Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Local Guide
—To hire a private guide, call the guides' association at tel. 22
42 70 20 (1,550 kr/2 hours,
www.guideservice.no
)
. Another local guide bur-
eau is at tel. 22 42 28 18.
Tram #12, which becomes tram #11 halfway through its loop (at Majorstuen),
circles the city from the train station, lacing together many of Oslo's main
sights. Apart from the practical value of being able to hop on and off as you
sightsee your way around town (trams come by at least every 10 minutes),
this 40-minute trip gives you a fine look at parts of the city you wouldn't oth-
erwise see.
The route starts at the main train station, at the traffic-island tram stop loc-
ated immediately in front of the transit office tower. The route makes almost
a complete circle and finishes at Stortorvet (the cathedral square), dropping
you off a three-minute walk from where you began the tour. You want tram
#12 leaving from the second set of tracks, going toward Majorstuen. (Confirm
with your driver that the particular tram #12 you're boarding becomes tram
#11 and finishes at Stortorvet; some of these may turn into tram #19 instead,
which takes a different route. If yours becomes #19, simply hop out at Major-
stuen and wait for the next #11.) Here's what you'll see and ideas on where
you might want to hop out:
From the
station,
you'll go through the old grid streets of 16th-century
Christiania, King Christian IV's planned Renaissance town. After the city's
17th fire, in 1624, the king finally got fed up. He decreed that only brick and
stone buildings would be permitted in the city center, with wide streets to
serve as fire breaks.
You'll turn a corner at the
fortress
(Christiana Torv stop; get off here for
the fortress and Norwegian Resistance Museum), then head for
City Hall
(Rådhus stop). Next comes the harbor and upscale
Aker Brygge
waterfront
neighborhood (jump off at the Aker Brygge stop for the harbor and restaurant
row). Passing the harbor, you'll see on the left a few old shipyard buildings
