Oslo is the center of national art and culture. Important downtown cultural sites include:
Historical Museum
Norwegian history from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages. Viking and medieval artifacts are on display alongside Arctic exhibitions, Norwegian coins and notes and more.
Address: Frederiksgt. 2
Getting there: Located right beneath the Royal Palace – approximately 50 meters from Karl Johan street.
The National Gallery
This is Norway’s official art museum. Impressive paintings by Norwegian artists such as Edvard Munch, Christian Krogh and J.C. Dahl. See Edvard Munch’s most famous painting – The Scream.
Address: Universitetsgaten 13
Getting there: Walking distance from Karl Johans gate.
Alternatively take tram 10, 11 or 17 and get off at Tullinlokka.
More information: http://www.museumsnett.no/nasjonalgalleriet/
The Ibsen Museum
Ibsens Oslo flat near the Royal Palace has been converted into a small museum. Ibsen lived here between 1895 – 1906. Each day he strolled down Karl Johan to Grand Cafe to hold court with Oslo’s social elite. The flat has been restored to its previous ambience, with changing and permanent exhibitions. A one hour tour will help you understand the playwright and explain his importance to his nation.
Address: Arbiensgate 1
Tel: +47 22 55 20 09
Fax: +47 22 55 20 09
Getting there: Look for the old mansion overlooking the southern perimeter of Royal Palace Park.
More information: http://www.norskfolke.museum.no/ibsen/
Norsk Sjofartsmuseum (Norwegian Maritime Museum)
The Norwegian Martime Museum brings home the central part that the sea has played in Norway's economy from Vikings to fishing to oil tankers, with magnificent model boats, film footage, artefacts and views of the sea. Outside, a war memorial recalls the Norwegian sailors who perished in World War II, beside a replica of the Gjoa, the first ship to sail through the North West Passage.
Bygdoynesveien 37
Tel: 2243 8240.
Website: www.museumsnett.no/nsm/htmldok/generell/velkomn/index_gb.html
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1900 (mid-May-Sep); daily 1000-1600 (Oct-mid-May).
The National Museum of Contemporary Art
The 1906 Art Nouveau Norway Central Bank Building has been restored to house the National Museum of Contemporary Art. Imaginatively displayed are works by every major post-war Norwegian artist, and with extensive samples from the rest of Scandinavia.
Address: Bankplassen 4
Getting there: Walk from Karl Johan street towards the Akershus Fortress.
More information: http://www.museumsnett.no/mfs/index_e.html
Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art
Occupies a sharp modern building of brick and glass with six –metre-high steel entrance doors. Permanent exhibition of several private collections include works of most important post-war Norwegian artists. Other exhibitions are changed regularly.
Address: Dronningens gate 4
Getting there: 200 meters to the east of the National Museum of Contemporary Art.
More information: http://www.af-moma.no/index_e.html
The Munch Museum
Located in the eastern part of Oslo. One of Scandinavias greatest and most recognized artists, Edvard Munch, gave a collection of more than 5000 pieces of his works to the city upon his death in 1944. Coffee and meals are available at the Italian museum restaurant. Take time to shop at Norway’s best museum shop.
Address: Toyengaten 53
Getting there: Take the subway to Toyen station, from where it is a five-minute sign-posted walk.
More information: http://www.munch.museum.no
The Oslo Museum of Applied Art
Norwegian and international applied art, fashion and design from the sixth to the twentieth century. Permanent collections as well as temporary exhibitions.
Address: St Olavs gate 1
Getting there:
Subway 1-5 to the National Theater station by the Karl Johans gate. Walk from Karl Johans gate up the Universitetsgaten to St. Olavs gate.
Tram 10, 11 or 17 to Tullinlokka and walk up the Universitetsgaten to St. Olavs gate.
Bus 37 to Nordahl Bruns gate. The bus stops close to the museum.
