Oslo Hop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Bus Tour

Vigeland Sculpture Park in Frogner Park

Vigeland Sculpture Park is the most visited sight in Norway and one of the world's largest sculpture parks by a single artist. Gustav Vigeland spent decades creating more than 200 works in bronze, granite and wrought iron, from the playful Angry Boy to the Wheel of Life, all laid out along a long axis inside Frogner Park.

At its highest point stands the Monolith, a 14-metre column carved from a single block of granite with 121 intertwined human figures. The park is open every day and free to enter, so it is an easy first hop-off. Plan at least an hour here, and visit early in the morning or in the evening light for quieter paths and the best photos.

The Bygdøy Museums: Fram, Kon-Tiki and the Folk Museum

The Bygdøy peninsula gathers some of Oslo's best museums within a short walk of each other. The Fram Museum shows the wooden polar ship that carried Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen towards the Arctic and Antarctic, and you can walk on board. Next door, the Kon-Tiki Museum displays the balsa raft on which Thor Heyerdahl crossed the Pacific in 1947.

The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History is an open-air museum with around 160 historic buildings brought from all over Norway, including a medieval stave church from Gol. The famous Viking Ship Museum is closed for a major rebuild, so check its status before you go. Bygdøy museum tickets are not included, but your bus ticket gives discounts at selected sites.

The Royal Palace and Karl Johans Gate

Karl Johans gate is Oslo's main street, running from the Central Station past the Norwegian Parliament and the National Theatre up to the Royal Palace. The palace, completed in 1849, is the official residence of the Norwegian monarch, and its park, the Palace Gardens, is open to everyone.

The changing of the guard takes place daily in the early afternoon in front of the palace, a short walk from the first bus stop at the National Theatre. Guided tours of the palace interior run only in summer and need a separate ticket. The street itself is ideal for a stroll between stops, with shops, cafés and the University of Oslo's historic buildings along the way.

Akershus Fortress and the Oslo Opera House

Akershus Fortress, begun around 1300 by King Haakon V, overlooks the harbour from a rocky point and has protected the city through sieges and occupation. Inside the walls you find a Renaissance castle, a royal mausoleum and the Norwegian Resistance Museum, and the grounds are free to walk.

A few stops further east, the white Oslo Opera House seems to rise out of the fjord; since 2008 visitors have been able to walk up its sloping marble roof for a view over the harbour and the new Munch museum. How to get to the Opera House is simple with this ticket: stay on the bus until the Opera stop and walk straight onto the roof.