Oslo, Norway: Self-Guided Walking Tour

Wondering what to do in Oslo? Norway’s capital brings together royal and religious history, important museums, modern architecture and memorable city walks. From the marble roof of the Oslo Opera House to the medieval traces of Gamlebyen, there is plenty to discover on foot. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Oslo with 330 narrated places.

What to See in Oslo

Oslo Opera House

The Oslo Opera House stands in Bjørvika, at the head of the Oslofjord, and is home to the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet. Designed by Snøhetta, it opened on 12 April 2008 and quickly became one of the city’s defining landmarks.

Its angled exterior is covered with Carrara marble from Italy and white granite, giving the building the appearance of rising directly from the water. The roof is an attraction in its own right, while the interior contains 1,100 rooms, including a main auditorium with 1,364 seats and two additional performance spaces.

MUNCH

The MUNCH building is another major landmark in Bjørvika. Completed in 2020, it was designed by Juan Herreros of Abalos & Herreros and is known as “Lambda”, the name used by its architect.

The museum is dedicated to Edvard Munch and holds the works he left to the City of Oslo in his will in 1940. Its exhibitions present the breadth of Munch’s art alongside contemporary art and international exhibitions. MUNCH also hosts concerts, performances, talks and activities for children and young people.

Akershus Fortress and Forsvarsmuseet

Akershus Fortress brings Oslo’s military and royal history together on the waterfront. Within the fortress, Forsvarsmuseet occupies an old arsenal building used for storing military supplies. The museum has been located there since 1860 and focuses on Norway’s military history, with a collection made up largely of army equipment.

The fortress also contains the historic Akershus Castle Church, or Garrison Church. There has probably been a church or chapel at Akershus since the early fourteenth century. The present appearance of the church largely reflects a major restoration carried out between 1738 and 1740.

Oslo Cathedral

Oslo Cathedral stands at Stortorvet in the centre of the city. Known in Norwegian as Oslo domkirke, it is the main church of the Diocese of Oslo and the parish church for the city centre.

The present building is the third cathedral in Oslo’s history. Parts of earlier churches were reused in it, connecting the structure with the city’s religious past. Major changes took place during a rebuilding in the 1850s and another restoration led by Arnstein Arneberg before Oslo’s 900th anniversary in 1950. The church was then renamed Oslo Cathedral; it had previously been called Our Savior’s Church.

Karl Johans gate and the Royal Palace

Karl Johans gate leads through Oslo’s historic civic centre towards the Royal Palace. At the top of the avenue, the palace stands beside Palace Park and Palace Square. It is the official residence of Norway’s monarch, as well as the home and workplace of the royal family and the Royal Court.

Completed in 1849, the palace was built in the first half of the nineteenth century as the Norwegian residence of Charles XIV John, who was king of both Norway and Sweden. Between 1849 and 1905, it served as the official residence of the Swedish-Norwegian court during visits to Norway. From 1905, it became the home of Norway’s new royal family.

The Neoclassical building has three floors and three wings. Along the way to the palace, the historic centre also includes the Parliament and the National Theatre.

Gamlebyen and Oslo Ladegård

Gamlebyen preserves traces of medieval Oslo, including historic churches and archaeological remains. Oslo Ladegård is one of its most distinctive historic buildings: a baroque manor house built in 1725 by Karen Toller after a fire in 1722.

The estate garden follows the central axis of the house and was reconstructed from a pattern dating to 1779. Beneath the building, the cellar preserves traces of an older bishop’s palace. After Christiania was founded in 1624, the former medieval city grounds became a supply estate for Akershus Fortress, providing food and animal fodder.

The Viking Ship Museum and Museum of Cultural History

The Viking Ship Museum building at Bygdøy is currently closed for rebuilding and is planned to reopen in 2027. Its collections preserve three Viking Age burial ships—the Tune, Gokstad and Oseberg ships—as well as objects discovered in burial mounds associated with these finds and the Borre mound cemetery.

The museum belongs to the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo. That organisation brings together collections covering archaeology, history and cultures from around the world. Its holdings include medieval church objects, a rune archive, Norway’s largest collection of historical coins and an extensive ethnographic collection with objects from every continent.

Other museums in Oslo

Oslo’s museum landscape extends well beyond the city centre and Bygdøy.

The Oslo Geological Museum, in the Botanical Garden at Tøyen, belongs to the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo. Its scientific collections include rocks, minerals and paleontological material. Nearby, the Oslo Zoological Museum presents Norway’s wildlife in dioramas stretching from the coast to the high mountains, including bear, lynx, wolf and wolverine. Its collections also include the extinct great auk and thylacine.

The Historical Museum in Oslo has welcomed the public since 1904. Its building originally served three university museums: the University’s Collection of Antiquities, the Coin Cabinet and the Ethnographic Museum.

At Frogner Park, the Henriette Wegner Pavilion is a small classical tea pavilion and art gallery. Built around 1824 at Blaafarveværket, it was moved to Frogner in 1837 after Henriette and Benjamin Wegner took over Frogner Manor. Its octagonal design is inspired by Greco-Roman architecture, while a painted ceiling miniature recalls Rome’s Pantheon.

Villa Stenersen is one of the major works of Norwegian functionalist architecture. Designed by Arne Korsmo and built between 1937 and 1939, it was created for Rolf Stenersen and his family as both a home and a gallery for his art collection.

Linderud gård, a former large farm in Oslo’s Linderud district, is now a protected cultural heritage site and part of MiA—the Museums in Akershus.

Explore Oslo with a Free Audio Guide

Neywo helps you turn sightseeing into an Oslo self-guided walking tour. The app has seven walking tours, one bus route and one bike route in the city, with stories that play as you reach each place, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages.

The routes include:

• From the Opera Roof to the Fortress Walls: 2.47 km, 117 minutes and 10 narrated stops.
• Karl Johans gate: Cathedral to Royal Palace: 2.51 km, 116 minutes and 12 stops.
• Nobel Waterfront: Art, Peace and City Hall: 3 km, 100 minutes and 9 stops.
• Vigeland Park: Gustav Vigeland’s World in Bronze and Granite: 2.43 km, 86 minutes and 9 stops.
• Gamlebyen: Medieval Oslo and its Churches: 2.2 km, 89 minutes and 9 stops.
• Bygdøy: Vikings, Polar Ships and a Stave Church: 2.15 km, 85 minutes and 7 stops.
• Holmenkollen: The Ski Jump and the Forest Chapel: 2.21 km, 52 minutes and 4 stops.
• Bus 30: Bygdøy to the Customs House via the Cultural Spine: 6.3 km, 27 minutes and 8 stops.
• Oslo Harbour Promenade by Bike: 2.6 km, 13 minutes and 7 stops.

Download Neywo and explore Oslo as you walk, ride or take the bus. The app tells the story of each place when you reach it, so you can discover the city independently and at your own pace. It is also a useful way to continue exploring Norway, from Bergen and Stavanger to Tromsø.