Suggestions for Oslo in November
 

A friend and I will be taking a quick trip to Oslo from San Francisco in November and I was hoping that all of you could help make a few suggestions for things to do since neither of us have been there before. Other than museums and shopping, which seem to be the standard suggestions, I would appreciate any advice you can give in terms of unique places to eat, food/drinks to try, unique experiences that can only be done in Oslo/Norway, sights to see, or any other oddball ideas.

We are both pretty adventurous and just looking for a few things to make our short stay memorable. Thanks in advance.

PS -- We're staying at the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel

Wirelessly posted (Nokia Lumia 800: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows Phone OS 7.5; Trident/5.0; IEMobile/9.0; NOKIA; Lumia 800; Vodafone))

Weather permitting, climb the exterior of the Opera House to the roof. Excellent views, and you cannot climb the outside of The Met in NYC :D

The obvious things should be covered (Viking ships, Vigelandanlegget/ Frognerparken) etc. I second the Opera House roof climb. Not possible at the War Memorial Opera House either, AFAIK! Very close to your hotel. If adventureous, it is possible to rent skis if there is snow on ground yet (there is now, but might change before you arrive). Much night life/ restaurants is in the Grünerløkka area. If you want traditional Norwegian food, Kaffistova at Best Western Bondeheimen is the best, or you could eat lutefisk at any number of retaurants specialising in pre-christmas celebrations. The latter (fish prepared with caustic soda is very popular in Minnesota, and among some Norwegians, yours truly not among those...)

A nice ride is on the Holmenkollen Bahn, it takes you from central Oslo (metro line 1) to Frognerseteren (and if there is snow and you want to do skiing, you'd be killing two birds with one stone). It's short trip and you go through great scenery. Since the sun sets early in Nov. do this only during the (mid)day.
A ferry ride out to the Kon-Tiki is also nice.
Read the guide books for more suggestions.
PS: Oslo is one of the most expensive cities--plan accordingly.

The Julebord "Christmas table" season starts in November. Rorbua in Aker Brygge http://www.rorbua.as/ do quite a nice traditional "Juletallerken" (Christmas plate) with pork rib, sausages and meat patties in relaxed almost pub like surroundings. You could also try whale here too. :eek: There are several other very good restaurants Aker Brygge too.

I agree that some variant of Juletallerken would be fine. It's a good way to taste several local specialties. In Oslo Christmas food tends to be pork ribs , sausages and "surkål" (a sauerkraut variation) - rather Germanic: try to find a Juletallerken that also includes pinnekjøtt (steamed rib of lamb) a west coast specialty.

Aker brygge is good for Julebord food, but is not my favourite area to eat. Overpriced and touristy. It's great for outdoor dining/ drinking in the summer, but not in November!

I will be in Oslo in Nov too and you saved me a thread to start. And at the Plaza - over Thanksgiving week if you are there at that time.

Thanks all for the suggestions.

Questions

Is booze really as expensive as I have been told? Do I need to try Akevitt?

For The Juletallerken, is that always pork? Can one pick the meat types or is it a sampler type of dish?

Is the Oslo pass worth the price? I see that it's $5+ per metro ride :eek: - or maybe a daily metro pass? Or are most things walkable?

And other suggestions would be great too - let me add this. I am not tied to OSL, I just found a good fare and have never been to Norway. If a train ride [not a day or so each way] can take me someplace that I would never know about, that would be great too.


Cheers

Booze - yes it is expensive, you will pay 60 to 90kr. for a half litre of beer. An average bottle of wine in a restaurant will be 400 to 600kr. Do try the akevitt, you'll need it if you try lutefisk. Gammel Oppland is popular, there may be Juleakevitt on sale as it's near Christmas

Juletallerken - consists of pork and pork with pork. The traditional dish is pork ribs, pork sausages and pork patties. Other traditional Christmas dishes are pinnekjøtt which are salted lamb cutlets and lutefisk which is a dish made of preserved cod. It looks like fresh cod but has a weird jelly like texture. It's worth trying just to say you have. There's also smalahove which is half a roasted sheeps head, bleah...

Oslo pass - at 270kr. for a 24 hours pass it is worth it if you are going to visit loads of musems etc. Otherwise just get a 24 hour zone 1 public transport pass for 75kr. You can use the subway, trams busses and trains in the greater Oslo area http://ruter.no/en/

Or if you're staying a few days: 220kr for the 7 day zone 1 pass.

Ouch. I will take full advantage of my duty free limits going to OSL. I'll pass on the julerallerken but look for the pinnekjøtt. And the lutefish just to say I've tried it.

Follow up if you have a few more minutes.

