Museums and galleries in Oslo

Museums and galleries in Oslo

1. DrinkInner East

   Aku-Aku Tiki Bar

   Grünerløkka

   Another of Jan Vardøens successful cocktail bars, Easter Island style. Let Voo-Doo-Mary-Lou knock you out surrounded by bamboo, blowfish and Thor Heyerdahl, after a long day at the Kontiki-museum. Cool and cozy atmosphere.

2. BuyWest

   Art: Siren Waróe Gallery

   The Studio Gallery of the Norwegian up-and-coming fine art artist Siren Waróe. Watch her golden art being made live and order your own dream-painting or get a print of one of her paintings.

   Wed 14:00-20:00 or contact at phone

3. SeeWest

   Astrup Fearnley Museet

   at Tjuvholmen

   Astrup Fearnley Museet is a private collection of contemporary art, founded in 1993. The museum was relocated to Tjuvholmen, Aker Brygge in 2012. The building - designed by Renzo Piano - is spectacular in itself, and the museum offers a small green oasis with a beach, very welcome in the concrete surroundings of Aker Brygge. The museum offers temporary exhibitions, and is an established and central institution in Norwegian contemporary art.

   Tue Wed Fri 12:00-17:00, Thu 12:00-19:00, Sat Sun 11:00-17:00, Mon closed·Adult 120 kr, student 80 kr, children under 18 free; included in Oslo Pass

4. DoInner East

   Botanical Garden

   tram 17 or bus 31 to Lakkegata skole or t-bane to Tøyen, walking distance 200 metres

   The University botanical gardens is located just south of Tøyen park next door to Munch Museum. A wonderful and relaxing area. Free entrance, opening hours Apr-Sep: Sa Su 10:00-20:00, M-F 07:00-20:00; Oct-Mar: Sa Su 10:00-17:00, M-F 07:00-17:00.

5. SeeNorth

   Emanuel Vigeland Museum

   Among Oslos best hidden secrets. Gustav Vigeland's not so well-known younger brother erected the building as a museum for his art in 1926, but later decided it should serve as a mausoleum, with his urn placed above the door. The main attraction in this museum with no windows is the 800 square meters fresco "Vita", (Italian for "life"), showing the human life from conception till death, but other examples of his art are also on display. Included in the Oslo Pass.

   Only open a few hours every Sun afternoon·90kr/adult 60kr/student children free

6. SeeWest

   Fram-Museum

   Features the vessel Fram, the world's first ice breaker and the last polar expedition ship made of wood, and presents a history of polar exploration (with a strong Norwegian focus!) Included in the Oslo Pass.

   180 kr adult; child, senior citizen and family tickets also available

7. SeeWest

   Frogner and Vigeland park

   Frogner park including Vigeland Sculpture Park is a large green area about 10 minutes by subway from the city center. In addition to being a nice green recreational area, it is also decorated with hundreds of sculptures by the Norwegian artist Gustav Vigeland. There is a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere here, although the sculptures are a little disturbing. If your children want to climb the statues, nobody will even bother to look twice at you. There is also a cafeteria, and two museums, the City Museum of Oslo and the Vigeland Museum. If you fancy an outdoor swim, Frognerbadet is situated next to the Frognerpark with 3 pools, several diving towers and a water slide.

   24 h·Free

8. SeeWest

   Gustav Vigeland Museum

   Situated to the south of the Frognerparken and Halvdan Svartes gate. The museum manages the sculptural works of Gustav Vigeland and offers a permanent exhibition of Gustav Vigelands sculptural works, as well as rolling exhibitions of various spatial art-forms (sculpture, installations and video-art). The museum was designed by Lorentz Ree and built in the 1920s. The striking building in red brick is one of the finest examples of Norwegian neoclassic architecture. The complex also included a studio for the artist. The urn of the artist is kept in the tower.

   Closed on Mondays·80 kr adult. Included in the Oslo Pass

9. SeeInner East

   Helvete

   This was a record shop run by Euronymous (the stage name for Øystein Aarseth, considered to be a very central figure in the early black metal scene) between 1991 and 1993. It was a meeting place for the members of the early scene. As of 2022, the building houses Neseblod Records, which maintains the place as an unofficial museum to black metal.

