#63 Oslo, Norway

And this concludes my visit to the 4 big cities of Scandinavia - Copenhagen, Helsinki, Stockholm and Oslo (sorry for ignoring Iceland - it's too far!).

Oslo was the most expensive out of all of them - food is ridiculously priced! Although the museum prices were okay (about 50nok for students anyway) and a one day travel card only cost 80nok, and there are lots of free things to do too. In general, there isn't a huge amount to do and because it's so expensive I would probably recommend only staying a day or two.


I think the first thing that you notice in Oslo are the skyscrapers. There none in central Stockholm or Copenhagen, and it made a change - it feels like a modern city. Also, it's almost surrounded by wooded hills with houses, which is again different to the other cities.

Shiny!

Ooooh!

The main attractions include the Opera House, which is very close to the central station. I heard there was a great view from the roof, but I didn't realise that you actually walk on the roof. . .it's a great building, although the view isn't that great.

Look!

Casually walking on the roof!

Other attractions include the National gallery which houses the famous Scream painting by Munch (but this was closed for a week from the day we arrived - so unfortunate!), the Nobel Peace Museum (the other Nobel prizes are in Stockholm though) and the Ice Bar.

Then there is Carl Johans Gate which is the main shopping and restaurant street, and that leads up to the Royal Palace. The street is nice, it has a mix of high end stores like Chanel as well as everyday favourites like H&M. The Palace isn't very pretty, but it's worth seeing.

 Carl Johans Gate

The Royal Palace

We managed to see the changing of the guard!

One of the main highlights of Oslo is the Vigeland Sculpture park. It's about 20mins walk from the city centre, but it is really worth it. I am not interested in art, but this was very pretty and really interesting (and some of them were funny).

On closer inspection, the pillar is a mass of bodies. . .

 And here are just some pictures of around the city:

Nice street

Nice fountain

Norwegian Parliament

National Gallery

So Olso was nice, it wasn't fantastic but it was a nice city and I had an enjoyable time there, and would recommend a visit. If I had to pick a favourite out of the four cities, I would probably say Copenhagen, then Stockholm, then Oslo, then Helsinki (although I only spent a few hours in Helsinki, so maybe I didn't see enough to like it!).

#57 Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden

Last weekend I visited Copenhagen and Malmo. I spent a full day and stayed overnight in Copenhagen, and then on the way home I spent a few hours in Malmo (soon to be home of the Eurovision!). We took the train from Stockholm, which takes about 5 hours and for students cost about 400kr.

Copenhagen
We saw pretty much all of Copenhagen in one day, but we were really, really tired afterwards! I would think it would be better to stay for a relaxing long weekend instead. It's possible to walk everywhere, the majority of sights are at most 30 minutes away. We took a free walking tour which was quite good and showed us around nearly all of the sights - but they do expect tips at the end!

Here are my Copenhagen highlights:

Changing of The Guard (daily at around 12)

Nyhavn - the colorful harbour

 One of the four buildings of the Royal Palace

The square with the Royal Palace's

Cute little area near the mermaid statue

Here she is!! Small, and not very centrally located, but a good sight to see!

The very little Mermaid

The small area where you can buy and smoke marijuana

No pictures allowed!

Nice church (I think you can climb it?)

Along the main shopping street

View from a round tower

Nice view

Danish-Swedish Oresund brige in background

The lego store

The statue of author hans christian andersen

A sneak peek at the amusement park - Tivoli

Halfway to Malmo on the Oresund bridge

So, Copenhagen is a lovely place! Here are some more details of the notable places:

If you haven't already heard - the famous symbol of Copenhagen - the Little Mermaid statue - is disappointing. It is small - about lifesize or smaller, and she sits on a small rock. However, once you know this it's not disappointing, you can go and get a picture because she is still a famous landmark, small or otherwise! She isn't in the city centre but she isn't that far either, and you can easily walk, passing by many popular places such as Nyhavn harbour on the way. There are some boat tours that claim they take you there but be careful as many of them just drive by, and I imagine she's too far to get a good photograph, plus also face the shore you would also only see her back!

Lego is Danish, but the flagship store is less than remarkable - it has a four large lego characters and lots of lego sets - and that's kind of it! So unless you especially like Lego it isn't very interesting.

Christiania - This is a colourful street where you can witness people buying and smoking weed in little stalls. You aren't allowed take pictures here - so be careful. I thought it was a safe enough area - once you don't get in anyone's way or draw attention to yourself. Also lots of tourists pass through here - so if you want to visit I think it's fine, but I know some people are hesitant.

Nyhavn - This nice little harbour area is that one place you see photographed all the time, but it is a bustling street full of cafés and outdoor seating, and a lovely place to walk around.

Malmo

Malmo is one of Sweden's bigger cities, located within one hour from Copenhagen via the Oresund bridge, and now the home of the 2013 Eurovision. Malmo is a small place, but very pretty. I am not entirely sure why it was chosen for the Eurovision (after living in Stockholm and visiting Gothenburg, these cities are much bigger and nicer for tourists) as it is quite small - and we had seen most of the place in about two hours! 

It looks like a nice place to live - but it doesn't offer much in the way of tourist attractions. I would recommend stopping here for a few hours if you're going to Copenhagen - but don't plan to spend too much time here either.

Here are some of the Malmo highlights:

 Starbucks coffee! One of the three in all of Sweden

 The (temporary) Eurovision countdown timer

 City Hall

 Lilla Torg (the old square)

 This thing. . ..

 The canal with lots of places to sit

 The skyscraper

A bridge

So that was basically Malmo in about two hours! There's a big shopping street with lots of shops and restaurants, a big park (we didn't visit) and there's lots of places to relax beside the picturesque canal. It was pretty, but I didn't think there was much to see or do there if you plan to spend more than a few hours.