The train journey was six and a half hours, and it was a direct train with no change. The scenery along the way was just okay to us.

We chose this over flying because of a few reasons. We already had the Eurail global pass from traveling to different countries on this trip. It gave us flexibility to change our journeys without penalty up to the last minute. Airports are usually situated away from the city centers, but train stations are right at the city centers. No security check in and no allocating the check in time and transportation to the airports.

We are seniors, Norway public transportation gives fifty percent discounts even to foreigners. We enjoyed the bus and boat travels in Norway more than the train journeys. We had been to Switzerland, and have to say the train journeys scenery in Switzerland were unmatchable.

Wonderful report. Thank you for showcasing Trondheim, it was just a short stop on our northbound Hurtigruten years ago, so didn't get to see much beyond the cathedral and the bridge.

We like Trondheim. It is very family oriented. On good days, you can take the free boats to visit a few of its islands nearby. There are hiking trails near Trondheim that are easily accessible by cars. We enjoyed the express boat journey from Kristiansund to Trondheim.
I would think the ferry boat from Bodo to Moskenes will be just as nice.

Thanks for following along. Have fun planning your Norway trip.

After seeing the Vigeland Sculptures, we took a bus to the city center. There was quite a crowd in the city center. We found out later that it was a Cultural Night in Oslo city center, and most of the city museums were free to visit.

We saw a line forming outside the Norwegian parliament (Stortinget). We asked the security by the door and were told that the Parliament was opened for public viewing on Cultural Night.


Line forming by the Norwegian Parliament


Lego model display of Norwegian Parliament

Upstairs to the Chamber of seats






Chamber of seats


Norwegian Parliament

Norwegian Parliament is the supreme arena for political debate and decision-making in the Kingdom of Norway.

We joined the queue and were among the first evening tour group going in for the viewing. It was indeed a fruitful and enjoyable visit for the evening.

We decided to buy the 72 hour Oslo pass since the weather forecast for the next few days would be rainy. We would visit the museums and participate other activities that were included in the Oslo pass. One of them would be a walking tour of the city.

We also could use the public transportation with the Oslo pass which includes the tram, subway, bus and public ferry. It also includes the local trains to the Oslo Airport Gardermoen, but not the AirPort Express train.

We planned to use our first day pass to visit the Bygdøy peninsula. It is a scenic, museum-rich peninsula in Oslo, known for its beautiful nature (forests, beaches, trails) and major cultural sites like the Viking Ship Museum, Fram Museum, Kon-Tiki Museum, and the open-air Norwegian Folk Museum. It is easily accessible by bus or a seasonal ferry from the city center.

Since it was a rainy day, we could not do much of the scenic trails on the peninsula. The Viking Ship Museum was also closed for renovation. We were left with the remaining three museums to visit, and it was plentiful to fill a rainy day.

We took the ferry from the dock near the city hall to the peninsula. It was raining pretty hard when we started the day, but did ease out as the day went on.

The first museum we visited was the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History (Norse Folkemuseum).

The Key Features as described on the website:

• Open-Air Museum: A collection of 160 historic buildings from different regions and time periods, including log houses, working-class homes, and a 1200s stave church.
• Indoor Exhibits: Complement the outdoor area with artifacts and displays on Norwegian cultural evolution.
• Cultural Activities: Features reenactors in period attire performing traditional dances and crafts during the summer.
• Variety of Buildings: Includes a 1928 gas station, a vicarage, and a liquor store, providing a diverse look at Norwegian life.

There was indeed a lot to see and explore in this museum, and we really enjoyed the visit.

Ferry to Bygdøy peninsula


Norwegian Museum of Cultural History (Norse Folkemuseum):

Indoor Exhibits






Open-Air Museum






























Beautiful stave church

Hi Cherthor, I figure you have a very good reason on why you choose train over plane. I suspect when you add in the extra time to get to the airport, security check etc, you wouldn't save that much time by flying. you said you stayed in the same hotel in Oslo as in April, can you tell me which one/ where?

I'm v interested in your Oslo segment as we will have 2 full days IN Oslo when we visit in June. One day will be for Bygdøy, and the Viking ship museum will still be closed. I wasn't sure if we can fit all 3 museums (Folk, Kon-Tiki, and Fram) in one day, but it sounds like it's doable? Esp if we skip the indoor exhibit of Folk museum? Is the Stave church original (and moved there from elsewhere) or is it a reproduction?

When you take the ferry - looks like you get off at the first stop at Dronningen. How did you get from there to Kon-Tiki - is it walking distance or did you hop back on the ferry?

YK,

The stave church was originally from Gol. The materials of the church were transported to the new site, then reconstructed to its original style . Many of the original murals and artifacts still exist within Gol Stave Church today.

We did get off at Dronningen and walked to the Folk museum. You can also take bus 30, it will stop at the front of the museum but we preferred the ferry. We took the bus 30 to Fram and Kon-Tikki museums after the Folk museum. We finished visiting all the 3 museums before 3pm, took a ferry back to the City Hall dock, and managed to visit the interior of the City Hall before its closing time.(don’t miss going inside the City Hall, its mural walls are very impressive)

Oslo City is very easy to get around with its transportation and also very walkable. We stayed at the Sommerro Hotel by the Strawberry chains. It is near the Royal Palace and easily accessible to the harbor by walking or by public transit.

After visiting Folk Museum, we took a short bus ride(#30) to the Kon-Tiki museum, and the FRAM museum is just situated next to it.

