A flea market under the trees in a Grünerløkka square, and the best chance of buying something Norwegian that is genuinely old.
Birkelunden is a small square of mature trees in the middle of Grünerløkka, surrounded by nineteenth-century tenements, and on Sundays through the warmer months it fills with trestle tables.
What is there
Mid-century Norwegian design, which is the reason to come. Cathrineholm enamel — the lotus-pattern bowls that go for a great deal on the international market — Figgjo and Stavangerflint ceramics, Hadeland glass, teak furniture, and rya rugs.
Prices are not what they were, because everyone now knows what this material is worth, and the dealers are not naive. It is still cheaper than a design shop and much cheaper than buying it abroad.
Vintage clothing, in quantity, including knitwear.
Records, books, cameras, and the usual quantity of things nobody needs.
Occasional genuinely old material — folk textiles, carved wood, and enamelled silver from the Norwegian jewellery tradition.
The honest view
It is small. An hour covers it comfortably.
It is also weather-dependent, seasonal and volunteer-run, so the size varies from a full square to a dozen tables.
Bring a card. Norway is close to cashless and most sellers take Vipps or card; a few older stallholders may not, and Vipps requires a Norwegian bank account, so a card is the reliable option.
Gentle haggling is accepted and hard bargaining is not the custom.
Grünerløkka’s other Sunday
The market is best treated as one part of a Grünerløkka Sunday rather than a destination.
Birkelunden itself is a protected heritage area — the tenement blocks around it are among the best-preserved workers’ housing of the 1860s and 70s in Scandinavia, and there is a bandstand and a church.
Around it: the vintage shops on Markveien and Thorvald Meyers gate, the coffee, and the walk down the Akerselva to Mathallen.
Oslo’s other markets
Vestkanttorvet at Amaldus Nielsens plass on the west side, on Saturdays — antiques rather than flea, and more expensive.
Blå by the river, a Sunday market with design and clothing, indoors and out.
Grønland, east of the centre, has the food market — the fruit and vegetable shops and the halal butchers that serve Oslo’s immigrant communities, and where produce costs a fraction of what it does in a supermarket.
Christmas markets at Spikersuppa on Karl Johans gate and at Norsk Folkemuseum in December.
