In this article I am taking a closer look at the biggest sculpture park in the world in the capital of Norway. There are simply so many sculptures here, that you can get lost. However, they are nice to take a selfie with them. You should try. Read on for Vigeland and other museum tips for Oslo, which is the capital of Norway with only about 600.000 living in the city itself.
Museums in Oslo can be found everywhere
If you want to check out museums in Oslo, check out our guide site here. However, if you plan to visit some museums, you should plan in the early morning, because most museums are only open between 10.00 (10am) and 16.00 (4pm) (until 18.00 (6pm) in the summer). If you only have time to visit one museum, you should visit The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History (Norwegian Folk Museum) in Bygdøy. It has an Open-Air Museum with 160 historic buildings. It covers all the Norwegian folk costumes, folk art, church art and Sami culture. This museum is very popular and is ranked as activity #6 of 390 on Tripadvisor.
Not far from the Folk museum, you will also find the Viking Ship Museum, Kontiki and the Fram Museum. If you are interested in explorers, you should check out the museum about the explorer Thor Heyerdahl who is famous for his Kon-tiki expedition. Heyerdahl sailed more than 8000 kilometers across the Pacific Ocean in a handmade float from South America to the Tuamotu islands. The Kontiki museum is not big, but is very interesting, well worth to visit.
Vigelandsparken (Frognerparken), the world’s largest sculpture park
This is the number one attraction in Oslo. Vigelandsparken (Frognerparken) is unique. It belongs to your bucket list – no matter if you’re a Norwegian or not. If you have 2 hours in Oslo, just go to this park.
The world’s biggest sculpture park created by one and only artist. You will be amazed of Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943). The park is open 24/7. They have also some lights so you can see most of the sculptures also in the darkness. You will find more than 200 skulptures in bronze, granite and wrought iron. Vigeland himself has been the architecture of the 320.000 meter2 park. The park was finished in 1949.
The park is divided into 5 units: The Main Portal, The Bridge with a kids area, Fontain, Monolith and Wheel of Life.
The most popular sculpture is the smallest one: Sinnataggen (The angry boy), only 83 cm tall. It is Vigeland’s most famous sculpture and many people want to grab his hand. Through they years this sculpture has been stolen but always been found afterwards.
At the highest point of Vigeland Park, the 17 meter tall Monolith, which consists of 121 figures, is cut out of a single granite block – hence the name. It took 3 sculptors 14 years to build the Monolith! Humans are sucked upwards toward the sky. Here we see vigil and mastery of despair, but also hope. Absolutely recommended to see.
Where is The Sculpture Park located? Vigelandsparken is a part of Frognerparken. It is a beautiful park which also contains Frognerbadet (Open Air Public Bath /swimming pool), Frogner stadion, tennis courts and some kiosks.
How to get there: Take tram Line 12 from Jernbanetorget to Vigelandsparken. The trip takes 15 minutes and the tram stops just outside of the park.
Beside of the park, there is also a museum of Vigeland, where you have to pay to enter. We think that the park is much more important to visit than the museum, but if you want more insight about Vigeland you could consider to do that as well. You can check out more info on the Vigeland Museum’s Website.
Check out this map below, showing how big Vigelandsparken actually is
[osm_map_v3 map_center=”59.927,10.702″ zoom=”15″ width=”100%” height=”450″ ]
The easiest way getting to Vigelandsparken (Frognerparken) is to take tram line 12 og bus line 20 to Vigelandsparken station. However, if it is possible to walk from Majorstuen metro station where all of the metro lines in Oslo stops at. There is no fee for entering the park and if it is summer. Many Norwegians do sit on the gras relaxing and grilling hot dogs and other types of food.