The Kon-Tiki Museum showcases the expeditions of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, featuring his original balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki and the reed boat Ra II.










The Fram Museum is dedicated to Norwegian polar exploration, centered around the original ship Fram which visitors can board and explore. It tells the story of explorers like Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, and Roald Amundsen, depicting their expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic.






After visited these two museums, we took the ferry back to the City Hall docking area. The ferry ride gave us a glimpse of the Oslo city skyline as the rain had stopped.


Bygdoy ferry boat



City Hall




The City Hall was still open for the last hour before closing when we arrived. We happily ventured inside the building as we missed the opening hour on our last visit in April. It's well worth going inside. The interior contrasts with the simplistic outside façade. The walls of the main hall are decorated with vivid murals depicting Norwegian history and culture, as well as scenes from World War II. It is strikingly impressive when inside the building.

Thanks for all the details! This is v useful. May I ask why you chose to take Bus 30 between folk museum and Kon-Tiki, vs taking the ferry? Is it mostly the bus being more frequent (and less walking)? The timings you provide is also very useful; we will try to go see all 3 on our day. My son and husband are very interested in boats so they might spend more time in the latter 2 museums, but it sounds like we should still be able to fit all 3 in (within 6 hours?), esp if we skip/quickly walk through the indoor section of the folk museum. I did not know about the Oslo city hall - and it looks like they offer free guided tours in the summer when we are there.

It was more of convenience to take the bus when we went to the museums. Bus stop was just outside the Folk Museum whereas it required us to walk to ferry slip. It is not far between the museums and could be reached by walking for 20 minutes.
If you do not have a lot of time on the way back to the city hall, just go in and take a look, you won’t regret it.

Go early in the morning for the island’s museums to avoid the crowds when they first open. In summer, the line could be long for the ferry also to the museums.

Our next day’s plan was to visit the Natural History Museum and join the walking tour to Grunerløkka, which was included in our Oslo pass.

We took a subway train from Nationaltheatret to Toyen, then walked about 9 minutes to the Natural History Museum.

The Stone Garden outside of the museum is very nice, and opens to the public.





The Rock Garden before the entrance







The planetarium and solar system.






Dinosaurs and fossils





Impressive collection of crystals













Zoological collections

We took the subway train back to Oslo centrum at noon. After lunch, we walked to meet our guide for the Grunerløkka walking tour at the Oslo visitor center near the Oslo train station.

We had around 12 people on the tour and started at 2pm on time. The guide led us to the Youngstorget-a square in the city centre, which lies at the junction of the streets Storgata and Møllergata. We were told the square hosts political meetings and demonstrations, and is the site of the main meeting on Norwegian Labour day.

River walking tour group

Oslo centrum


Youngstorget

Ankerbrua

Ankerbrua

Ankerbrua

Lokka neighborhood



We continued on the street of Storgata and crossed the Anker Bridge to the Grunerløkka working class neighborhood, which was transformed from an industrial district into a hip, trendy, multicultural hub for cool cafes, unique shops, street art, and vibrant nightlife.


Old industrial remnants

Riverside eatery






Street art

Street art

Mathallen-Oslo popular food hall






Continuing along the river, there are salmon runs built for spawning.


Dam for salmon runs












Waterfall at Mølla

Waterfall at Mølla

Waterfall at Mølla

Our last tour stop was at the Birkelunden public park Flea market. The tour concluded at 4pm. We were told to venture on our own in the area for shopping and dinner, or take a bus back to the city center. We decided to take the bus back to the city as it started to drizzle.

Our flight leaving Oslo for Belgium was in the evening the next day. We had a late check out at 1pm, and would leave around 2pm for the airport train.

We planned to visit the Munch museum on our last day in Oslo. We woke up with sunshine through the windows. We had a very good breakfast included with the hotel stay.

After an early breakfast, we took tram 13 to Bjørvika. It was indeed a beautiful morning to see the Oslo harbor front.





Best neighborhood models display





Oslo opera house




Havnepromenaden


Moren (The Mother)

Sauna and Bath house

Sauna and Bath house


The Munch museum with Moren (The Mother)

Bjørvika

Bjørvika

We entered the Munch Museum when it opened at 10am. The line was already forming quite long. We took the elevator to the top floor exhibits, and made our way down for other exhibits on the way down. We encountered less crowds this way, and it worked well for us, as we had only two and a half hours for the visit.

We are not really museum goers, but we actually like this museum. We like the way the exhibits are chronologically displayed, and there was a video that showed his lifestyle and explained a lot of his art works. We watched the video first before all the art exhibits.



Views from the upper floor

Views from the upper floor

Views from upper floor

Views from upper floor


















This concluded our Norway trip before flying off to Belgium. We visited Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, the Rhine valley, Hague, and Rotterdam for another 10 days before flying home.

Among all, Norway is still our favorite country on this month long trip.

Happy Travels!

thank you so much for the detailed TR and the photos! I'm glad the sun came out for you on your last day. It seems like you covered a lot of ground in the 2-hr walking tour! Unfortunately we wont' have time for it but i guess next time! Interesting to hear Norway is your favorite; I love Belgium and Netherlands! Anyway, we are looking forward to our trip in June. Most likely we will skip the Munch museum (my son really dislikes art museums) but we may stop in the National museum for a quick look as I read that one of the versions of Scream is always on display at the national museum.