10. SeeWest

    Henie Onstad Kunstsenter

    Henie Onstad art gallery

    The Henie Onstad Kunstsenter is an art museum located at Høvikodden (in Bærum municipality) on a fine location at the fjord near Sandvika. Sonja Henie and Niels Onstad created the museum by donating their private art collection and funds for running the museum. Henie was famous figure skater (three-time Olympic champion) and Hollywood film star. Onstad, her husband, was a shipping magnate and art collector. The museum is located just outside the city border in the Bærum suburbs between the abandoned airport Fornebu and Bærum centre at Sandvika.

11. SeeSentrum

    Hjemmefrontmuseet

    The resistance museum

    Describes the resistance against the Nazi German occupation of Norway during World War II.

    Closed · opens 10 am tomorrow·Adults 100 kr, children 40 kr

12. SeeNorth

    Holmenkollen

    The ski jump located on the west side of Oslo, which was rebuilt for the World Ski Championships in 2011. It first opened in 1892 and has been re-built many times since then. It had more than 1 million visitors every year, and was one of the biggest tourist attractions in Norway. There is also the oldest ski museum in the world, opened in 1923. Walking and mountain bike riding are popular activities here during the summer.

13. DoNorth

    Holmenkollen

    see above

    The area around Holmenkollen (T-bane 1) is well suited for cross-country skiing, but also a nice area for hiking during summertime. While you are there, you can also visit the ski-museum which is located close to the ski-jump. For additional fun, buy a cheap sledge or "akebrett", or rent a proper one from Frognerseteren, and sleigh down from Frognerseteren to Midtstuen station. This was actually the venue of the sleighing competitions in the 1952 Winter Olympics, and the hill is referred to as "Korketrekkeren" (the corkscrew). If you buy a day-card for the subway, you can race all day long, but make sure you are well dressed, as you are going to get wet. The Holmenkollen ski festival, a competition in different types of Nordic skiing takes place here each March since 1892 (only interrupted by WWII).

14. SeeWest

    Kon-Tiki Museum

    Displays Thor Heyerdahl's balsa raft Kon-Tiki, and Ra II, as well as some other artefacts from Easter Island. Included in the Oslo Pass.

    100 kr adult

15. SeeInner North

    Kunstnernes hus

    This 1931 building includes gallery and cafe. A prominent example of functionalism in Norway at the transition from neoclassicism.

16. SeeInner North

    Labour Museum

    Arbeidermuseet -local labour and industrial history

    Well-kept workers' dwellings, winding streets and old factory building from the early industrial history of Oslo. Here you also find schools, public pools and factories which also become an integral part of the museum experience.

17. SeeInner East

    Munch Museum

    Opened in Oct 2021, this striking harbour building exhibits paintings by the Norwegian painter Edward Munch (1863-1944). Lots of his famous work is here - he made many versions of "The Scream" and these are rotated for display. Munch also produced huge paintings for the grandiose walls of the University of Oslo Aula, but these are seldom accessible to the public. Entrance is free on Wednesdays from 6pm-9pm, you still have to book a ticket. The former museum further out at Tøyen has closed.

    Sun-Tue 10:00-18:00, Wed-Sat 10:00-21:00·Adult 160 kr, student 100 kr, child free

18. SeeWest

    National Museum

    This museum opened in 2022 and comprises the collections of the former National Gallery, the Museum of Architecture, the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. The second floor houses paintings from the 15th century until today and includes a room exclusively dedicated to works from Edvard Munch while the other exhibits are displayed on the ground floor.

    Tue-Sun 10:00-21:00·Adult 180 kr, seniors and people under 25 110 kr, free for children

19. BuyInner East

    Neseblod Records

    Black Metal Shop and museum in Schweigaards gate in the same building in which Helvete was located in the early 1990s.

20. SeeWest

    Norwegian Maritime Museum

    Norsk Sjøfartsmuseum

    Houses a huge collection of ships and boats and records the impact of Norway's seafarers on their own country and the world. Included in the Oslo Pass.

    100 kr adult, 75 kr over-65s

21. SeeNorth

    Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology & The Norwegian Telecommunications Museum

    A fun and very interactive place for both children and adults. Contrary to information in the common tourist brochures this building.

