August 17th, 2026

We have been to Oslo twice before but many years ago. The sail into Oslo is beautiful since it is at the end of a fjord. Unfortunately the weather was overcast that early so not the best for pictures.

This time around we had the best docking space right down from the opera house and the main part of town. Everything within easy walking distance. We had booked a tour through trip advisor, a 2 hour motorcycle tour that was supposed to start at 10am. Unfortunately since we were late leaving Visby, Sweden, due to high winds the boat was behind schedule and we were not going to dock until 9:30 and by the time we got immigration clearance it would be after 10. We reached out to the tour company and they said they could move the tour to 4pm. Since all on board was not until 7 we said that would work.

We headed off the boat in the morning just to wander town and see what we could see. Right down from our boat were all these saunas right on the water. When you were done in the sauna you jumped into the sea. We watched some people for a little bit and they were waving at us and telling us it was fun.

Our first stop was to the opera house that has a very unique design. You could walk all around its sloping roof for great views of the city.

The opera house on the left and you could walk all the way to the top. Great view of our boat and a glass sculpture of a sinking sailing ship in the harbor.

We enjoyed the views from the opera house and then we went to the central station to see all the trains coming and going. After that we found the pedestrian street and walked up that.

We found a French bakery and Kathy got another cinnamon roll and I got a chocolate croissant. It was a nice mid-morning snack and a bathroom break. We took a selfie in front of the Oslo sign.

Some of the architecture of Oslo.

We went into a FallsRaven store and they had a lovely rainbow assortment of bags. I have 2, both knock-offs that I got in Vietnam for 15 dollars. I was shocked that these bags sell for 140. We had also forgotten that Norway was the home of the chocolate bars made by Freia, that is stocked in your cabin on Viking ships. We collected over 100 of them on our first world cruise and brought them home. They were in every store in Norway so we bought a few that may or may not make it home.

We passed by the royal palace and the public gardens by the palace.

We made our way back down to the waterfront and basically did a circle back to our starting point.

We saw these 3 fake topiary dogs in a store front window and they were adorable. We wish we could take them home.

There are some great old sailing ships in the harbor and an old steam powered ship.

We went back to the ship and had 45 minutes until we met our tour which was picking us up at the ship. It is a 2 hour retro motorcycle tour where one of us rides in the side car and the other sits behind the driver.

There was a little confusion about pick-up location so a small delay but our ride came a little after 4:30 and said we would be back in plenty of time.

Our first stop was high above the city where there is a plaque at an overlook where supposedly Edvard Munch was inspired to paint his famous painting, The Scream.

The painting on the left, us recreating the painting in the middle with the plaque and the view from the over point where you can just see the very front of our ship though the trees.

After the scenic overview we headed back through the city and up to the other side overlooking the city where the ski jump is from the 1952 Olympics.

You can see the ski jump at the top of the picture on the left. The middle picture is us standing in front of it and we can’t even imagine how someone could stand at the top and ski down, then launch… The picture on the right is us halfway up the ski ramp looking down and the stairs where people sit are so steep there is no way I would even be able to walk in the stands.

The view of Oslo from a look out close to the ski jump with our boat in the harbor. We saw lots of people with their cross country skis on with roller skates on the skis practicing and going up the mountain.

Us on our motorcycle, pic taken by the guide. It was a lot of fun.

We made it back to the ship a little after 6:30 and had cocktails with Linda & Michael and some new friends, Ken & Mavis. Ken & Mavis used to live in San Francisco but they sold their house 5 years ago after raising kids & retiring, now they travel the world. They are getting off in Copenhagen on Wednesday to fly to Amsterdam when they will spend 2 weeks and then on the Malaga, Spain to spend 2 months before going to Athens to board a Princess ship going back across the Atlantic.

The sail away was much better than the sail in because the sun came out so we had some beautiful views.

The Opera house at sail away.

The views along the fjord during sail away.

That is a floating sauna in the picture on the left. You stay in the sauna for as long as you can and then jump into the fjord.

Denmark is special to Kathy since a lot of signage includes “fart”. :):):):) It means speed or velocity in Norwegian but makes her laugh.

Our final stop on this 12 day cruise is Skagen, Denmark.