The festive season is here and if you’re still feeling a little Bah! about it, there’s still plenty to enjoy in downtown Oslo.
Christmas streets, like the one in Torggata, downtown Oslo, are perfect for lifting the spirits, and the city is beautifully adorned with holiday decorations in many places. The typical symbol of the holiday season is the lit Christmas trees. The biggest Christmas market is right in the center at Spikersuppa (The Nail Soup), for adults as well as children, where you can buy presents and enjoy food and drinks, Christmas delicacies, Christmas decorations and arts and crafts.
There’s also carousels to keep youngsters entertained. Stay warm with Norwegian mulled wine (gløgg), grilled sausages and marzipan sweets.
Get your skates on at the Spikersuppa Ice rink between the National Theatre and the Parliament. It’s open every day in winter until February/March and is free for everyone. You can bring your pwn ice skates, or rent a pair from the pavilion next to the rink for NOK 100 per day.
Ice skating rink between the National Theatre and Parliament, open every day in winter (November/December–February/March). Use of Spikersuppa is free for everyone.
Also at Youngstorget there is a Christmas marked, filled with stands and tents, lit and decorated. for Christmas.
Before Christmas, everyone rushes to buy presents so that all their loved ones will have at least one small surprise under the Christmas tree.
Just outside the city center, you’ll find Oslo’s Oxford Street (Hegdehaugsveien and Bogstadveien). If you begin your walk from Majorstuen and Valkyrien Square, you’ll approach the Royal Castle Garden, which you can walk through and arrive just at Continental Hotel decorated with beautifully lit Christmas trees.
Oslo has a fantastic selection of stores and malls where you can shop till you drop, including several shopping malls. It will be busy, so try to plan what you’re doing and where you are going. Take a list of what you need to get and find time to head for a coffee shop for a sit-down so you can recharge before heading back into the crowds.
On Christmas Eve, December 24th, the whole family eats a special holiday meal together. The menu in Oslo traditionally includes ‘ribbe’. The Ribbe (roast pork rib) is a classic on the Norwegian Christmas table. The rib, which is actually a whole side of pork rather than just spare ribs, is very rich and juicy and is therefore served with equally rich and juicy trimmings: Cowberry sauce, sauerkraut, potatoes, thick gravy, Christmas sausage, apples and prunes.
After dinner, the family gathers around the festively lit Christmas tree to sing carols and open gifts. Christmas in Oslo means plenty of concerts, exhibitions and other cultural events, and if you’re lucky – snow.
Christmas in Oslo is celebrated in most of the city and the holiday is the most anticipated by Norwegians who have passed down its simple traditions from generation to generation.
Christmas Mood in Oslo, was created for you by editor-in-chief Tor Kjolberg and photographer Jon-Arne Foss
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