    90kr/adult

22. SeeWest

    Oslo Museum

    Oslo Bymuseum

    Museum with exhibitions showing the city's cultural and commercial development. Free admission for everyone on the first Thursday of the month.

    Tue-Sun 11:00-16:00, closed Mon·Adults: 130 kr, Students: 65 Kr

23. SeeWest

    Oslo Transport Museum

    Sporveismuseet

    The museum is in a former tram depot, and still has a track connecting to the Oslo tram system. It features a collection of old trams and buses. On the first Sunday afternoon of each month, the museum operates a historic tram in the streets.

    Sat-Tue 11:00-15:00

24. SeeInner East

    Popsenteret

    Popsenteret (Center of Popular Music) is a museum and location for various events and rolling exhibitions, interactions, etc., within the cultural realm of pop music.

    Mon closed, Tue Wed Fri 10:00-16:00, Thu 10:00-19:00, Sat Sun 11:00-17:00·100 kr adult

25. SeeSentrum

    The Armed Forces Museum

    Forsvarsmuseet, The Defence Museum

    Describes Norwegian military history and provides an insight into the development from the Middle Ages to the first years after World War II.

    Closed · opens 11 am tomorrow·Adults 100 kr, children 40 kr

26. SeeSentrum

    The Mini Bottle Gallery

    A unique collection of mini bottles. While the bottles are small, the museum exhibits 12,500 of them from a collection of 53,000, over an area of 1,500 m².

    Open Sat and Sundays

27. SeeWest

    The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History

    Norsk Folkemuseum

    A large open air museum featuring typical buildings from various periods in Norwegian history. This includes a city building that shows living conditions from the 1850s to the 1980s. Included in the Oslo Pass.

    Closed · opens 10 am tomorrow·130 kr adult, 100 kr student

28. SeeSentrum

    The Queen Sonja Art Stable

    A museum, art gallery and concert hall located in the former stables of the Royal Palace in Oslo. Varying exhibitions where most of the items are from the Norwegian Royal Collections.

    100 NOK, children under 12 years free

29. SeeInner North

    Tramway Museum

    Displays the history of Oslo's trams, buses and metro. Among other things, a wooden tram from the Holmenkollen line and a trolleybus are exhibited.

    NOK?/adult

30. DoInner North

    University of Oslo

    Main campus

    The University of Oslo is Norway's oldest and second largest university. The main campus is at Blindern where most buildings are in red brick, functionalist style. On campus there are student associations and dormitories, gyms, the meteorological institute and research institutes within an area of more than 1 square kilometer. The university hospital is next door on the other side of ring road 3. Botanical garden and museum, zoological and geological museums are at Tøyen in eastern Oslo. Subjects: Education, Aesthetic Studies and Musicology, Health and Medicine, History, Philosophy, and Culture Studies, Information Technology and Informatics, Language and Literature, Economics, Leadership and Administration, Mathematics, Natural Science, and Technology, Media Studies, Religion and Theology, Social Sciences and Psychology. The law school is in the original university buildings in downtown. Some classes are taught in English.

31. SeeWest

    Viking Ship Museum

    In addition to two 1100-year-old Viking ships (apparently the best preserved in the world), it also contains various other Viking artefacts and a Viking burial chamber, complete with ancient skeletons. Included in the Oslo Pass. It is closed for a major refurbishment and plans to reopen in 2027.

    100 kr adult, 80 kr students and seniors, children under 18: free

32. See

    Viking Ship Museum and Historical Museum

    Museum featuring the Tune, Oseberg and Gokstad Viking ships, found in burial mounds. Closed until 2027 for renovations.

33. SeeSentrum Not mapped

    Nordic Bible Museum

    Nordisk bibelmuseum

    This is a little museum dedicated to the Bible's history, cultural influence, and main translations. The friendly tour guides will take you through their impressive collection, which spans centuries and includes a reproduction of a Dead Sea scroll page. You also get an opportunity to try writing on papyrus and vellum.

    T-Wed: noon-5pm, Thu: 11am-6pm, Fri-Sun: 11am-4pm, Mon: closed·110 kr

34. SeeWest

    Henrik Ibsen Museum

    This museum is a treat. Included in the Oslo Pass.

    Adult 85 kr

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Oslo (CC BY-SA 4.0).