The Stenersen Museum
Shows a representative selection of Norwegian art from 1850 to 1970. In addition to permanent collections that include works by Ludvig O. Ravensberg and Edvard Munch, the museum stages changing exhibitions, primarily in the fields of photography and Nordic contemporary art.
Address: Munkedamsveien 15
Tel: +47 22 83 95 60
Fax: +47 22 83 07 55
Getting there: Walk 400 meters south from the National Theater.
The Vigeland Museum
Contains nearly all the works of the famous Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland.
Address: Nobels gate 32
Tel: +47 22 54 25 30
Fax: +47 22 54 25 40
Getting there: At the southern end of the Vigeland Park, a 5 minutes walk from the main entrance of the park. Alternatively, take tram 12 or 15 to Frogner plass and walk down Halfdan Svartes gate till you reach the Museum on your left.
More information: http://www.vigeland.museum.no
The Norwegian Museum of Architecture
The museum was founded in 1975 and specializes in architectural heritage and comtemporary architecture. The focus is particularly on Norwegian architecture after 1900.
Address: Kongensgt. 4
Tel: +47 22 42 40 80
Fax: +47 22 42 41 06
More information: http://www.arkitektur.museum.no
The City Museum of Oslo
Presents the history of Oslo through amillennium, shown with models, exhibitions, paintings nd photographies. Millennium exhibition: "The peopling of Oslo". The first floor in the Frogner Manor shows interiors from 1750-1900. The museum is situated near the Vigeland Park and the Vigeland Museum.
Address: Frognerveien 67
Tel: +47 22 43 06 45
Fax: +47 22 43 48 91
More information: http://www.oslobymuseum.no
Norway's Resistance Museum
Located in the Akershus Fortress, this museum documents, in a very moving manner, the hardships and the struggle for freedom during the five years that Norway was occupied during WW II.
Located: Downtown
Address: N-0015 Oslo
Tel: +47 23 09 31 37
Fax: +47 23 09 31 37
Museum of Natural History and Botanical Garden
Contains the Botanical Garden, the greenhouses, Geological and Paleontological Museum and Zoological Museum.
Address: Sarsgt. 1 (Toyen), N-0562 Oslo
Tel: +47 22 85 16 00
Fax: +47 22 85 18 00
Opening hours: Contact the museum for further information.
Kon-Tiki Museum
The Kon-Tiki Museum houses Thor Heyerdahl's famous balsa raft, Kon-Tiki, and reed raft, Ra, in which he proved that it would have been possible for the ancient Egyptians to have sailed the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.
Bygdoynesveien 36
Tel: 2243 8050.
Website: www.media.uio.no/kon-tiki/museum
Opening hours: Daily 0930-1745 (Jun-Aug); daily 1030-1600 (Oct-Mar); 1030-1700 (Sep and May)
Around city center
The Norwegian Telecom Museum
The Norwegian Telecom Museum is located in the same building as the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology at Kjelsås. The exhibition is a journey from ancient Greece until today. At the museum you can try many of the different methods of telecommunication that have been used and are still being used in the past. You can signal your name using the telegraph, or you can pretend to be a switchboard operator from 1925. Or you can surf the Internet or make a call on our picture phone.
Address: Kjelsåsveien 143, N-0491 Oslo
Tel: + 47 22 77 90 00
Fax: + 47 22 77 95 54
E-mail: post@norsktele.museum.no
More information: http://www.norway.com/guide/directories/company.asp?id=4586
Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology
Interactive museum with a large number of items to push and touch. Different exhibitions cover themes spanning from oil, energy, industries, transport, communications and aviation, computing and telecommunications.
Address: Kjelsåsveien 143
Tel: +47 22 79 60 00
Fax: +47 22 79 61 00
Getting there: Tram 12 or 15 to Kjelsås (north of the city close to the Maridal Lake) or bus 37 from Oslo City shopping center or Glassmagasinet.
More information: http://www.museumsnett.no/ntm/
