Exploring Oslo - Norway - page 132

CITY TOURS H. M. Kristiansens Automobilbyrå, Hegdehaugsveien 4
( & 23-15-73-00 ), has been showing visitors around Oslo for more than a cen-
tury. Both of their bus tours are offered daily year-round. The 3-hour “Oslo
Highlights” tour is offered at 10am. It costs 260NOK ($37) for adults,
130NOK ($18) for children. The 2-hour “Oslo Panorama” tour costs 190NOK
($27) for adults, 90NOK ($13) for children. It departs at 10am. The starting
point is in front of the National Theater. Arrive 15 minutes before departure;
tours are conducted in English by trained guides.
8 Active Sports
From spring to fall the Oslofjord is a center of swimming, sailing, windsurfing,
and angling. Daily excursions are arranged by motor launch at the harbor. Sub-
urban forest areas await hikers, bicyclists, and anglers in the summer. In the win-
ter the area is ideal for cross-country skiing (on marked trails that are
illuminated at night), downhill or slalom skiing, tobogganing, skating, and
more. Safaris by Land Rover are arranged year-round.
BATHS The most central municipal bath is Vestkantbadet, Sommerrogate 1
( & 22-56-05-66 ), which offers a Finnish sauna and Roman baths. This munic-
ipal bath is near the American embassy, just a kilometer ( 1 ⁄ 2 mile) north from
Oslo's center. It's primarily a winter destination and is closed in July. Admission
is 77NOK ($11). The baths are open May to mid-August Monday to Friday
from 1 to 6:30pm, and are reserved Thursday for women only. From mid-
August to April the baths are open Monday and Wednesday from 1:30 to
6:30pm, Tuesday and Thursday to Friday 1:30 to 7:30pm, and Saturday 10am
to 2:30pm. Prices for massages start at 350NOK ($50) for 30 minutes. If you
book a massage ( & 22-44-07-26 ), you can use the baths free.
Frognerbadet, Middelthunsgate 28 ( & 23-27-54-50 ), in Frogner Park, is an
open-air pool near the Vigeland sculptures. The entrance fee is 62NOK ($8.80)
for adults and 29NOK ($4.10) for children. It's open mid-May to mid-August,
Monday to Friday 7am to 7:30pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 6pm. Take
tram no. 2 from the National Theater.
BEACHES You most likely didn't come to Oslo to go to the beach. Even if
you did, you'll find that you often have to swim from a rocky shore. Sun-loving
Oslovians, desperate to absorb whatever sun they get on a summer day,
often take to whatever remotely resembles a beach. Their few short weeks of
summer last until around mid-August, when snow flurries start appearing in the
Oslo sky.
Our favorite beach, and the most easily accessible from the center of Oslo, is
Huk, on Bygdøy peninsula. To reach Huk, take bus no. 30 A—marked
BYGDØY —to its final stop. Should you arrive by boat on Bygdøy, follow the signs
along Juk Aveny to the beach. Our recommendation is to go over for the day,
view the Viking Ship museum, the Folk Museum, and other attractions in the
morning, then head for the beach—preferably with the makings of a picnic—
for the early afternoon. In case there are any prudes in your party, be duly
warned: Half of the beach is reserved for nudists. The nude beach is on the
northwestern side. That same warning should go for all beaches in Norway;
along with other Scandinavians, Oslovians like to strip down for the beach.
Once you get here, don't expect a traditional Hawaiian beach. The beach is
mostly grass lawns and some smooth rocks that you can lie on to sun yourself
like a lizard. If the beach at Huk is overcrowded, as it's likely to be on a summer