Oslo – Munch, Matty Healy and Saunas!

By Talitha Hamshaw, University of Bergen, Norway

06/03/2024 – 09/03/2024

A key trip for year abroad students in Bergen is to Oslo, the capital of Norway. My friends and I booked tickets to The 1975’s concert in Oslo earlier in the year, so we decided to combine this with our trip to Oslo. To get to Oslo from Bergen you can either fly or take the train. The train journey from Bergen to Oslo is famous for its views, however it takes around 7 hours and is slightly more expensive than flying therefore we decided to get the train on the way there and fly back. The train journey did not disappoint and we had great weather for the journey, I would highly recommend doing the journey it was definitely worth it!

On the first day, since we spent most of our day on the train, we checked into our airbnb and did a quick shop before going out for dinner at Oslo Street Food market, an affordable food hall with lots of different choices of cuisines from different vendors.

The next day was, we all agreed, one of the best days of our year abroad. After making pancakes for breakfast, we headed out to the Munch museum where we got to see the famous Scream painting by Edvard Munch. We had then booked a session at one of the floating saunas in the harbour next to the museum. The floating sauna had many different small sauna rooms, each with their own access to the fjord so we could jump in. Whether in Oslo or any other Norwegian city, I would definitely recommend these saunas!

It was then time to head back to our apartment and get ready for the concert. We arrived to queue half an hour before doors opened for the concert and we managed to get a spot really close to the front, due to the band being less popular in Norway, we had an amazing time and got some great photos. It was also much cheaper than their concert in the UK so its definitely worth checking if your favourite artists are touring whilst you are abroad!

The next day we dedicated to doing all the tourist sightseeing we hadn’t done yet. We visited the Vigeland statue park, the Royal Palace and the opera house, and most importantly saw a cat on the tram!

That evening we went to a few bars near to our airbnb which was located in the Grünerlokka area, which also has many vintage clothes shops which we checked out on our last day before we flew home. After the bars, we went to a nearby club which had a free event on with a few small DJs performing.

Overall, whilst Oslo is less naturally beautiful than Bergen, it is a very cool city with lots going on so it was super fun for a visit, especially with the weather we were lucky enough to have. However in the debate between Norway’s two biggest cities, Bergen has my heart always!