Vigeland Park

1 May is a public holiday in Norway (the same as in Poland). There is a parade in the city center, and most shops and museums are closed on that day. Because of the parade, the trams were cancelled for a few hours as well. We found out how to get to the other side of the city.

Vigeland Park (Vigelandsparken) is part of Frognerparken, the largest park in central Oslo, and has more than 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. Entry is free and the park is open 24 hours a day.

We took a tram to get to our next attraction. We bought a 24-hour ticket that was valid on trams, buses and the metro. It was a little hard to find a place where we could buy this ticket on a public holiday. Finally we found a ticket machine at Jernbanetorget metro station.

We loved how family-friendly Norway is. We had a special discount in Oslo, which allowed up to four children under 16 to travel for free on weekends and public holidays (as long as there was an adult guardian who paid the normal ticket fee). That's how Kris rode around the city for free that day.

We decided to visit places that were open on the public holiday (you can read about the other places from our long weekend in Norway in our post about Oslo).

The first attraction was Vigeland Park (part of Frognerparken).

This large park is one of the most popular public areas in Oslo. It is nice to walk around, look at the sculptures and have some fun at the playground. In the park there is an exhibition of modern art. It consists of 212 sculptures by the famous sculptor Gustav Vigeland. Some people say that there are about 600 figures on them. We didn’t check that.

In the center stands the 14-meter Monolith, a tall granite column made up of 121 naked human figures of different ages.

There is some magic in this place. A lot of tourists come to this park to take photos and to see Vigeland’s art. Each monument has its own story, there is some deeper meaning hidden inside. They tell the story of human life, what we discover, feel and experience. The sculptures are arranged in chronological order and show the stages of life: an infant, a child, a teenager, an adult and finally an old person, one step before death. The sculptures reflect his worldview, and you can see that he didn't have an easy life.

All the sculptures show naked people. There are a lot of emotions on them, we can see enmity, heroism, anger, joy, the hardships of life. One of the most popular sculptures is a little boy who is angry and stomping his foot. Everyone takes a photo with this angry boy. Its bronze is also the most polished from all the touching. In front of this sculpture people stand in line to take a photo.

Fun fact: the statue is called Sinnataggen, which means "The Angry Boy" in Norwegian. It was stolen in 1992, and after it was found, it got a more secure base.

There’s a big fountain in the park that is held by six giants.

There’s also a sundial, but it showed the wrong time. Who knows why?

This park is great for children. There is a section dedicated to them. Next to the main gate there is a big playground where kids of every age can find something for themselves. Kris liked this place very much.

In front of the park gate there is a monument to the sculptor Gustav Vigeland. His beautiful sculptures in the park contrast with this monument, which is covered in pigeon droppings.

Practical info

We checked entry, parking and facilities in November 2026.

Tickets

Entry to the park is free and it is open 24 hours a day.

Getting there and parking

• tram 12 stops at Vigelandsparken, right by the main gate on Kirkeveien,
• from Majorstuen metro station it is about a 10-minute walk,
• there is a small pay car park at the Kirkeveien entrance and more paid parking on Monolittveien and Middelthunsgate.

For kids

The Frognerborgen playground is next to the main entrance on Kirkeveien, with fixed barbecues, benches and tables nearby. The park has public toilets, a café and a restaurant.

How long

It is about 850 m from the main gate to the Monolith. Plan around an hour and a half to see the sculptures at a relaxed pace, plus extra time at the playground with kids.

Below you can see a video from our visit to this park: