Flush with its oil spoils, this as soon as humble, ignored metropolis, enveloped by mountains and fjords, has stepped quietly and confidently into its new cultural period. And true to understated Nordic type, wealth has been infused into angular structure, artwork and design initiatives, primarily popping up alongside the harborfront, such because the behemoth National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design (Scandinavia’s largest) designed by German architects Kleihues + Schuwerk, and the towering Munch Museum by Spanish architect Estudio Herreros—a skyscraper seemingly melting just like the painter’s notorious Scream that almost brushes the melancholic Norwegian skies.
The artwork and tradition temporary has prolonged to parks, similar to Ekebergparken sculpture park, scattered to modernist impact on the town’s forest fringes, and the ever-growing roster of festivals hosted by the town all year long (together with the now legendary Oslo Jazz Festival). Yes, there’s extra money to mobilise it, however the metropolis’s inventive, literary spirit was there way back—again in the 18th and nineteenth centuries when Oslo (then Christiana, the province of Denmark and Sweden) was thought of a backwater. Even then, rich households would assist artists, architects, sculptors, musicians, and writers, because the state’s coffers now do, on a a lot higher scale. It’s the final word method to keep away from the unfettered, eyesore, mall-centered vulgarity of recent cash cities like Dubai. It’s additionally the final word weekender for the culturally-inclined, with a lot of the town’s new providing on the home… and with its burgeoning (sea)foodie scene, floating saunas, and nature trails in addition.
Some inns in Oslo hark again to pre-independence in 1905, others embody Norway’s brooding minimalism. But amid all the novelty and poo of a metropolis brimming with concepts and money is a curious absence, (or at the least restricted selection), of lovely inns. The Norwegians could also be fats on oil income, however tourism nonetheless accounts for 4% of their GDP. Far from a rallying cry to the chains, contemplate this can be a mild nudge to the unbiased or family-run hoteliers of this world, who’re well-versed in a captivating, well-designed, well-anchored boutique. Here we spherical up our decide of the most effective inns in Oslo.
How we select the most effective inns in Oslo
Every resort on this listing has been chosen independently by our editors and written by a Condé Nast Traveler journalist who is aware of the vacation spot and has visited that property. When selecting inns, our editors contemplate properties throughout value factors that supply an genuine and insider expertise of a vacation spot, protecting design, location, service, and sustainability credentials prime of thoughts.