Oslo in July (with a 5 year old)

[mynameiscalypso]

DS (5, nearly 6) are off on a solo trip to Oslo in the first week of the schools holidays. We did something similar last year in Copenhagen and it worked really well. Does anyone of any suggestions of what we can’t miss while we’re there? We won’t have a car and will use public transport to get around. DS tolerates museums well and loves ‘landmarks’. We only have three full days there and I’ve learnt before not to try and pack too much in so any advice would be much appreciated.

I’ve already asked ChatGPT for an itinerary so personal recommendations are very welcome.

Thank you!

Hello!
spend one full day here; https://norskfolkemuseum.no/

lots of houses, farms and a wooden church from different places/ages collected together. There are horse rides and activities and some indoor exhibitions

Hi. We are doing Copenhagen and Oslo this summer with teens. I was wondering what your highlights were in Copenhagen?

I was researching things to do in Oslo and found a great looking outdoor pool. Do you think that’s something you might like ?

Fram museum was good or the Holmenkollen ski jump. Both easy to access on public transport. I’ve heard great things about the Kon-Tiki museum (opposite the Fram) but I’ve not personally been to that one.

What is the ski jump?

@Untery It’s a ski jump in Oslo that is used for ski jumping competitions in the winter and as a viewpoint in the summer (although you can also use it as a viewpoint in the winter but the weather limits visibility!). Also has a museum about Norwegian love of skiing / ski jumping and a cafe.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmenkollbakken

Thanks. I wasn’t sure if it had been turned into a ride or something. But you can go up it for view at least

@Untery In Copenhagen with teens (especially mid/older teens) I would recommend visiting Østerbro, Nørrebro and Vesterbro (especially the meatpacking district) for cool cafes / restaurants and shops. You could take a ferry over to Reffen which is an outdoor street food market with views back towards the main city. If they’re into history, the National Museum is good and also just wandering around as it’s not a big place - could walk past the palace, main town shopping area, Nyhavn for the famous colourful houses etc. and climb the round tower. Kastellet is also interesting to look around. The Design Museum is also good and for younger children the Experimentatium or aquarium is worth it on a rainy day.

Tivoli is fun and I would recommend doing that one evening rather than in the day. The botanic gardens and parks are also nice to wander around.

Depending on how long you have and your interests, you could also take a train up to Humlebæk to see the Louisiana Museum of Art or all the way up to Helsingør where there is an amazing castle that Hamlet was based on.

Alternatively you could also take the train to Malmo for the day if you wanted to “tick” Sweden off as a place to visit, although I wouldn’t bother with that unless you had a lot of days.

Thank you so much that’s great tips. I wondered about all the swimming in harbour pools. Is this something tourists do? Or is it more for locals? I was wondering if my boys might like that or even just sitting watch people jumping off the structures in to the water

We have been to Bergen before which we absolutely loved . I feel like it’s such an underrated destination. Hoping Copenhagen lives up to Bergen!

I think anyone can do it (although I haven’t personally) but the area around Nordhavn station is where I’d recommend, especially the new one near Sundkaj / STAY Nordhavn as a lot of families swim there and it has good access points (ladders / wooden decking area etc)

They’re hard to compare as Copenhagen is a much bigger buzzy city but I love them both!

We enjoyed getting a ferry out to the little islands in the donors - you can get tickets on the public transport app and just decide where to jump off and explore as there’s ferry routes that connect lots of little islands. We were there at Easter but I imagine it’s much more popular in summer - some had cafes and restaurants that weren’t open when we were there.

Walking up to the top of the Opera house roof is fun.

Slightly random but the central library is amazing, we spent a few hours there, a five year old would love it. They have lots of family activities snd it’s just an incredibly cool building to explore.

(we are in Copenhagen this year so also here for any further Copenhagen tips!)

Thank you so much for the great suggestions - I love the idea of exploring some of the islands as well so we get a bit of outdoorsy entertainment too.

One tip for Copenhagen is the Copenhagen card - it more than paid for itself in travel, boat tours, museum entrance etc. My favourite museum was the Museum of the Danish Resistance which I found absolutely fascinating.

My post should have said fjord, not donors!

Well assuming your DS isn’t going to necessarily be interested in Munch or dissected Cows.

Ice cream … Norwegians do it really well. I think as summer is short they put more effort into it. Even the most non-descript hut will serve something excellent.
Akershus. Fortress and lots of things to stand on.
Viking Age Museum. The Kon Tiki museum is next to it, so you may as well go in.

As PP mentioned, definitely get the ferry out to the islands for a day. The best thing about Oslo is proximity to nature. The water is really clean. Take swimming kit and swim in a fjord !

And Trams. If you are 5 (or 50) they are cool. Unless I suppose you are from somewhere in the UK that has them.