No fence, no gates, and a park you can walk through — which tells you most of what you need to know about Norway.
The palace was built between 1824 and 1849 for Karl Johan — the French marshal Bernadotte, who became king of Sweden and Norway by a route so improbable that it is worth reading up on — and it sits at the top of the street named after him, looking straight down it to the station.
The first thing visitors notice is what is missing. There is no fence, no railing and no gate. The palace stands in an open public park and you can walk right up to the front steps.
This is deliberate and it is not naivety — there is security, and it is discreet. But the arrangement says something specific about the Norwegian monarchy, which is popular, constitutionally weightless, and expected to behave like everyone else.
The changing of the guard
Every day at 13:30, performed by His Majesty The King’s Guard — conscripts doing national service.
It takes about twenty minutes, there is a band on some days, and nobody stops you standing close.
The Guard is also the unit that keeps a king penguin at Edinburgh Zoo as its mascot, a bird named Sir Nils Olav who has been knighted and promoted repeatedly and now holds the rank of Major General. This is entirely true and the Norwegians treat it with complete seriousness.
Going inside
Summer only. Guided tours run from late June to mid-August, and tickets go on sale in spring and sell out.
The tour covers the state rooms, the Bird Room, the Great Hall and the Council Chamber where the King meets the government every Friday.
If you are not in Oslo in July, you will not get in, and the park is the better part anyway.
The Palace Park
Slottsparken is open, free and used as an ordinary park — students on the grass, prams on the paths, and dogs everywhere.
The Queen’s Park on the western side is a walled garden that was opened to the public in 2005 and is quieter.
There is a statue of Karl Johan on horseback in front, and one of Queen Maud in the park.
17 May
Constitution Day, and the single biggest day in the Norwegian calendar.
The children’s parade — tens of thousands of schoolchildren, marching bands, and everyone in bunad, the regional folk costume — walks up Karl Johans gate to the palace, and the royal family stands on the balcony and waves at every single one of them for hours.
There are no soldiers, no tanks and no flypast. A national day built entirely around children walking past a family on a balcony is a genuinely unusual thing, and if you are in Oslo on 17 May, drop everything.
Practical
Free to walk to and around. Interior tours in summer only, booked in advance.
The palace is at the top of Karl Johans gate, ten minutes from the station, and the National Museum is five minutes downhill.
More Landmarks
The Opera House
A building you are meant to walk on. The roof is a public square that rises out of the fjord, and it costs nothing.
Akershus Fortress
Seven hundred years of fortification on a headland over the fjord, never taken by an enemy, and free to walk into.
Oslo City Hall
Two brown brick towers that Oslo has never entirely forgiven, and the room where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded.