Excursions
For a Half Day
Vigelandsparken (Vigeland Park): Located on the western outskirts of the city, Vigeland Park is Norway’s most visited attraction, annually welcoming over a million people. It can be reached on foot, from the city centre, along Frognerveien, in less than an hour. However, it is tempting for visitors to linger longer by the cafés and boutiques of the attractive Frogner area. Buses 20, 45 and 81 and trams 12 or 15 provide a quicker link. The park is a monument to the artist Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943), who spent 40 years creating the sculptures in granite, cast iron and bronze, which now adorn it. From the entry through the huge wrought iron gates, the first sculptures are the bronze figures on either side of the Vigeland bridge. There are 200 works in total – the most famous of which is the Angry Boy, a chubby youngster stamping his foot. Beyond the bridge, the Fountain is a large saucer-shaped pool supported by six giants with water spilling down around them. At the centre of the park, the Monolith is a mass of human bodies, young and old, carved from a single column of granite, 14m (46ft) high. Around it are groups of people relating to one another in various ways – playing, cuddling, comforting or talking. There are many more sculptures to be seen, both in the park and in the Vigeland Museum (tel: 23 49 37 00; website: www.vigeland.museum.no), where Vigeland’s sketches and plaster originals are on display.
For a Whole Day
Norway in a Nutshell: The ‘Norway in a Nutshell’ excursion by train, boat and bus provides a spectacular glimpse of Norway’s scenery within a day. The train departs from Oslo S station at 0811, reaching Myrdal station, at 866m (2,841ft), with its snow-covered peaks, sheer rock faces and streams plunging down the abyss. The idea of taking a train down through this terrain is unimaginable, however, in a magnificent feat of engineering, the Flåm Line descends to sea level along around 24km (15 miles) of winding track, precipitous inclines and deep tunnels. From picturesque Flåm, the trip continues by boat to Gudvangen in the innermost reaches of the Sognefjorden, through the narrow passage of the Nærøyfjorden, the narrowest fjord in Europe. The bus to Voss then takes the mountain road, with perilous hairpin bends, through more magnificent mountain scenery, including dramatic waterfalls at Stalheimskleiven. From Voss, the train returns to Oslo at 2213. It would be impossible to get a more comprehensive overview of the Norwegian landscape in one day. There is a second option which goes via Bergen, involving the night train back to Oslo and arriving in the capital early the following morning. Tours are operated by Fjord Tours A/S (tel: 81 56 82 22; website: www.norwaynutshell.com). NSB (tel: 81 50 08 88; website: www.nsb.no) also provides further information and tickets.
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