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Hotel Class: 
4 Stars - 19 Opinions
Nesgata 1, Lillestrom, Oslo, 2004, Norway
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of people enjoy staying here
19 Opinions
The smallboat harbour in Aker Brygge
Nobel Peace Center, Oslo
young Norwegian artists
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I'm going to be in Oslo for a very short time and would like to visit either the Viking Ship Museum OR the Kon-tiki Museum? Which one do you think is a better choice?
Thanks!
it depends on YOU !
the Vikingships are great and you can approach them and see them from some different balconies. There is a side-room as well with an ornate wagon when I remember that correctely.
Kontiki is a great museum, when you have read the book, there is the Ra II as well and some similar exhibits about Th. Hayerdahl and what I liked very much about the Kontiki is the fact that you can walk down 1 floor and see it from below, just like the fishes did, when the boat was sailing.
I wanted to go to the Kon Tiki Museum but did not get a chance as the tour I was on went to the Viking Ship Museum instead. It was nice enough, but the people in the sales area were having lunch and wouldn't come and sell me the souvenirs.
Since I have read all about Kon tiki, I would much rather visit that one.
I agree re the quirky viewing arrangement at the Kon-Tiki museum.
Although on average the exhibits in the Vikingskip Museet are older, after all the ships are built by the same group of people (or their descendents!!).
In short, I'd go for the KTM, their craft in more recent & travelled further!
**IF** you have read Thor Heyerdahl's books then the Kon Tiki museum will be much more meaningful. Tip: Re-read it before your trip if it was a while ago.
If not, the Viking Ship museum is more of general interest in the history of the nation.
I havn't been inside the museums for 15 years. But at that time I liked the Kontiki museum best since I was attracted to Thor Heyerdahl's travels. The Kontiki museum is smaller and more cosy than the Viking Ship Museum.
Both museums are located in the quiet resident area Bygdoy, only 5-10 minutes walk from each other. Visit them both if you have time. Taking a taxi from Oslo downtown to the museum is approx 60-100 kroner and take 10 minutes. Bus no.30 from Oslo downtown take 20 minutes and leave every 10 minutes during weekdays. I would not recommend a bus if you are in a hurry or don't know where the bus stops are. Check out the web pages:
www.kon-tiki.no
www.khm.uio.no/vikingskipshuset/index_eng.html
The Oslo Rådhus (City Hall) is a prominent building at the Oslo harbour front.
The building is designed by architects Arnstein Arneberg and Magnus Poulsson in 1918. In the 1920's a part of the old town center, the so-called Pipervika, was rebuild to free the space needed for the City Hall. The construction started in 1931, but was halted by World War II
The official opening was in 1950.
In this building the annual Nobel Peace Price presentation ceremony is held.
It seems that wherever you go in the city, there are statues, water fetaures and unexpected clusters of memorials & monuments.
There are many conventional examples and then some not so conventional.
The city of Oslo has many old buildings, churches and palaces to see. I was not particular looking for those but when passed by I took this picture somewhere in the centre.
Oslo Official
Visit Oslo
The tourist info in Oslo is very good. In fact, if you are stuck, they will do everything within their capacity to assist you. They do not purely serve their members, but perform genuine, no discrimination advice on services and info about just about anything. You can arrive Oslo and be pretty sure they will manage to get you some kind of accommodation on the spot. Maybe not the best, but something. The Tourist Information offices (marked with the infamous "i") are officially approved and licenced.
There is a good one (accommodation specialists!) at the Oslo Central railway station, and this one on the photo on Roald Amundsens gate just in front of the City Hall.
What can I say? It's a great city, friendly people, very nice architecture, tons of museums, loads of greens and flowers, the home of the Nobel Preace Prize, nice food, nice drink - and all at quite a high price!! It's an expensive place. I don't think I ever spend as much money in any other city within 3 days. But it was well worth it and will gladly do it again :o)
When you're in a restaurant you can order water for free. A beer costs about NOK50-75 (~£4.30-£6.50).
You can save quite a bit of money when you get yourself the Oslo Card. It's available in hotels, tourist informations, campsites... The prices start at NKR180 for adults and NKR60 for children for 1 day. A family (2 adults, 2 children) card for one day costs NKR395. With it you get free travel in Oslo on the trams, buses and tube (T-bane) during the day. You get free entrance to a lot of the big museums, discounts on sightseeing tours, car rental, theatre tickets, free parking in municipal car parks, etc...
Visit the Tourist Information in the harbour. They have lots of brochures of attractions and activities that will keep you occuppied for the whole time you're visiting.
All major credit cards are accepted everywhere you go, which makes it very easy to go over budget in no time :o) What I enjoyed most was the harbour. I was lucky with the weather and did fjord sightseeing, enjoying the speedboat races, the live bands (the Jazz festival was on at the time), sipping a nice cold beer on one of the terraces, watching the sun go down from the top of the walls of the old fortress, the open air expositions... It never was boring when I went down to the Harbour district.
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Q: Oslo Information "Hi, I am taking the ferry tomorrow morning to Oslo from Denmark and read that Thursday, May 17 is a National Holiday in Norway. ..."
A: "Yes, the museums are open. I can't see any reason why not. Have in mind that May 17th is the Norwegian constitutional day. There will be very crowded in the city centre...."
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Address: Nesgata 1, Lillestrom, Oslo, 2004, Norway
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