We flew out of JFK overnight to Oslo. We flew on Norwegian for this leg of the trip and had a nice experience. The flight was only 6 hours and service as well as in flight entertainment was good. I wouldn’t say it was impeccable but I have a very crucial eye for everything on-board the plane (perhaps it’s the flight attendant in me).
Once we made it through customs (they only had 2 agents working for a full flight-we were in line over an hour) we grabbed our bags and took the “Flytoget” train underneath the airport to downtown Oslo. The airport is located pretty far outside the city but with the express train it’s only a 20 minute ride.
Once we arrived at the central station we had a very short walk to our hotel. We stayed at the Radisson Blu Plaza and it is connected to the station by a sky bridge. It was our 1st time staying in a Radisson Blu and I cannot recommend it enough. It was so centrally located to everything we wanted to do, was extremely clean and had a very good breakfast. Here is the view of Oslo from our room.
We unpacked, ordered room service (fish & chips and chicken club-both very tasty and fresh) and took naps. I wasn’t feeling the best (I tend to get migraines when my sleep schedule is off) so David walked to the train station and bought us Le Baguette sandwiches for dinner and we decided to get a good nights sleep and start fresh in the morning.
Only staying for 2 nights in Oslo meant we wanted to hit the ground running the next morning. After breakfast we took an Uber to the Viking museum. This was something I thought was going to be more enjoyable for David but I found it so fascinating! The museum is so well put together with a short video projected on the wall about Viking life, 2 fully recovered Viking ships plus the remains of a 3rd as well as all the artifacts found inside.
We learned everything Viking from what they ate, how they buried the dead, and all about the routes they travelled. Standing next to these ships was quite incredible to imagine rowing inside them and being tossed around in the winter Scandinavian sea. After David picked up a “Build your own Viking ship” postcard to send to his friend, we called another Uber and headed downtown Oslo. (The Viking museum is located pretty far from downtown, it isn’t walkable but there is a bus stop not too far from the museum).
Downtown we headed straight for Steen & Strøm department store. It is a gorgeous 6-story store housing everything from handbags to chocolates to bed linens. We went to the basement to check out the food court and they had so much variety! Burritos, sushi, fresh squeezed juices, you name it. We tried Mamma Pizza and it was excellent. We had the Margarita pizza and the pasta carbonara. Food is not inexpensive in Norway but this meal was definitely worth it!
After lunch we leisurely walked miles and miles around Oslo before heading to the Christmas Market. Being bundled up and breathing the fresh winter air while looking at window displays and twinkly lights is one of my favorite winter things to do. But one thing that was very difficult to adjust to was the amount of daylight. The sun rose at 9 and set at 2:30! Walking around in the afternoon in pitch darkness was pretty disorienting!
The Christmas Market was lovely and had a little bit of everything. We tried glogg-my favorite thing of the whole trip. It’s mulled wine with current juice and spices. So delicious! It was originally used to revive outdoorsmen of Scandinavia and I can see why! A piping hot cup of glogg is exactly what’s needed on a freezing cold Norwegian night. We also tried raclette-a Swiss dish where a wheel of cheese is placed over a heater and the melted bits are scraped onto a plate of sautéed potatoes. Omg. Not calorie friendly but oh so delicious.
After the market we headed back to the hotel and called it a night. After being outside walking around for 6 hours it felt so good to take a hot shower and slip into the feather bed.
The next morning after breakfast we packed up and left our bags at concierge. We had a few hours to kill so we walked back downtown to the shopping district, Nedre Slottsgate, and hit a few stores before heading to the airport for our flight to Stockholm. The sales help in Norway is some of the sweetest and kindest I’ve ever come across. They were so accommodating and helpful and not the slightest bit snooty.
After a few hours we headed back to the hotel to grab our bags and walked to the train station and took the “Flytoget” back to the airport. We did our tax refund and breezed to the gate. We flew on SAS to Stockholm and it was the easiest one hour flight.
Norway was such a pleasure and I honestly wish we had more time there. Everywhere we went the people were so kind and welcoming. The city is extremely clean and safe and there’s so much to see and do-we would love to return someday very soon!
Do you have any upcoming trips or destinations on your travel wish list? Let me know down below, I’d love to hear from you and am always looking for ideas to plan our next trip.
I’ll be back with part 2 of our vacation, a Sweden recap soon. Thanks for reading, have a fabulous weekend. :)
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