Oslo & Bergen, Norway – Travel Review
By Helen Johnston, September 2025
The odd thing about solo travel is that you’re rarely on your own. In fact, you probably talk to more people than you would if you were travelling with someone else, and learn more about the country you’re in.
That was certainly the case for me on a solo trip to Norway which left me wondering why I hadn’t done it years ago. Heading to southern Europe to get guaranteed sunshine doesn’t seem so appealing now with unbearably high temperatures and wildfires becoming more common. It was time to head north for a ‘coolcation’ and a chance to witness for myself the beauty of Norway which I’ve heard so much about.
Internet searches for female solo travel have risen by 62% in three years, and 84% of women of solo travellers are women, according to figures from Skift. So, how much could I cram into a five-day trip? A huge amount as it turned out. The flight to Oslo from Manchester was only about an hour and 40 minutes so I was checking into my hotel by late morning and out sightseeing by lunchtime.
As capital cities go, Oslo is small but perfectly formed. I stayed at the lovely boutique Karl Johan Hotel which is just across the road from the Nationaltheatret station and a perfect base for getting to attractions by foot – the best way to see the city and soak up the atmosphere. (I notched up over 44,000 steps in two days, but who’s counting?) My first stop was the Munch Museum which is in a bendy futuristic looking building on the edge of the harbour, next door to another strangely-shaped building of white marble, all slopes and sharp angles, which turned out to be the Oslo Opera House. Its roof is a great viewing point across the fjord.
Munch Museum
image: Didrick Stenersen
“Shown on rotation”
I had no idea just how prolific the artist Edvard Munch had been and was surprised to find six floors dedicated to his work. The largest painting in the collection is The Researchers at 50 square metres which has been referred to as Mother Earth because of its central figure of a breastfeeding woman. There are also self-portraits of Munch and several showing his fascination with anatomy. However, his most famous work is undoubtedly The Scream, you know the one, that emoji you use when you’ve got the horrors over something. The museum has three versions of it for viewing – a print, a drawing and a painting which are shown on rotation to protect them from over exposure to the light. They are all in one room and a crowd had already assembled in front of the wall where the painting was due to be revealed. As soon as the covers slid back to reveal it there was a general push forward as dozens of phone cameras came out, many held aloft in outstretched arms in the hope of getting a better view. I bided my time at the back and eventually got a decent picture of it but couldn’t help feeling that this scramble detracted from the experience.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a visit to Scandinavia without having a sauna and there are several wooden ones to be found floating in the harbour close to the Munch Museum. I headed to the Oslo Badstuforening which has three saunas, and usually two plunge pools but they were both out of action. The first shock was discovering the changing rooms were mixed… where’s that Scream emoji when you need it? There weren’t even any cubicles, just one small room with some lockers along one wall and a half-naked man and woman not even hurrying to get dressed. Oh, to have the body confidence of the Norwegians! I shuffled as far into the corner as I could to get changed behind my towel in true Brit fashion.
Kjosfossen Waterfall
image: Adrian Levers by Matrix
“Peaceful “
These saunas are much more of an informal affair than ours and some people go every evening after work, which is presumably what the woman sitting in her bra and pants had done. It was lovely to sit in the sauna looking out across the harbour, bobbing gently on the water. The reason for being moored there is so that once you’ve had enough of the heat you can jump into the water for a cold swim. I admired the people doing this, but open water swimming isn’t my thing, especially considering what we have floating in our rivers and seas back home. Luckily for the Norwegians, their waterways are clean.
One of the delights of Oslo is that it’s so close to forest-clad mountains, within about 20 minutes on the tram you can be strolling among Norwegian Spruces enjoying the quiet and admiring the posh houses up in the hills. The Norwegian outdoor lifestyle clearly does wonders for them because they all look so healthy. Hiking tours are popular and I was lucky enough to get a guided tour from Einar Tønnessen who set up When in Norway in 2019. He used to work for Pepsi but eventually had enough of the corporate world. “I was sitting in my office creating PowerPoints and spreadsheets and realised I wanted to do something outdoors,” he said as he drove us out of Oslo. Starting a new company just before a pandemic was hardly good timing but his gamble has paid off and he now employs 15 guides and has expanded to two other cities with more in the pipeline. “It’s great but now that I employ other people to do the hikes I’m spending more time in an office again,” he laughed.
He still gets outside as much as he can in his free time though and lives in an area where deer wander into his garden. The trails where we walked were peaceful and a lush green and are the perfect antidote to the bustling city below. We saw a group of people being led past a glistening lake and Einar said they were Ukrainian refugees who have been welcomed into the area. It’s estimated there are more than 81,000 of them in Norway, (which has a population of just over 5.5 million) and they are spread out across the country.
View from Vettakollen
Image: Per A. Poulsson
“Treasure trove”
Einar dropped me off at the Holmenkollen Ski Museum, which is tucked in beside the giant Holmenkollbakken ski jump. The museum has a pair of 1000-year-old skis and artifacts from Polar expeditions which were interesting. But the best bit for me was going up to the top of the ski jump tower in a glass lift to see the amazing views across Oslo and beyond. It was also stomach-churning to look down on the jump and imagine how it must feel to launch yourself off it. Unimaginable to me.
It’s a good idea to get an Oslo Pass which gets you access into more than 30 attractions and you can use it on public transport. This meant I could walk to the tram stop and get back into the city centre without having to worry about sorting out a ticket. I used it again to get into the National Museum which is next door to the Nobel Peace Centre down by the harbour. The museum was a treasure trove of Norwegian culture, from the indigenous Sami people to royal fashion and even a video of Aha’s 1985 hit Take On Me.
