Our Rick Steves' European Tour – June 2019
Orientation to Oslo
Our first views of Oslo came the next morning from the deck of our large, overnight ferry.
Once off the ferry, a local guide joined us, and our bus took us up to a hilltop above the city, giving us additional panoramic views of Oslo. Ylva shared that Norway is having a building boom. Once a very poor country, today the country and its people are prospering as a result of the discovery of oil and gas in the mid-1900s. Ironically, Norway has plenty of hydroelectric power, so petroleum products are exported out of the country. Ownership of electric vehicles is growing due to generous rebates.
We then drove down to the harbor where we explored the grounds around Akershus Fortress Complex, complete with a castle, military base, war memorials, and old cannon pointing out to "protect" the castle. The inspirational Norwegian Resistance Museum is also located there – well worth a visit. We toured the museum on our second day. It provided a powerful documentary of Nazi occupation, the struggles of Norwegians during WWII, and the bold actions of the country's resistance fighters.
Starting from the Royal Palace, our guide took us on a walk through the heart of the city. We strolled through the Palace Park, stopping for a candy bar "fika" provided by Ylva. While Oslo has the traditional king-on-horseback statue, we saw other statues that hinted at the creativity of Norwegian artists. I'll share more on the next webpage. Click on each photo below to learn more.
We continued our city tour, walking down Karl Johans Gate, Oslo's main boulevard – named after King Karl III (pictured on horseback above). Our bus was waiting with our luggage outside our centrally located Hotel Cecil.
Ylva gave us 24-hour Oslo Passes, good for transportation and entrance to many of Oslo's museums. We used the pass that afternoon to take the metro and get tickets at the Munch Museum. The next day, the pass got our tour group onto the ferry and entry into the Oslo Ship Museums. The pass also covered our tour of the Resistance Museum. When our 24 hours ended, we took the free tour at the beautiful Oslo City Hall. Lastly, we went on a free and scenic walk, recommended in our Rick Steves Scandinavia guidebook, along the Akers River. (See following pages.)