By Kathryn Romeyn, Brides
It’s not on Top 10 Honeymoon lists,
or probably even top 25, but that’s because it’s not a typical tourist
destination—at all. Show up in Oslo, Norway, and most locals will wonder why you’re there.
They may seem dubious about their city’s beauty, but you won’t be. It’s
clear, and it makes for a wonderfully local experience, if that’s what
you're after.
[post_ads]Norway, next to Sweden and north of Denmark,
is way up there. In the winter it’s dark—a lot. In the summer the very
opposite. You may see a glowing pink sky around midnight, which is just
the sun wrapping up its extremely long workday. As a people, Norwegians
are beautiful inside and out. They are warm and smiling in the warmer
months especially, when everyone, no matter their age, are out and about
enjoying sunny days that highlight the country’s many inordinately
green spaces—parks, trees, mountains, forests. By night it seems the
perfect environment to cozy up with your significant other and sip
locally made aquavit or cider (they’re big into artisanal apple juices
too).
The draws of Oslo include that signature Scando design, some incredible
restaurants, historical Viking culture (experienced at amazing museums),
unique only-in-Oslo cocktail bars, and an all-around embrace of nature.
The opera house showcases that first point, and around that waterfront
area is the city’s premiere hotel, the Thief.
The contemporary boutique hotel embraces modern design in the most
sumptuous way, and fills all its chic, colorful spaces with
hand-selected art by the on-staff art curator. It’s also home to some of
the best drinking and dining experiences in town, if you can stomach
the high prices (Scandinavia is famously expensive).
[post_ads]Other favorite spaces to check out unique and memorable food include Maaemo, the three-Michelin-star standout, and most spots in Grunerlokka, including Mathallen Oslo
for more casual roving bites (it’s like an artisanal indoor marketplace
for everything edible) and its surrounding Vulkan area restaurants, Villa Paradiso for everything Italian and Delicatessen for Norwegian takes on Spanish tapas in a warm, intimate setting. At the one-of-a-kind Restaurant Fjord—decorated
with chandeliers made of water buffalo horns and banquettes crafted of
faux reindeer hides—you’ll get a real taste of Scandinavia in a three-
to four-course menu that highlights fish (maybe portions of a 140 kilo
halibut caught up north) and even proteins like minke whale. Before or
after dinner it’s off to the '60s-themed Bettola or teensy Torggata Botaniske,
where the ceiling seems to be growing—ivy and other green plants are
draped from high, twisting around modernist chandeliers and creating a
magical vibe. At both, cocktails are impeccable.
Finally, any tour of Norway—no matter if it’s in Northern Lights season (winter) or the time of the midnight sun (summer)—must include at least a short cruise up north. Hurtigruten’s ships
go into the Arctic Circle, which is a no-brainer if it’s the time of
Aurora Borealis, and even when seeing that spectacular light show is not
possible, it’s a beautiful way to see something like the Geiranger
Fjord, with its mind-bogglingly beautiful snowcapped mountains, and the
Seven Sisters and the Suitor waterfalls, where the clear water is
free-falling from 800 feet above. Alesund, made up of all Art Nouveau
architecture, and other little coastal towns where one can disembark,
provide an even more quaint and picturesque view of Norwegian
life—excellent food, deep blue fjords to kayak, and peaks to climb for
views that make you feel as if you’re at the top of the world together.
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Outside the city, however, is where Norwegians feel their country truly shines. Take the Norway in a Nutshell
train-bus-boat-train adventure—it sounds cheesy but it makes for a
spectacular day of increasingly jaw-dropping sights—to Bergen, which is
known as the city surrounded by seven mountains. Suffice to say there
are lots of opportunities for dreamy, emerald-drenched hikes here, as
well as two opportunities (Floyen, right in town, and Ulriken, the
highest) to take a cable car or gondola up. You haven’t seen the world
until you’ve climbed around the top of Ulriken and discovered its Alpine
lakes and jaw-dropping views.
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