Oslo Transportation

We came to Oslo by boat, we'd booked a cabin on the Color Magic from Kiel in Germany to Oslo, and we'd taken our car with us. Here you can see the Color Magic in Oslo harbour. This picture was taken from across the harbour in the town district Bygdoy.

6) Last but not least, the apple of the eyes of tourists in Oslo: Oslo Pass- "The easiest and most inexpensive way to experience Oslo! The Oslo Pass lets you devote your entire trip to activities without the hassle of booking and buying.

The Oslo Pass gives you free entry to 33 museums and attractions, free travel on all public transport within zone four, free parking in all Oslo municipal car parks, free entry to outdoor swimming pool, free lunch cruise, free winter walks, discounts on sightseeing, car hire, Tusenfryd Amusement Park, ice skate - and ski rental, and special offers in restaurants, shops, entertainment and leisure venues.

You decide whether you want a card that is valid for 24, 48 or 72 hours. The card is valid from the time you stamp it. From that point on, it is valid for the number of hours indicated on it. Along with the Oslo Pass, you will receive a booklet, describing all the benefits for Oslo Pass-holders. Oslo Passes for children (from 4 to 15 years old) are available at reduced rates. The Pass is valid in all attractions that are described in the Oslo Pass booklet and entitles you to an unlimited travel by metro, bus, tram, local trains and on the ferry boats to the islands in the inner Oslo fjord. "

(Text taken from www.visitoslo.com)

The Oslo Pass gives you free admission to:

Akershus Castle
Astrup Fearnley Museum
City Hall
Football Museum at Ullevål Stadium
Fram Museum
Galleri Würth
Historical Museum
Holmenkollen Ski Museum and the Ski Jump Tower
Holocaust Center
Ibsen Museum
International Museum of Children’s Art
Kon-Tiki Museum
Munch Museum
Museum of Contemporary Art
Museum of Decorative Arts & Design
Museum of Architecture
National Gallery (special exhibitions - the permanent exhibitions are free regardless)
Nobel Peace Center
Norway’s Resistance Museum
Norwegian Armed Forces Museum
Norwegian Maritime Museum
Norwegian Museum of Cultural History
Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology
Norwegian Telecom Museum
Oslo City Museum
Oslo Reptile Park
Theatre Museum
Vigeland Museum (The sculpture park is for free regardless)
Viking Ship Museum
Voksenåsen Hotel's Gallery

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... but in case you do not want to walk, buy a 7 dagers kort. Cheaper than paying for each ride, it's a pass valid for 7 days you can use on trams, buses and subway - and public boats!. Read its back for more details! ;)

There are other kinds of cards you can buy at Narvesen shops, 7-elleven, Deli de Luca, vending machines outside some stops, Trafikanten:

1) Enkel billett / Simple ticket - NOK 22 - Indidivual. Valid for one hour from the moment you stamp it
(if you buy the pass from the driver, which is impossible on subways by the way, it will cost you NOK 30)

2) Dagskort / Day card - NOK 60 - Individual. Valid for 24 hours from the moment you stamp it.

3) Flexikort / Flexicard - NOK 160 - has 8 spaces for stamping. Several people can travel on a Flexikort, as lond as you stamp once for each person on board. Valid for one hour from the moment you stamp it

4) 7 dagers kort / 7 days' card - NOK 210 - Individual. Valid for 7 days from the moment you stamp it. So if you stamp it on June 1st at 11:30 am it will be valid until June 8th at 11:30 am. Unlimited travelling during that period.

5) Fleksibelt Månedskort / Flexible Monthly card - NOK 720 - Valid for one month from the moment you stamp it. So if you stamp it on June 1st at 11:30 am it will be valid until July 1st at 11:30 am. Unlimited travelling during that period. There is no photo identification on that card, so you can lend it away to other people when you're not using it yourself, but it will cover only one passenger at a time.

Note: Children and senior citizens pay lower fares.

Oslo is not a very big city, so if you like architecture, people and wind you can walk most places. Norwegian are obsessive walkers and every time you ask someone 'how far is this place from that place', he'll answer '15 minutes by foot'... hehe
All you need is a map of Oslo (you can get one for free at Traffikanten, in front of Oslo S) and to keep in mind the following landmarks:

1. SEA

2. STORGATE

3.KARL JOHANS

4. YOUNGSTORGET

There's a very good mapping system online here:
http://oslo.clickwalk.no/indexe.html

These busses operate in most big cities around the world, and Oslo is no exception. The hop-on-hop-off Oslo sightseeing busses run one route only, with 12 unique stops.

