If you haven’t been in Oslo for a while, you have probably not discovered The New Shoreline Promenade that the city now can offer. It’s a nice walk along the shore from the Opera house and all the way to the ferry area at Aker Brygge. The fjord promenade gives the best viewing point for grabbing some beautiful photos of the Opera House. From all the other angles, the Opera House is almost blocked by new skyscrapers under construction and cranes. If you continue to walk along the waterside, there are just some few hundred meters to some pop up exhibitions. For the moment SALT is the current exhibition, a nomadic art project of wooden buildings. If you wonder: Where can I find a sauna in Oslo? At SALT you will find one of the world’s largest saunas so look no further for sauna in Oslo. It’s really cool to visit this sauna on a cold and raining (or snowing day). There is also a 70-meter-long Arctic Pyramid, bringing a reminder of coastal Arctic landscape where people, for thousands of years, have lived in harmony with a rough climate.
Secret: New Street Food Market close to the new shoreline promenade
After the cultural discovery you will have another chance to try out local and exotic food. A new food court has opened along the shoreline at Vippetangen, named Vippa. It is actually not easy to discover, because it is located at the edge of the shoreline, 50 meters from the promenade. Look for the bus stop at Vippetangen, and next to it there is an old building with colorful decor. For the moment there are 9 street market stands inside of the building. There is also a live DJ playing music in the weekends and one common bar where you can buy drinks, including ISBJØRN (Mack beer from the North of Norway) and wine, soft drinks and more. Water is free for everyone. You can choose if you want to enjoy the food inside or bring it outside because they have lots of seating areas next to the shoreline. Yeah, the location is brilliant, next to the water and there are plenty of outdoor seats. Here the sun is up all the afternoon and evening until late. In 2018 they are also planning to make a second floor here with a roof top terrace. You can choose between Vietnamese soup and vegetarian dishes, Norwegian hot dogs, Italian pizza, Chili con carne with nachos or rice, Pulled duck with french fries, Sushi, Syrian shawarma and falafel, Chinese dumplings and Thai wok.
You can check out Vippa reviews at Tripadvisor and Dagbladet. If you don’t want to walk along the shoreline from the Opera house, you can also take the bus 60 from Jernbanetorget (just outside of Oslo central station) to Vippetangen (last stop).
The Fiord Promenade continues along the cruise port and the Fortress, Akershus festning. On the top of the fortress, there’s a nice little restaurant named Festningen. Here you can also enjoy the outdoor seatings with stunning views of the harbour, Aker Brygge. But before you are heading towards the harbour, walk up to the right, and you will see Oslo City Hall. It is possible to discover the art and history and enter the guided tours as well.
The Parliament building and the Royal Palace are both located in Karl Johans gate, the most popular street (stretching all the way from the central station to castle).
They are both worth to check out and they are just some few hundred meters from the harbour area. Check out our photo gallery from the fortress and the Fiord Promenade in this article.
Taking the ferry to the idyllic islands of Oslo – it’s 8 minutes to Hovedøya
Just walk down again afterwards to the sea and you will find the most popular part of Oslo for nightlife and recreation. But before we are going to cover that, we will mention that Aker Brygge also is the home of the Nobel Peace winner’s museum and the new National Museum which opens inn 2020. In the summer it is very popular to take the ferries to several islands located near Oslo. You will find the ferries near the Town Hall. If you already have bought a Ruter ticket for public transport, most of the ferries are included (except that one going to the Viking ship museums). We would recommend you to take a ferry to Lindøya. It is a very beautiful island consisting of 300 residential, cozy cottages, all in green, yellow and red and never more than 40 square meters in size, making this island unique and beautiful. Here you can relax in the sun and walk along the waterside. There are even two smaller “islands” with a bridge connection from Lindøya. The first one you will discover is “Stadion” where you can plunge into the ocean from a diving board. The small bridge leads to a slope where you can enjoy the views of the other islands. The second one is “Kjøkkenet” or “The Kitchen” where the wives used to walk to cook and prepare food for the families. This was back to the 1920s. Today it is a place you can sit and relax and enjoy the views. You even have public showers, available for everyone. Please note that BBQing is not allowed on the two mini islands or Lindøya itself. Lindøya also has got a supermarket and a public toilet located on the middle of the island. The trip from Aker Brygge to Lindøya takes 30 minutes and you can walk around it in less than one hour. This makes it a perfect short getaway from the stressful city life in Oslo. If you want to do BBQing you should consider to visit Hovedøya instead that has dedicated grill spots. Most ferries stop at Hovedøya, and it’s only a 8 minute ferry trip from Aker Brygge. Check out our photo gallery from Lindøya and the other beautiful islands in this article.
Aker Brygge and The Thief nearby
Aker Brygge has a rich selection of high quality restaurants, cafeterias, ice cream shops and bars. You may be sure the entire area is full of people on sunny days. They have extended Aker Brygge with the new resort Tjuvholmen which also contain The Thief spa, hotel, a roof top terrace and a public beach. This is also the place where you find the Astrup Fearnley Museum. It is a private museum of contemporary art. This summer you have the opportunity to see a large group exhibition of Chinese Temporary art. The building itself is quite beautiful and has a modern architecture, like most of the residential area that surrounds Tjuvholmen, so if you are really no into museums you can just have a walk around it.
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