Relaxing

Image by Andrea Chirulescu

The Korketrekkeren is a famous tobogganing track at winter, where both adults and kids pick up or rent sledges and slide down for quite a distance on a track that follows an old Olympic bobsleigh run.

In the summer though, the fun is not in the same category. Unless you can find a of sleigh that goes down the dirt road. But I went down the track by foot a couple of times and I find it as pleasant as any other track through the woods surrounding Oslo.

And its big advantage is that you just take the subway 1 to the last station, Frognerseteren and walk down to the run to another station. The bonuses I got were some of the coolest views over the city and fjord, funny leftovers from the winter time – broken sledges, and even some clothing items.

I haven’t done it, but I saw many who just ride their mountain bikes down. Plus the track passes by the famous ski jumping Holmenkollen (check the Holmenkollen article), so you get to check its looks as well (to visit it, you need to walk away from the track).

For berries lovers like me, it can be a paradise at the beginning of the track if the season is right. Sometime in August, that is.

Info about weather and a webcam can be found at the Norwegian sleigh association.

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Korketrekkeren | Relaxing
Frognerseter | West Oslo
24 hours daily

Image by Andrea Chirulescu

A 1.5 hours trip in a traditional sailing ship that picks you up from the touristic harbor in the city center, right by the City Hall (same pier as the boat leaving to Bigdøy, just on the other side) and slowly takes you to see the interesting Opera house, you go through the main islands close to the city harbor and then the last stop is at Bigdøy, the area hosting famous Oslo museums such as The Vikingship museum, Folk museum, Fram museum or the maritime museum. You can obviously step off (or on) at any of these locations if you desire.

But I personally recommend a full trip in the boat since it’s a rather relaxing experience to sit on the deck (mainly with good friends around) and simply enjoy the view and the fresh breeze. If lucky, the warm sun as well. Another bonus offered by such a cruise is that it allows you to view the objectives mentioned above, and also the Akershus Castle (check the Akershus castle article), from totally different angles than what the shore offers.

It was also a lot of fun to wave at people who were either getting fried under the warm sun on the islands or spending some time on the deck of those huge cruise boats that we passed by.

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Oslo Mini Cruise | Relaxing | Adults NOK 175
Rådhusbrygge 3 | Centre | +4723356890
Departure from Pier 3 (Rådhusbrygge 3, in front of City Hall) 09.45, 11.15, 12.45, 14.15

Image by Andrea Chirulescu

I went to this ‘shop’ as I thought of making my mum an original and personalised gift and this was exactly the right place for my plan. Once in there, all I had to do was to chose a ‘white’ object . Actually wash my hands first and be handed an apron. ‘White’ object is anything from various sized and shaped cups, plates, bowls, vases, animals, etc made of pottery. They have about 100 different models.

Afterwards I could either make a drawing, use one of the shaped sponges or existing shapes in the shop. Then pick a color, a seat and start working. I covered my palms with paint and put my palms on the side of the cup for example. People around me were painting the cups completely, making drawings and writing words on them. Once I am done, the object is left in the shop for a week so it can be laced and dried.

All along the process a nice lady shows you how to handle stuff, gives you tips and makes sure you have everything you need for your work of art. And she can make coffee, tea or chocolate which, unfortunately, you can’t yet drink from your personalised cup. The cool thing is that the objects waiting to be picked up by their owners are all over the place so you can be inspired.

The place is ideal for a cozy afternoon with friends when you feel like doing something totally different.

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Glazed and amused | Art & culture, Coffee & tea, Relaxing
Markveien 25 | Grünerløkka
Tue – Thu 13:00 – 19:00, Fri & Sun 13:00 – 18:00, Sat 11:00 – 18:00

Image by Andrea Chirulescu

The Holmenkollen area in Oslo has been a ski recreation zone since the late 19th century with the main landmark being the Holmenkollen ski jump. Currently it is probably the most visited and famous spot in the city.

The resort ski museum with objects, images and videos from all editions of winter Olympic Games, skis dated hundred of years back, equipment that belonged to famous sport people or royal families. I read about the countless types of ski-wax or ice/snow types, went all the way up in the tower and tried the ski simulator.

In the summer you can hike around the area through the beautiful and relaxing forest, visit the chapel built in 1903 or simply move along to other locations around Oslo. Be sure you have checked the tracks and their availability.

In the winter, a lot of cross country ski tracks start here.

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Holmenkollen | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Holmenkollen | West Oslo
Oct – Apr 10:00 -16:00, May – Sep 10:00 – 17:00, Jun – Aug 09:00 – 20:00

Image by Andrea Chirulescu

I enjoy walks in nature, good food or a movie, a party, but I also find it difficult to refuse to try anything that doesn’t always fit in everyday life’s activities. Especially for someone who’s way over 15 years old.

Megazone is the place to experiment with paintball, indoor lasergames (paintball without paint, but with laser and in a dark room), rodeo, obstacle race, a sumo fight or a gladiator fight.

I was lucky to gather a big bunch of friends and we had 30 minutes of laser fight – which felt like max 5 since it was way too fun to chase everyone around in that SciFi like room. Then we went on to riding those mechanical bulls and being thrown on the soft rubber mattresses, followed by an obstacle race in which you had to crawl under, jump over, run through various obstacles and reach the button with the color of your team. We ended up in hilarious big sumo suits, pushing each other off a round soft carpet.

The place was packed with kids, and me and my friends were a bit out of place that afternoon, but that didn’t diminish the fun at all. You also need to keep in mind that Megazone can organize birthday parties as well as company team building events, so they’re probably used to handling people of all ages. And they’re also very helpful in the unfortunate events of injuries, which a few of us had…

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Megazone | Relaxing | Lasergame NOK 190
Møllergata 24 | Centre | +4722988550
Mon – Fri 14:00 – 22:00, Sat 11:00 – 23:00, Sun 13:00 – 21:00