The Royal Palace, Oslo

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The Palace is a symbol of the Norwegian history. It was made as a residence for King Carl Johan in 1849 but it was not finished util his death. The Royal Palace is owned by the state and there live the royal family which actually has no real political power in the country, only a representative. The current monarch is Harald V. It is open for 2 months for visitors in the summer and the price for a guided tour is 95 NOK (13 EUR) so we could enjoy it only from outside (still very good).

The Royal Palace was finished in 1849 in a neoclassicist style. It was designed by Hans Linstow. At that time, Norway was part of the Swedish Empire and this palace was the local palace of the Swedish King Karl Johan XIV. Today, it is the official residence of the Royal Family.Compared to other Royal palaces around the world, this one is as modest as Norway could be.
If you like to watch a changing of guards ceremony, you will see it at 0130 pm. Guided tours are available during the tourist season in summer, but tickets are only available purchased in advance. You are free to roam the adjacent parks and gardens and get surprisingly close to the palace. For a good effect and photo opportunity, approach the Royal Palace from Karl Johans Gate.

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The Royal Palace is a massive building on a hill named Bellevue. The Palace is built in neo-classical style and is rather plain on the outside.
From here, there is a marvellous view of Oslo’s main thoroughfare, Karl Johans gate. The Royal Palace is where the daily work of the monarchy is conducted, where audiences and official dinners are held, and where the King and Queen live. Foreign heads of state who visit Oslo stay at the Palace.

The Castle interior can be visited in Summer on a tour
Summer is approx from late June to mid August.

TOURS EVERY DAY IN NORWEGIAN......
Monday-Thursday and Saturday: 11 - 5pm
Friday, Sunday 1 - 5PM
TOURS EVERY DAY IN ENGLISH....
Monday-Thursday and Saturday: 12.00, 14.00 and 14.20
Friday and Sunday: 14.00, 14.20 and 16.00

The tours last about one hour and begin every 20 minutes.

ADMISSION...... Adults: NOK 95.....Children, seniors and students: NOK 85
Children under 3: free admission
Tickets can also be purchased at Narvesen, all post offices and 7-Eleven and at the entrance.

The guided tour takes visitors through ........
Cabinet Parlour - Council Chamber - White Parlour - King Haakon VII Suite - Upper Vestibule
Bird Room - Mirror HalL - Family Dining Room - Small Ceremonial Hall -Great Hall
Banqueting Hall -The Palace Chapel

NO PHOTO'S inside the Royal Palace or the Palace yard.

At least I could take a photo of the Palace guard without a problem!
The public entrance is Slottsgarden the castle's west side (toward Park Road).

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The castle was built for King Charles III Johan, but was not completely finished until 1849. This will be the regent as a Norwegian cultural memory, and is where the Norwegian king and queen live.

There are opportunities for tours of the castle, but it is also possible and observe it from outside. It is in addition a very beautiful park around the castle met sculptures, and more and experience. Remember Camera

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The Royal Palace or "Slottet" in Norwegian was built in 1824-1849 and has 173 rooms.

It is the residence of the Royal family - considered to be the most important building in Norway.

The Royal Family consists of King Harald and Queen Sonja, Crown prince Haakon and his wife Crown princess Mette-Marit. They have 2 children together, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. Mette-Marit had one son before she got married to the Crown prince. Then there is Princess Märtha Louise, who is actually 2 years older than her brother.

In front of the Royal Palace is a statue of Karl Johan XIV (1763-1844) who was the King of Norway and Sweden from 1818-1844. The statue was unveiled in 1875 (by Brynjulf Bergslien). The Royal Palace was built for him.

There are guided tours of The Royal Palace every day, but at different hours. They last for an hour and cost NOK 95.

There is a big park around The Royal Palace called Slottsparken park. One can walk right up to Slottet, it is not fenched in like in London f.ex. There are guards by Slottet and the Changing of the Guards is every day at 13:30 (see my next tip).

The Royal Palace (Det Kongelige Slott) was build in classicsm style and completed in 1848. The Palace is surrounded by beautiful gardens. A statue of King Karl Johan sitting on a horse is placed on the grounds.

Directions:
The Royal Palace is located at the western end of Karl Johans Gate, which is the main shopping street of Oslo. The nearest metro stop is "Nationaltheatret".

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The palace dates back to the 19 c., when it was built as Norwegian residence of Norwegian and Swedish king Charles III (Carl Johan, Charles XIV of Sweden) and is the official residence of the present Norwegian Monarch.

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This is the one thing my husband expressed interest in seeing, so at 1.30 on Thursday we headed for the Royal Palace. In the distance the palace looks quite impressive but up close, the bare sandy area in front is not very attractive.

Though soldiers were clearly standing by for some activity, it wasn't clear how or when the actual ceremony was going to take place. Eventually we heard a band and sure enough, a procession came up from the top of Karl Johans gate, led by three police women on horseback. The band was followed by about 30 soldiers, most of them painfully young looking, who stood around for what seemed like an inordinately long amount of time. Eventually guns were raised , heels were clicked and soldiers took off to what looked like a summer house in the grounds. The sentries outside the main entrance did change, with much clicking and heel stomping, the band began to play again, the procession marched back down the hill and it was all over.

My husband's verdict : 'not as good as the one in Copenhagen.' Until then I'd forgotten that we'd seen a changing of the guard in Copenhagen but having remembered, I would have to agree with him. Enjoyable if you like this sort of thing but somewhat disappointing.

If the flag is on top of the palace, the king is in the country!

This palace at the northwest end of Karl Johansgate, and it had an expensive renovation before 2001 when King Harald V and Queen Soja moved back into the palace. Seven years later and I am walking outside the palace, it does look nice and grand, and the park around it looks well-maintained.

On May 17th Independence Day, the royal family would look at the marching bands from the palace balcony. They do have a lot to celebrate because Norway maintains its economic strength among the Scandinavain nations, being rich in fish, timber and oil. The country did not even see the need to join the EU (reportedly so that it does not have to share fishing rights with EU nations?).

The King is just a figurehead, and Norway is run by a unicameral Parliament and a Prime Minister.

There is a pricey one hour tour , 95Kr daily (June-Aug 1400 and 1420 M-Th, Sat 1200 tickets in advance at 81 53 31 33)

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The Royal Palace was built in the first half of the 19th century as the Norwegian residence of Norwegian and Swedish king Charles III and is used as the official residence of the present Norwegian Monarch.
The palace was designed by the Danish-born architect Hans Ditlev Franciscus Linstow. The project was initiated in the Norwegian parliament in 1821, the foundation stone was laid down by the king in 1825, and the building was completed in 1849, during the reign of Oscar I.