From the museum it was just a short walk to catch the Brim Explorer electric after work cruise which sets off every hour from 5pm-9pm. There’s no charge apart from buying a drink at the bar and it can be hired for a special occasion; there was a birthday celebration going on during my trip. The eco-friendly cruise takes in the Oslo fjord and was an incredibly relaxing experience, sitting on the upper deck as the sun sank and taking in the sight of the many wooded islands scattered along the coastline, some of them containing summer houses.
Brim Explorer
image: Brim Explorer
“Off the tourist trail”
After two days of exploring the capital, it was time to move on and take the overland Fjord Tours’ Norway in a Nutshell® route to Bergen on the west coast. This involved three trains, a boat and a coach in a 12-hour journey that showcased some of the most amazing scenery Norway has to offer. Link to my other feature here?
I left Oslo central station at 8.25am and arrived at Bergen station at 8.40pm, tired but with a head full of memories. It was a short tram ride to my hotel, the cool Moxy with its industrial vibe which sits right on the waterfront in Marineholmen. This used to be industrial dockyards but has been transformed in recent years into a smart business district, with yachts and floating saunas. I had the Bergen Card for public transport and entry into attractions, which works in much the same way as the Oslo Pass.
The following day I was met by Linn Kjos Falkenberg from VisitBergen and we tried out the floating City Sauna right outside the hotel. We had it to ourselves so it felt spacious and provided a clear view of the waterfront. I declined the open water swimming though, still not my thing, but Linn is a regular and jumped straight in. Afterwards we walked into town along the waterside and through a park, heading along pretty streets of coloured houses until we got to the train station and a hidden gem of a café inside a shop selling BRGN raincoats. It was good to be off the tourist trail and we enjoyed a sandwich and a very good apple cake.
Fløibanen funicular in Bergen
image: Casper Steinsland
“Traditional methods”
Bergen is circled by seven hills so next we took the Fløibanen funicular up to the top of Mount Fløyen to see the beautiful views across the city, the fjord and islands beyond. It only takes five minutes and is worth it if you don’t fancy the steep walk. There are hiking trails at the top and we walked to a lake where it’s possible to swim. “People swim here even in winter when they have to break the ice to get in,” said Linn, while I shuddered at the thought.
After heading back down on the funicular Linn gave me a walking tour of the city, which is smaller than Oslo and easy to get around. The historic harbour area called Bryggen is a UNESCO world heritage site and was developed by German traders who arrived in the 13th century and dominated the area for 400 years, dealing mainly in fish. The wooden coloured houses lining the harbour side are currently being lifted and renovated one by one because they stand on land where the sea used to be and are sinking. It’s a painstaking job because traditional methods are being used in keeping with how they were first built. The houses have been susceptible to fire over the centuries and have been rebuilt many times and now they are home to artists, cafes and shops.
Bergen’s dock is a world heritage site
image: Casper Steinsland
“Solo exploring”
Bergen has a reputation as the wettest city in Norway and lived up to it when the heavens opened as we were walking back towards Marineholmen so we grabbed the tram and then made a dash through the rain to the Ostra restaurant next door to my hotel. It specialises in Mexican cuisine but uses Norwegian produce, so you get the best of both worlds, and it was good to tuck into guacamole and cod dishes while we dried out watching the rain.
I found myself watching the rain again the following morning while eating a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, my final day in Norway but luckily it had stopped when I set off to walk into town and do some solo exploring. I went to the small Bryggens Museum which gives a fascinating insight into the timeline of the site using artifacts found in the layers of soil laid down over the decades. They’ve contrasted this with a display of many layers of plastic showing what our generation will be leaving behind, which is a sobering thought.
Bergen landmark, the Musikkpaviljongen
image: Gjertrud Coutinho
“Welcoming”
Back in the city centre the two-day Bergen Food Festival had just opened, featuring a host of local producers showing off Norwegian delicacies. There had been an attempt to make a record-breaking carrot cake which covered several tables and was sliced up and handed out free to visitors. I don’t know whether it broke the record but it was certainly delicious. I was debating whether to buy some bars of chocolates as presents when there was a suddent cloud burst and the stall holder Kjill invited me to shelter under his canopy, which led to a chat about his British wife and how he had created an orange flavour milk chocolate called British Heritage. Kjill was an occupational therapist before deciding to start his own business Fjorden Sjokolade and last year his 90% dark Mana chocolate won an award from the Chocolate Academy. He lives in Stavanger which is famous for its tomato crop so he has created a tomato chocolate which might sound odd but tasted so nice I bought a bar.
Taking the tram to the airport later that afternoon, I had chance to reflect on all I had crammed into five days. Norway was everything I had hoped it would be – safe, welcoming, and with an abundance of beautiful scenery and attractive cities. Everyone I met along the way was friendly and proud of where they live. If you’re thinking of going solo, Norway is a great place to start.
For more information on Oslo go to visitoslo.com and for more information on Bergen go to visitbergen.com
For more information on Norway in a Nutshell® go to fjordtours.com
Useful links for Oslo:
Airport express train into city centre: flytoget.no
Oslo Pass: oslo-pass.com
When In Norway hiking: wheninnorway.no
Oslo saunas: oslobadstuforening.no
Brim Explorer cruises: brimexplorer.com
Useful links for Bergen:
Bergen Card: visitbergen.com
City Sauna: citysauna.no
Fløibanen funicular: floyen.no
Top image: Didrick Stenersen
Helen Johnston has been a journalist for more than 30 years, working for regional and national news organisations. She began her career on a weekly paper in Lincolnshire and then worked for daily papers in Yorkshire before going freelance and working for national organisations, including the Daily Mail and Take A Break magazine. Helen has also been teaching journalism for 15 years and is currently a lecturer at the University of Salford where she teaches multimedia journalism and media law. She has enjoyed making the move into online journalism and now specialises in travel, theatre and book reviews.
