The main street, station to palace in fifteen minutes, with everything official on it and the good shops one street away.
Karl Johans gate runs about a kilometre and a half from Oslo Central Station at one end to the Royal Palace at the other, and essentially every institution in Norway is on it or beside it.
It is named for Karl Johan — the French marshal Bernadotte, who ended up king of Sweden and Norway — and it was laid out as the ceremonial axis of the new capital in the nineteenth century.
Walking it, east to west
Oslo S and the tiger. The bronze tiger outside the station refers to Kristianiabohemen, and to Bjørnson’s poem calling Kristiania “tigerstaden” — the tiger city, a dangerous place that ate people up. Oslo has adopted the insult as a mascot.
Oslo Cathedral — Domkirken, consecrated 1697, with a painted ceiling from the 1930s and a baroque altarpiece. It became the focal point of the mourning after 22 July 2011, when the square outside was covered in flowers metres deep.
Stortorvet, the old market square, with the flower stalls.
The Storting — the Norwegian parliament, a yellow-brick semicircular building of 1866, with free guided tours in summer.
Eidsvolls plass and the fountain, which is frozen into an ice rink in winter.
The National Theatre, opened 1899, with statues of Ibsen and Bjørnson outside. Ibsen lived a few streets away and walked to the Grand Café on this street at the same time every day, where his table is still marked.
The Grand Hotel, where the Nobel Peace laureate stays and waves from the balcony on 10 December.
University Square, the old university buildings, and Slottsparken.
Shopping, honestly
On Karl Johan: international chains, souvenir shops selling trolls and elk, and a couple of department stores. It is not interesting.
Where to actually go:
Prinsens gate and Nedre Slottsgate for Norwegian design and independents.
Torggata, north of the cathedral, for records, streetwear and small shops.
Grünerløkka for vintage, design and independent everything.
Bogstadveien, west of the palace, which is where Oslo actually shops.
What is worth buying
Wool. Norwegian knitwear — Dale, Devold, Oleana — is expensive and lasts decades. This is the one thing genuinely worth the money here.
Outdoor clothing. Norrøna and Helly Hansen are Norwegian and are cheaper here than abroad, though not cheap.
Glass and ceramics — Hadeland glass, Figgjo, and the mid-century Cathrineholm enamel that vintage shops in Grünerløkka are full of.
Brunost, akevitt and coffee from a local roaster, all of which travel.
Ostehøvel, the cheese slicer, which was invented in Norway in 1925 and costs almost nothing.
Tax-free
Non-EU residents can reclaim VAT above a threshold on a single receipt. Ask in the shop; the refund is processed at the airport or the border.
Alcohol is sold only through Vinmonopolet, the state monopoly, with limited hours and none at all on Sundays. See what you should know.