- Oslo City Hall
- Oslo Castle and Park (Royal Palace)
- Bogstad Road (Shopping)
- Majorstuen (with subway connection to Holmenkollen)
- Vigeland Sculpture Park
- Norwegian Folk Museum (Bygdøy)
- Viking Ship Museum (Bygdøy)
- Kon-Tiki, The Polar Ship Fram, Maritime Museum
- Akershus Fortress
- Oslo Cruise Terminal
- DFDS Seaways Terminal
- Oslo Central Station and Norwegian National Opera and Ballet

The busses operate from 9.30 AM to 17.30(5.30PM) and departs every 30 minuttes from June 1st to September 14th. Tickets are 175 NOK (23 euros) for adults and 85 NOK (11 euros) for children, and are valid for 2 days. It can also be bought at a 20% discount in combination with the Oslo Pass which gives you access to several major Oslo Tourist attractions.

A lot of VTers are confused about the 3 airports around Oslo, and how you can get to and from them, or between them.

And for the record, so nobody gets angry with me, Torp and Rygge is not in Oslo, Torp is actually in Sandefjord and Rygge is in Moss, but they are not that far from Oslo.

The 3 airports are:
Oslo International Airport Gardermoen (OSL) located about 20 minuttes north of Oslo. This one is the major one, so if you are looking connecting to domestic flight this is the airport you want to go to, unless you have several hours before your connecting flight.
Airport website: http://www.osl.no/index.asp?languagecode=9
You can get to and from Oslo using bus or train, there are 2 bus companies that operates this route, Flybussekpressen and Flybussen. Busses are generally a bit cheaper than train, but from Gardermoen I would reccomend the Airport express train, it is a lot faster, and a lot more comfortable, specially if you are going into Oslo City Centre. Airport express train website
Flybussen website
Flybussekspressen website
Gardermoen also have huge selections of trains and busses to other places in Norway, post a question on the Norway forum if you have any problems figuring it out :)

Sandefjord Airport Torp (TRF) located in Sandefjord about 2 hours southwest of Oslo. This airport also have international flights, specially RyanAir and Wizz Air have a lot of flights here.
Airport website: http://www.torp.no/Default.aspx?Language=EN&pkMenu=131

You can get to and from Oslo using bus or train, there are 1 bus company that operates this route, the Torp Ekspressen. There are also a number of companies that stops close to Torp (Fokserod), but that means you have to find a connecting buss to Fokserod (which is doable, but unneccesary if you are going to Oslo. If you are going down the south coast of Norway, i.e Kristiansand, however this is a good option)
Website of Torp Ekspressen
There is not a trainstation within walkingdistance from Torp, but there is a free shuttle bus between Torp Airport and Torp Trainstation. If you are going from Trop to Oslo Airport Gardermoen (OSL) the train is a good idea, because it goes past Oslo to Lillehammer, Gardermoen is one of its stops after Oslo. Website: http://www.nsb.no/?lang=en_US

Moss Airport Rygge (RYG) located in Moss about 1 hour southeast of Oslo. This new airport is mainly operated by Norwegian at the moment.
Airport website: http://www.en.ryg.no/

You can get to and from Oslo using bus or train, there are 2 bus companies that operates this route, Rygge Ekspressen and TIMEkspressen, the last one also takes you to Sarpsborg, Halden and even Stromstad in Sweden, so be carefull about which direction you embark on the airport.
Website of Rygge Ekspressen
TIMEksressen timetable (PDF)
There is not a trainstation within walkingdistance from Rygge, but there is a free shuttle bus between Rygge Airport and Rygge Trainstation. Website: http://www.nsb.no/?lang=en_US

For more information about Oslo, please visit my Oslo page

Colorlines two new cruise ship car ferries (M/S Color Fantasy and M/S Color Magic) runs every day between Oslo and Kiel. The journey takes 20 hours each way, and the ships depart at 1400 hours (2.00 PM) from both cities, and arrive at 1000 hours (10.00 AM) the next morning. The ships are almost identical hosting, several restaurants, bars, nightclub, shopping promenade, casino, gameroom, showroom, golf simulator, aqualand (pool etc.), spa department and sundeck to mention the major highlights. We took a roundtrip cruise from Oslo in May 2008, which gave us a 4 hours stopover in Kiel to check out the city centre. You can also take one-way or return trips with your car, there are an number of packages with and without car, hotels, etc. on offer.

The Oslo - Kiel ferries are a step above other car/passenger ferries around, so if you want to take a ferry with more of a cruise feel to it, this one comes with my recomodations. If you are after a cheap partyboat, you might want to look at other options.

If you're at Gardermoen Airport, and have some time to kill, consider walking over to the Radisson Hotel. It's just a hundred meters on the other side of the road, and has a nice garden restaurant and bar. In the warm months, it's very pleasant to sit out on the patio with a cocktail before your flight.