are high all over (except maybe for some ethnic kitchens, espescially in the Grunerlokka area), I'd rather find a high quality than a 13 pr dozen restaurant.<BR>Like Palace Grill, by example. Very small, and disappointingly no table reservation. The small restaurant is run by the same persons that run the big bar and the backyard cafe in the same building. Best advice is to get there by the opening at 5!! (Bar opens before) and put yourself on the list. Thenn relax in the bar the 30-120 minutes it may take to get your table. You will never forget the tratment and the wines at Palace Grill!<BR>Bjorn, Oslo