A wet wintry weekend in Oslo

We love city breaks.

But our favourite city breaks are the ones where getting into nature is easy and accessible. And, of course, the weather has to be right.

So we’ve got to admit it; when looking at the weather forecast before heading to Oslo, we weren’t hopeful. After weeks of cold, fresh, wintry snow, turning the city into what our Airbnb host described as a winter wonderland; we were heading to a weekend where this was due to change. Blue skies and snow showers were turning into drizzle and rain.

Not exactly what we’d hoped for when booking cheap flights for the weekend.

However, one thing we learned this weekend is that you’ve just got to embrace what’s given to you, and make the most of it. So, if you find yourself in the same situation as us, with a pre-planned weekend in Oslo potentially derailed by the weather. In no particular order. Here’s our top tips for a wet, wintry weekend in Oslo.

Get out of the city centre and explore nature
We’d spotted an awesome place to stay in Oslo – a cabin-esque apartment with views across the fjord. But not only was it on the outskirts of the city centre. But it was also across said fjord, accessible by a ferry which ran every half hour. We were originally sceptical. But we were so pleased we chose to stay there in the end. Sleeping in a small village near the dock in Nesoddtangen, we saw a part of Norway that we wouldn’t have seen if we’d just stayed in the city centre. The ferry across each day was fast and smooth, and provided us with absolute scenes of beauty as the boat slipped between ports, and islands dotted around the fjord. We saw amazing, moody, cloudy sunrises, and went on early morning drizzly walks to the shoreline. It was perfect.

Go outside – even if it might rain
On Saturday it was meant to rain all day, and, while it did rain in fits and starts all day, it wasn’t all that bad. Just remember to wrap-up warm, and wear waterproofs. And make sure you have shoes that water-tight. We learnt that the hard way – as the snowy footpaths turned into mush and soaked our feet!

The city itself has an interesting mix of architecture, as you would expect from a city as old as Oslo. We’d recommend walking or taking public transport around the main sights, including the public ice rinks dotted around town, and the old fort of Akershaus. Grab a coffee from some of the cute, nordic designed coffee houses, too. But while the city centre is great – Oslo is blessed with incredible nature nearby, and it’d be remiss not to visit the nearby parks and lakes.

We visited Songsvann lake; a frozen lake north of Oslo city centre. It was beautiful. And made even more mysterious because of the low cloud fringing the pine forest at the opposite side of the lake. Yes it did rain. But if it’s only a light drizzle, don’t be afraid of going for a walk.

Visit to viking ship museum to see this 1000 year old ship!

Visit the museums
We’re not museum people by any means. But we’d heard Oslo had a host of museums for just about everyone. From a museum dedicated to the Nobel Peace Prize, to polar ships and ancient viking relics. It’s got a museum for any taste. With the sun-setting earliesh in February in Oslo, we visited the viking ship museum, where they have the well preserved remains of three viking ships, which are over 1000 year old each. It was impressive to say the least, and was a great way to spend an hour or so of our time.

If you’re particularly mad about museums you can purchase the Oslo-pass, which includes entry to museums over a set-period of time, as well as travel on any type of public transport. We didn’t get it – as we didn’t want to visit too many museums, but if you’re going to 3 or 4, then it definitely makes sense to get one.

Eat, eat and eat some more
We often judge a city by its vegan options. And let us tell you. Oslo was a haven for vegan food. We gorged ourselves on cheesecake, and various other foods from a host of different restaurants. And while the prices are high – Oslo was probably on par with Iceland when it comes to eating out – a main cost between £13-18 – the food we ate was high quality. Just remember that you can save some serious cash by getting accomodation with a kitchen, so you can cover some meals yourself.

Some of our best vegan tips for awesome plant based restaurants include:

• Nordic Footprint: a bowl of tasty roasted veggies, with seeds and dressing in a cozy nordic space
• The Fragrance of the heart: for warming soup, scandi bread and amazing cake
• Funky Fresh Foods: awesome location, with views towards a river and in the trendy district of Grünerløkka; there’s tasty burgers and some even tastier raw, gluten free cake (it was so, so good)

There are also a heap of other things we wish we did, but unfortunately ran out of time to do. This included sledging at korketrekkeren, where the rain really did get too much on Sunday (it was a continual downpour for 2-3 hours), and a visit to Helmelkurr, the famous ski jump, where you can apparently see for miles across the local area. Again, we were rained off here. But we had seen a lot of the views from our Airbnb across the fjord.

All in all though, Oslo turned out to be a brilliant city to visit. It’s so accessible, has incredible nature nearby, and everyone we spoke to was super friendly.

We’d definitely visit again – even if it was raining.

If you like the sound of booking an Airbnb in Oslo, and you don’t have an account – feel free to use our referral code to recieve £34 off your first booking:

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