Excursions For Oslo & Sweden

[poolwife]

Need some major help and suggestions for touring Oslo and Sweden.

Shore excursions that you have experienced and recommended and advice and tips on things that we don't want to miss.

 

Going in September, 06.

 

Thanks

[dbh62ark]

I think this post will likely be moved to the "Baltics" section of these boards, and there is a ton of great information for you there. In both ports, you will have to make some tough decisions based on your interests. How long are your port calls? My favorite site in Stockholm is Skansen, but most passengers go to the Vasa Museum. Skansen is on the same island, and I love it. In Stockholm, I highly recommend the Frommers walking tour of Gamla Stan. Gamla Stan is a great area to walk around. In Olso, I really enjoyed the Vigeland sculpture park, the Viking Ship Museum (very small, so you only need about an hour there), and the Norwegian Folk Museum, which is very close to the Viking Ship Museum.

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

[LHT28]

Need some major help and suggestions for touring Oslo and Sweden.

Shore excursions that you have experienced and recommended and advice and tips on things that we don't want to miss.

 

Going in September, 06.

 

Thanks

In Oslo they have a Hop on hop off bus that come right to the dock ...there fort is right across from the dock area so you can easily do that.

http://www.citysightseeing.net/

[poolwife]

Will be touring Oslo and Goteborg, Sweden in Sepember, 2006 and need any help and tips anyone can please give. Need help with suggestions for excursions, etc.

 

Thank you.

[robthens]

We had 3 days in Oslo prior to our cruise. With planning, it was easy to tour on our own.

 

Day 1-

We checked into our hotel around noon. It was located near the train station.

 

At the train station we found an ATM, tourist information and also bought train tickets for our day 3 excursion, "Norway in a Nutshell". Booklets about this excursion are available at the train station.

 

Other sights we saw that day were the Oslo Cathedral, Stortorget Square, City Hall, Oslo Harbor and the Akershus Fortress Complex and Castle.

 

I highly recommend you tour the Fortress and Castle. English tours are available free for the Complex and a small fee for the Castle tour.

 

Day 2

The morning began with a city bus tour with stops at the Vigeland Sculptures (quite facinating) and the Holmenkollen Ski Junp. In the afternoon, we purchased an Oslo card and took the ferry to Bygday. Our Oslo card included entrance fee to all the museums. Museums included the Viking Ship, Kon-Tiki, Fram, Maritime and the open air Fold Museum. We had ample time to see all the museums with the exception of the Folk Museum.

 

My all time favorite was the Fram Museum. The Polar Ship Fram is on display and you can walk thru all levels. It was facinating. I had read the book about Amundsen's ill fated polar expeditions and walking on his ship was quite meaningful to me.

 

For dinner, we ate at the "Red Mill" restraunt. The seafood was delicious and reasonable priced.

 

That evening we had drinks at the Radisson/SAS hotel 37th floor bar and watched a beautiful sunset (around 10pm) and a fireworks show in the harbor. They offer a magnificent panaramic view!

 

Day 3 - "Norway in a Nutshell"

This excursion includes a train ride, ferry through the fjords, bus trip and train trip back to Oslo. It is a beautiful trip!!!

 

We got a breakfast to go from the hotel (no extra charge) and got to the train station at 6:15am.

We boarded the "Bergen Train". You will have assigned seats.

 

At 11:30 we arrived at the Myrday station. We left the Bergen train and waited (with the crowd) for the "green" train going to Flam. Some had assigned seats. We did not, but we easily found seats together.

 

There was a photo stop at the Kjosefosse waterfall.

You have a short music show and the "Huldra" appears close to the waterfall.

 

The train arrives in Flam at 1:00. Go immediately to the ferry.

The best seats are upstairs. Don't be shy!

The chairs are stacked. Grab chairs and position yourself as far back as possible. Truly, it was wall to wall chairs when we left.

 

Food is available on the ferry.

 

The ferry takes you through the fjords. We were so lucky. We had crystal

clear weather.

 

At the end of the fjord cruise, go directly to a bus marked "Norway in a Nutshell".

 

The bus ride is about 2 1/2 hours. It also make a stop for a photo opportunity and rest break.

