Norway

24 hours in Sunny Oslo, Norway

On my way back from Bosnia, I found a very cheap flight to London 80GBP. It had a one day layover in Norway with it. I have always wanted to visit Norway because of all the gorgeous photos I see on instagram and I thought it was so meant to be. 

I arrived after midnight to Oslo, but thankfully I was able to catch the last bus from the airport to town centre. The bus had wifi so I found the walking directions from the stop to the hotel on Google Maps. I stayed in Comfort Hotel Karl Johan. It was the cheapest and most central one that I found on booking.com two days before I was meant to arrive. The bed was so comfortable and the included breakfast was good. I had to rush to catch the 10am free walking tour though. It was a 3 mins walk from the hotel to the tiger.

The walking tour was very good. It lasted for an hour and a half. The tour lady showed us the most important landmarks and talked briefly about the history. I didn't have time to go back to the same places again, some were free, which would have been good for the budget, but I was worried not to have enough time. After the walk, I headed to the visitor centre. They were super helpful and the guidebook they have was very organised and fully detailed. I also purchased my transports pass from there.

I really wanted to see the Viking Ship Museum and it was the furthest, so I started there. I took a bus from the town centre to there. It was really cool seeing the ships they dug from the ground. The museum was really small and it was slightly busy to take pictures. Thankfully the Norwegian Folk Museum was just down the road from there, so the trip was not a waste. The second Museum was more interesting and the traditional dance preformed by children and young adults was really sweet and nice to watch. I loved their traditional outfits. Very modest and pretty. Plus I spent about three hours there.

Afterwards I went to the Vigeland Sculpture Park. That was my favourite. I was very pleased that the weather was sunny and beautiful. I didn't expect the weather to be that good in September. The sculptures park was very unique and enjoyable. Sadly the museum in there closes at 4, so I couldn't go inside. I spent about two hours in the park. It was the highlight of my day.

Long layovers are good to see a city quickly, but I could have enjoyed it better if I had few days of rest and without all the stuff I was carrying on my back. I had about 5KG on my back. The cost of Oslo makes it a little hard to enjoy. I thought London was pricey, but then I visited Oslo. It made London seem like a budget destination. The food was so expensive and wasn't great quality either. I haven't fully experienced the food in the high end places because my budget of £20 per meal was too low. People were nice and helpful though. I felt safe wearing my hijab there.

My Oslo spendings in one day: 

Bus from airport to city centre 180 NOK

Hotel (Comfort Hotel Karl Johan) - Cheap, central & comfortable. Breakfast included 860 NOK

Day pass 90 - only zone 1

Entrance to Viking ship museum (student) 50 NOK

Entrance to the Norwegian Folk Museum (student) 90 NOK

Lunch 80 NOK

Express train pass 90 NOK

Dinner from airport 220 NOK

Which equals 160 GBP & that's not cheap for just one day with minimal activities and food.