Using the 24-hour Oslo City Pass to Save on Norwegian Museums

Date: June 25, 2018 and June 26, 2018
Location: Oslo, Norway
B.A.Livin’ Savings: 392 NOK Norwegian Krone – per person (24 hour Oslo Pass cost 395 NOK and to pay individually for the museums and transportation would have cost 787 NOK)

Oslo had a few museums that we wanted to go to. When I added up the price of entry to those museums, it was more than the price of the 24 hour Oslo Pass. I looked at the opening times and determined that we would be able to visit all the museums we were interested in during the 24-hour window.

What is the Oslo Pass?

The Oslo Pass is a 24-, 48- or 72-hour pass that provides free entry to 30 museums in Oslo, free public transportation and discounts to a few restaurants and other activities.

Is the Oslo Pass Worth It?

Absolutely! We were able to save money by buying the 24-hour pass versus paying to get into each museum we wanted to go to. We even had time to go to a couple other museums that we were not planning to, but went to because they were free entry with the pass.

Where Do You Buy The Oslo Pass?

You can download the Oslo Pass Official City Card app and purchase the pass within the app. When you are ready to start using the pass, you hit “Activate” in the app and then a clock starts counting down. There is a QR code in the app to scan when you go into museums or are asked on public transportation. The app worked well for us. There are also a number of places around the city where you can buy a physical card.

What Did We Visit With the 24-Hour Oslo Pass?

The Oslo pass is good for 24 consecutive hours, not a single calendar day. We started using our pass at 2:00 pm so it was good until 1:59 pm the following day.

At 2:00 pm we took the ferry from the City Hall Pier to the Bygdøy peninsula.

While on the ferry there is a good view of Akershus Festning. That is a USA Navy ship in the foreground.

Also a view of Holmenkollen, the ski jump.

We got off at stop 2 and went to the Norwegian Maritime Museum. There was a handmade deck of cards. We gave ourselves an hour to visit the museum, as it was one we didn’t originally have on our list to go to. We were a little rushed but saw everything.

The next museum we went to was right next door to the Norwegian Maritime Museum, The Fram Museum. This museum exceeded our expectations and was our favorite. The museum was about the polar (North and South Pole) expeditions. The map on the right shows the paths the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (line on the left) and British explorer Robert Falcon Scott (line on the right) took to reach the South Pole in 1911. Norway got there first, five weeks before the British expedition.

The museum is named after the Fram ship that is housed there. The Fram ship is a strong wooden ship that sailed in near the north and south poles. You can walk on the ship and go inside to cabins, lounges, cargo hold and engine room.

When standing on the ship deck there were screens all around showing what some of the weather would have been like sailing in. There was a rain storm.

Going past icebergs.

There is also an underground tunnel to get to where the Gjøa ship is. The Gjøa ship was the first to sail the Northwest Passage. We gave ourselves an hour to visit this museum, as it was one we didn’t originally have on our list to go to. We were a little rushed but saw everything.

After The Fram Museum we took the 4:45 pm ferry back to the City Hall Pier. We had an inexpensive dinner at Deli de Luca and then went to the Nationaltheatret metro station. We took the metro to Holmenkollen. From the Holmenkollen stop there were large signs pointing the direction to the ski museum and ski jump.

The walk to the ski jump was mostly all uphill.

Below the ski jump was the ski museum. The museum has old skis and I was surprised to see the detailed carvings on the wooden skis.

There were models showing how the ski jump has been expanded over the years.

There were some skis of prior Norwegians on display, but I was disappointed as the descriptions about the athletes have not been updated since 2006. Marit Bjørgen deserves way more recognition as she is a five-time Olympian and earned 15 Olympic medals, the most of any athlete in the winter Olympics. I also was disappointed that there was not more about Bjørn Daehlie or the Olympics that have been held in Norway.

We took the elevator up to the top of the ski jump.

There was a 360 degree view.

You can look down the jump to get the view the skiers have before they take off.

After the ski museum we took the metro back to the Nationaltheatret metro station and got there at around 8:00 pm.

The next day we started by going to the Historical Museum. The museum didn’t open until 10:00 am and we were there just after that. Part of the Historical Museum is under construction and we felt there was not much information about the items that were there. Below is a mummy cat. We were at the museum for less than 30 minutes but saw everything.

We took the ferry from the City Hall Pier to the Bygdøy peninsula and got off at stop 1 and went to The Viking Ship Museum, Vikingskipshuset. The museum had three viking ships: two full ships and the third was just part of the bottom and some artifacts. The museum had a lot of people in it.

When we entered the Viking Ship Museum and showed our Oslo pass we were handed a ticket to enter the museum that was also good for 48 hours to go to the Historical Museum. Thus, we could have waited and done the Historical Museum the next day or in the afternoon after the Oslo pass had ended.

Here is the Oseberg ship.

The Gokstad ship.

Here are a couple of the sleds that were found with the ships.

A wagon that was with a ship.

There was a lot of detail on all of the viking artifacts.

After The Viking Ship Museum we went to Norsk Folkmuseum, the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. It was an open-air museum with traditional houses from all over Norway. There was a preview of traditional instruments, singing and dancing.

We didn’t find the houses all that interesting. After Norsk Folkmuseum we walked back to the city center. There was a bike path on the Bygdøy peninsula that took us past a farm. Here are the cows and a ram running. It was funny to see the ram trying to keep up with the cows.

The Oslo pass was worth it for us and we found that that a museum we weren’t planning to go to was our favorite, the Fram Museum. There are museums that open at 9:00 am, so you could start your second day earlier and you would have time to also see The Kon-Tiki Museum that is in the same area as the Fram Museum and Norwegian Maritime Museum.