Is there cart food in OSL? And is the coffee good? I was in HEL 2 years ago and the food stands and coffee were great (valid comparison b/c of general region?). I am a huge fan of cart food and try to eat my way around a city via stands/stalls/etc.

I have spent a number of winters in German speaking Europe and the x-mas markets were great. How is the one in OSL - at Margaretakyrkan? Lots of visitoslo.com hits on my Google search but not much info other than it is a traditional Swedish x-mas market. Is this [HERE] the Norwegian x-mas market? Date/times? (hoping I am not too early in the season - no date HERE)

I have a friend that plays in a Doom/Death metal band [HERE] and said OSL is place where I should see a show. I Google'd that and I get black metal hits. Some - most - hits were not what I was expecting. Violent? Ouch again - literally this time. Something to avoid or is there a place to go and stand in the back away from the pit and just listen?

Also, how do I find hockey schedules? I've been told that there is some "event" during the time I am in OSL and I'd like to go [event =11/23 -11/24 (?)]

Lastly and mostly for those just browsing, the Nordic threads have been a huge help for my trips to the region. No snarky answers and lots of useful friendly info. My thanks again

Cheers -

The staple street food in Norway is pølse or hot dog sausages. There are several different type and taste okay, especially if you are hungry but the novelty soon wears off (for me anyway). They tend to sold in Narvesen (a sort of convenience/newstand store) and 7-11 rather than from carts.

Here's a link that gives you dates and locations of the Chrismas markets in Oslo
http://www.visitoslo.com/en/whats-on...istmas-market/
The Norsk Folkemuseum has two fairs, one the weekend of the 01/02 Dec and 08/09 Dec. If you're in Oslo on those weekends, it is definitely worth a visit.

I can't help you with the Death Metal stuff, it's a long, long time since I was into that scene ;)

Vålerenga are the top ice hockey team in Oslo, they are top of the division at the moment. You can see their fixture list here
http://www.vif-hockey.no/kampsenter/
They play Lillehammer on Sun 25th Nov, I don't know if that fits in with your schedule

Beer and aquavit are the traditional accompainment to pinnekjøtt as well. Norwegian Aquavit (akevitt is the correct Norwegian spelling, but Aquavit is often the word on the bottle) is quite rounded, and is supposed to be drunk at room temperature, not cold. Gilde Non Plus Ultra is for after dinner drinking (with coffee, like a brandy). You cannot bring your own alcohol to restaurants.

Yes, but as we are a "sandwiches-as-a-packed-lunch"-country, I wouldn't expect too much. And if you don't eat pork, do not expect Norwegian hot dogs to be all beef. For a quick bite, go to a bakery instead. There are bakeries (usually branches of local chains) everywhere in Oslo, having a good selection of sweet and savoury baked goods. This nowadays includes a good selection of filled sandwiches.

We are huge coffee drinkers, much like the Finns. "Vanlig kaffe" is filtered, and quite strong. At cafes, coffee is usually the one thing giving free refills. Quality obviously varies, but is usually good. Outdoor stands selling food can be found, but are less common than Germany for instance. Probably has to do with our climate.

Don't know the Swedish one in Oslo, but do not expect a German style Christkindlesmarkt. We have strong Christmas traditions, with lot of traditional ornaments, but they are sold in shops more than at outdoor Christmas markets. (Glasmagasinet at Stortorget in Oslo, across from the cathedral, is a good place to have a look for this). The traditional Norwegian winter markets are at smaller towns later in winter. Tourist authorities try and introduce German style Christmas markets, but they are not really traditional. Norwegian Gløgg is a similarly mulled wine to German Glühwein, but is sweeter. Be aware that due to alcohol regulations, if you buy a mug of Gløgg, in might well be non-alcoholic.

Not my scene, but supposed to be a very strong tradition, with Turboneger as the most famous band. There was a well-known murder in that scene, as well as a number of anti-christian church burnings some years ago. From the outside, the metal scene is more mainstream nowadays, and I would not be afraid to see a show from a personal security perspective (but I would certainly dress appropriatly for the crowd). Norway is, July 22 notwithstanding, not a particularly violent country, where police officers still (at least for the time being) are unarmed.

Again not my thing (we're more soccer here on the western coast), but www.billettservice.no (a subsidary of Ticketmaster) appears to be the place to look. "Ishockey" being the search word to use. Vålerenga appears to be playing in Oslo on Sunday Nov 25. The closest match on Sat Nov 24 appears to be in Sarpsborg, 81 minutes away by trains. Hourly trains cost appr NOK 400 r/t (beware that there are no trains back between 19.22 and 22.23 on Saturday evening). Local Oslo-tickets not valid to Sarpsborg.

you guys and/or gals are great - thanks!!!!

Just hope you're not flying SAS to get here!

LH and AC.