Oslo

Here we are!

A few words about our trip. We flew with Ryanair from Poznań Airport (POZ) to Oslo Rygge Airport (RYG). The destination airport is about 70 km away from Oslo, located near the town of Moss.

Good to know: Rygge Airport closed to civilian traffic on 1 November 2016 and has not had passenger flights since then. Today you need to plan your trip to Oslo through a different airport.

Security on the Polish side was very thorough. Almost every passenger set off the metal detector. Boarding went very quickly and efficiently, mainly because we had bought seat reservations on the plane, so our ticket was prioritized. The flight was very quick (about 1.5 hours). Ryanair is a budget airline, and we could see the difference compared with a charter flight. However, for Kris it was the first flight of his life, so it was a nice adventure for him. The price for the flight was extremely low, it cost about 100 PLN per person for a round-trip ticket, including the seat reservation fee. I was wondering how it is possible to sell tickets so cheaply.

When we arrived in Norway we took the free airport bus dedicated to passengers who need to get to the train station about 2 km away. The bus driver was selling train tickets to Oslo.

I noticed a nice surprise. Children's tickets were free when a kid was traveling with an adult. Nice.

There was no need to book tickets online. The price was the same as on the spot.

Fun fact: in April 2019 the Norwegian railway company NSB changed its name to Vy, so today you will find tickets and timetables under this brand.

Norway welcomed us with a temperature of about 10 degrees Celsius.

A few minutes later the train arrived. It was a fully electric train. Very quiet and comfortable. It's such a huge difference between this train and the ones we see in Poland. The train journey took about 1 hour and cost 140 NOK. We arrived at Oslo central rail station - Oslo Sentralstasjon.

We booked a room in Comfort Hotel Børsparken - a nice hotel located a few minutes' walk from the rail station. Its location is very nice, from the top floor we could see the Oslo Opera building. When we checked in at the hotel we got a key card for the room.

In the hotel lounge there was a coffee machine available to use by guests all day. It also offered other drinks like tea, hot water, and hot chocolate. Especially the last one put a big smile on Kris's face.

We checked in at about 5:30 pm, so there was still plenty of time to explore the neighborhood.

Fun fact: the Oslo Opera House opened on 12 April 2008. Its roof slopes down to street level and forms a big plaza, so you can walk up to the top and enjoy the view of the city. Kids usually love it.