I’ve probably mentioned in my last two posts that Oslo is a pretty expensive place (soz bank account!) but, I have to say it is most definitely worth it if you manage to find cheap flights (HI RYANAIR ANSWERING ALL MY PRAYERS!) As it was a Christmas present for Mr C, all the planning was left to me & sometimes making decisions, ain’t my forte. Gulp. After reaching out to Sophie after her trip last year I set to booking everything and sometimes you look to other blogs for inspo. I wanted to create a quick guide to where to eat, sleep & drink in Oslo for you guys & hopefully if you decide to head over to the Scandi borders it might come in useful for you too.
After much deliberation (‘cos as I mentioned I’m terrible at making final decisions!) I settled for the HTL Grensen. It was around £170 for 3 nights, which given the high living costs in Oslo, wasn’t that too bad! I picked it for it’s central location, just off Karl Johans Gate and being equal distance from the area, Grunnerlokka which I desperately wanted to check out and also the Harbour. The hotel, I feel, is a lot more luxurious than it actually gives itself credit for. We had a slightly larger room with one of the floor to ceiling windows (after a little, cheeky email to the hotel management – told you those tricks work!) – the view was of the street below but it almost felt like we were spying on the street & not once did I feel vulnerable with such large windows. We stayed room only, and because our flight schedule royally messed our body clocks up, we were never awake to try out the breakfast here. They have large, glass bottles of water to take up to your room in the reception area and coffee was available too which Mr C certainly enjoyed. The hotel has a really cool & hip vibe which matches that of the city itself. If I was to come back to Oslo I don’t think I would choose anywhere else to stay. Credit owed, where credit is due.
Yup, the Nighthawk Diner was always going to be high on this list. After an amazing recommendation from Emma we hiked our way over to Grunnerlokka on our first morning and indulged in the best breakfast/brunch EVER. Sadly, every other breakfast we ate through our trip just ended up being a bitter disappointment. It came to roughly £40, but it was most definitely worth it!
Again, we were trying to be really careful with where we went depending on what budget allowed. We were really boring and ended up at the Hard Rock Café Oslo one night and gauged on humongous burgers. Really tasty (and actually a lot better the Amsterdam one we went to a few years back) and we also ate at O’Learys’s (the first time we indulged in a pitcher of beer) which is another burger & ribs kinda place – it was absolutely delicious!
You aren’t going to get blottoed in Oslo, let me tell you that first off. For 1 pint it is the equivalent of around nine whole English stirling pounds. Yes you heard me right, £9. So, drinking wasn’t really a lunchtime thing. Except, when the rain started to pour so heavy on the Sunday that we had to take shelter in an O’Leary’s bar, which, was probably the place to get slightly cheaper drinks.
Oslo is really more about the coffee culture, just like Hendrix Ibsen. I mentioned that here in my last Oslo post that it just one of those places that felt automatically cool. With locals playing with the board games, to the rich coffee smells that lingered in the air, it was definitely one of the spots I enjoyed most for a little down time in the city. Located next to the Mathallen which also has plenty of food & drink establishments inside too which is really worth a wander round. I had to stop myself from wanting to buy all the food.
Bee xxx
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