OSLO? IT’S A SCREAM!
Prized art and with an urban beach, Norway’s capital is picture-perfect for a city break
HEAVEN knows what was going through Edvard Munch’s mind when he painted The Scream. But my face contorts in similar agonised fashion when paying £9 for a small bottle of water in a suburb of Oslo.
Yes, the Norwegian capital is deserving of its outlandishly expensive reputation. But it still makes for a fine city weekend – and doesn’t have to break the bank.
I find its inhabitants, known as Olsoensers, refreshingly candid, acknowledging how tiny their city is compared with other European capitals. For proof, just look to Halfdan, the Oslo resident who is the star of a recent Visit Oslo campaign which went viral. ‘I wouldn’t come here, to be honest,’ he says in the hit video. ‘Is it even a city?’ Later, standing in front of The Scream, he sighs: ‘It’s not exactly the Mona Lisa.’
Munch, of course, created so much more than his famous Scream. Visit the Munchmuseet (Munch Museum) and you can explore all 13 floors dedicated to Norway’s most renowned artist, who died 80 years ago.
No fewer than three versions of The Scream are on display, with each work shown for a maximum of 30 minutes at a time to limit exposure to light. A guard tells me that only Norwegian royalty is permitted to see all three at once.
From the 13th floor, a rooftop bar gives glorious views over the fjord and the Opera House, an angled structure of white marble.
The Opera House is free to visit, as is the nearby Ekebergparken Sculpture Park and The Vigeland Park, which is located on the outskirts of the city and features large-scale works of sculptor Gustav Vigeland.
The city is a city so hugged by nature, surrounded by forests and fjords, that it’s surprising to find out that the harbour was once an industrial wasteland. It’s a vastly different picture now, with world-class architecture mirroring the gleam of the water.
Oslo is peppered with saunas, a waterfront favourite being Oslo Badstuforening. For £12, you can work up a sweat before jumping into the cooling waters. There’s also an urban beach at the Opera House – or you can take a ferry and go island hopping.
The Oslo Pass (£66 for 72 hours) allows you access to paid-for attractions, unlimited public transport and discounts at selected restaurants. And you can find good quality street food at Barcode and SALT.
Oslo has many of the hallmarks you’d expect from a Scandinavian city: friendly people, futuristic and heritage buildings, and a noticeable absence of litter. But I’m not going to gush – I’ll take my cue from super laid-back Halfdan. Osloensers don’t need to be told how lucky they are.
TRAVEL FACTS
BA (ba.com) flies to Oslo from £37 each way, based on a threenight stay. Doubles at Clarion Hotel the Hub from £135.60, B&B for two people (strawberry.no).
See visitoslo.com for more info.