Travel Journal

Oslo often flies under the radar for travellers eager to explore Europe’s iconic cities, likely because it lacks well-known landmarks and is seen as quite pricey. So, I was pleasantly surprised by how impressive it is for a first-time visitor. The city boasts vast green spaces, including two massive sculpture parks, a hip urban seafront with manmade beaches, saltwater swimming pools, sunbathing platforms, and public saunas, all with barely a car in sight!

Oslo’s urban planners have routed cars underground beneath the CBD, making the city centre feel more like a tranquil village with just pedestrians, cyclists, and e-scooters. About 40% of the cars we saw were electric, and seeing Tesla taxis was a novelty!

We opted for a three-hour bike tour with Viking Biking, which was fantastic. With so few cars on the roads, biking felt very safe. We covered around 16 km, visiting the Vigeland Sculpture Park, Akershus Fortress, City Hall (where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded), and the Opera House. In Norway, the ‘right to roam’ is taken seriously, so we cycled right into the defence ministry, took photos outside the prime minister’s residence, and even walked up to the Royal Palace’s front door. With a pleasant 26°C in mid-June, locals were swimming in the Oslofjord and sunbathing in the city. Prices are higher than in New Zealand by about 40-50%, but Norway’s high standard of living and quality of life are evident everywhere. Even their airport express train is top-notch!

From Oslo, we flew via Tromso to Longyearbyen on the Svalbard islands, the northernmost inhabited town in the world at 78 degrees North, to join our expedition cruise. ‘Svalbard’ means ‘cold edge’ and being well within the Arctic Circle and just 1300 km from the North Pole, it’s aptly named! Longyearbyen is a duty-free zone and semi-autonomous from mainland Norway, so passport control is necessary when departing Tromso. Under the Svalbard Treaty, any country can exercise economic rights here without needing visas or permits, provided you can support yourself and have a place to stay. We took a two-hour ‘Longyearbyen in a Nutshell’ tour to get to know this quirky coal mining town, now also a NASA research centre and a bustling tourist spot in summer. With the summer solstice approaching on 21 June, it never gets dark, so we were grateful for the thick blackout curtains in our hotel room!

Highlights of our tour included visiting the town’s working husky kennels, viewing the mines (only one is still operational), and seeing the entrance to the remarkable ‘global seed vault’ where most of the world’s seed varieties are stored underground. Due to permafrost, houses are built on stilts, and pipes are above ground to prevent damage from the thawing and freezing cycles. Snowmobiles are everywhere, and restaurants, bars, and shops have changing rooms for parkas and snow boots. The star attraction here is the polar bear, and we’re hoping to spot some on our next adventure as we head into the sea ice, along with whales, walruses, arctic foxes, and various polar bird species. Stay tuned for updates!