 

You then catch the "Oslo" train at the Voss station.

 

Dinner and drinks are available on the train.

 

It is a long day, but not physical.

 

The next morning we left for Copenhagen and the start of our cruise.

 

 

I did reviews on each of our Baltic ports. They can be found by doing a search under user name ROBTHENS

You'll have a wonderful trip!!!!!

[robthens]

We had 3 days in Oslo prior to our cruise. With planning, it was easy to tour on our own.

 

Day 1-

We checked into our hotel around noon. It was located near the train station.

 

At the train station we found an ATM, tourist information and also bought train tickets for our day 3 excursion, "Norway in a Nutshell". Booklets about this excursion are available at the train station.

 

Other sights we saw that day were the Oslo Cathedral, Stortorget Square, City Hall, Oslo Harbor and the Akershus Fortress Complex and Castle.

 

I highly recommend you tour the Fortress and Castle. English tours are available free for the Complex and a small fee for the Castle tour.

 

Day 2

The morning began with a city bus tour with stops at the Vigeland Sculptures (quite facinating) and the Holmenkollen Ski Junp. In the afternoon, we purchased an Oslo card and took the ferry to Bygday. Our Oslo card included entrance fee to all the museums. Museums included the Viking Ship, Kon-Tiki, Fram, Maritime and the open air Fold Museum. We had ample time to see all the museums with the exception of the Folk Museum.

 

My all time favorite was the Fram Museum. The Polar Ship Fram is on display and you can walk thru all levels. It was facinating. I had read the book about Amundsen's ill fated polar expeditions and walking on his ship was quite meaningful to me.

 

For dinner, we ate at the "Red Mill" restraunt. The seafood was delicious and reasonable priced.

 

That evening we had drinks at the Radisson/SAS hotel 37th floor bar and watched a beautiful sunset (around 10pm) and a fireworks show in the harbor. They offer a magnificent panaramic view!

 

Day 3 - "Norway in a Nutshell"

This excursion includes a train ride, ferry through the fjords, bus trip and train trip back to Oslo. It is a beautiful trip!!!

 

We got a breakfast to go from the hotel (no extra charge) and got to the train station at 6:15am.

We boarded the "Bergen Train". You will have assigned seats.

 

At 11:30 we arrived at the Myrday station. We left the Bergen train and waited (with the crowd) for the "green" train going to Flam. Some had assigned seats. We did not, but we easily found seats together.

 

There was a photo stop at the Kjosefosse waterfall.

You have a short music show and the "Huldra" appears close to the waterfall.

 

The train arrives in Flam at 1:00. Go immediately to the ferry.

The best seats are upstairs. Don't be shy!

The chairs are stacked. Grab chairs and position yourself as far back as possible. Truly, it was wall to wall chairs when we left.

 

Food is available on the ferry.

 

The ferry takes you through the fjords. We were so lucky. We had crystal

clear weather.

 

At the end of the fjord cruise, go directly to a bus marked "Norway in a Nutshell".

 

The bus ride is about 2 1/2 hours. It also make a stop for a photo opportunity and rest break.

 

You then catch the "Oslo" train at the Voss station.

 

Dinner and drinks are available on the train.

 

It is a long day, but not physical.

 

The next morning we left for Copenhagen and the start of our cruise.

 

I did reviews on all our Baltic ports. You can find them by doing a search under user name robthens

 

Hope this helps.

[luvnorway]

Oslo is very easy to do on your own.

There have been many posts about what to see and how to do this on both this board and the Western Europe board (although Oslo is included on many Baltic itineraries, it isn't in the Baltic, so posters who are visiting it on a Norwegian Fjords, British Isles/Northern Europe or Northern Transatlantic cruise are more likely to post there).

Suggest you do a search on those 2 boards and then ask any specific questions you have.

 

Briefly - many posters have recommended the HOHO bus. Our preference is to use public transit taking the ferry from in front of the City Hall (easily walked to from where the ships dock) and visiting the museums on the Bygdoy peninsula across the harbour

- especially the Viking Ship Museum, the Norwegian Folk Museum http://www.norskfolkemuseum.no/

and, the one we found most interesting, the Fram Polar Ship Museum http://www.fram.museum.no/en/