Michi Photostory

Over five years ago whenever I asked my Mom when are we going to Røros, Norway, she always says “sa Easter” so in my mind we will leave on Easter Sunday. But I was wrong, ang dami pala Easter dito sa Norway, from Saturday until Monday, Easter ang tawag nila. 

Our Holy Week school vacation started last Saturday but unfortunately, we are stuck at home because of the rainy weather. Aside from the weather we did not plan any Holy Week trip, unlike our previous trips, we were in Røros, Norway and we had our Scandinavian Trip. I did not plan any trip because my husband was not with us, my mom’s health condition is uncertain and I’m hesitant to visit other Schengen States because of COVID19. 

If we are traveling to another country, I always do my own research so we can save time and money. One way to save money is to look for good offers, discounts, promos, or travel cards. So when I was planning for our Scandinavian trip, I knew that I would purchase the Copenhagen Card, Stockholm Pass, and Oslo Pass. Unfortunately, our Oslo, Norway trip fell on Holy Week so we decided not to purchase the Oslo Pass because we knew that not all attractions and museums are open so we won’t be able to maximize the value of the card.

Sayang! I was really looking forward to our Oslo Trip but what can I do if the sightseeing tours and activities will be limited, all the shops are closed and approximately half of the restaurants will also be closed. Anyway, that is how Norway celebrates their Easter holiday, it is really time for family so the majority of Norwegians take their vacation leave to spend an entire week in the mountain cabin or travel outside the country.


Despite the limitations, we know that we can still enjoy our trip because there are still more interesting places that we can visit in the city. So for our Day 2 in Oslo Norway, we had our own version of DIY Walking Tour and we started our adventure from Cochs Pensjonat at 8AM. I mentioned in my previous blogs that our guesthouse is very near to tourist spots so we saved money on transportation.

Oslo Walking Tour

The Royal Palace Park 


The Palace Park was opened in the year 1847 by King Oscar I and it was designed by the palace architect H.D.F. Linstow. This park is open to the public all year round, where you can see ponds, lawns, and trees that were planted since 1842. You can also see a lot of sculptures in the palace park like the Statue of mathematician Niels Henrik Abel, the Statue of the author, and defender of women’s rights Camilla Collett, the Statue of Queen Maud, Statue of Princess Martha, Roedeer sculpture, and Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s Sculpture Park.


Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s Sculpture Park


A sculpture park that has been created by children and for children on May 19, 2016. It was a gift from the Savings Bank Foundation DNB in honor of the 25th anniversary of the accession to the Norwegian throne of their Majesties King Harald and Queen Sonja. The park has twelve sculptures that are based on the designs that were submitted in a nationwide competition of grade 6 students. The permanent sculptures are geometric fox, rabbit in trouble, pillow man, and many more.

The Royal Palace 

Det Kongelige Slott or The Royal Palace in English was built in 1824-1848 as the Norwegian residence of King Charles II John who was king of Norway and Sweden. This is also the official residence of the current Norwegian monarch. It is located at the end and top of Karl Johans gate.


We visited some of the castles and palaces in Copenhagen and Stockholm so if we will compare it to The Royal Palace, the Oslo palace looks simple. We were not able to witness the changing of the guards at 1:30PM and we were not able to go inside because the Royal Palace is only open during summer.

Karl Johans Gate


Karl Johans Gate is the famous main street of Oslo city, it was named in honor of King Charles III John also known as King Charles XIV John of Sweden. Walking on this street, you will pass other tourist attractions like the National Theatre, Parliament of Norway Stortinget, Eidsvolls Square, and the old University Building. 


University of Oslo Building


It was renamed Royal Frederick University. The oldest university in Norway and it used to be the largest Norwegian institution of higher education in terms of size.

National Theatre 


This building was designed by architect Henrik Bull and it is one of the largest and most prominent venues for dramatic arts in Norway. It is often considered as the home for Ibsen’s play.

Stortinget or Parliament of Norway 

This is the supreme legislature of Norway that was established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway.

Oslo Cathedral


Oslo Cathedral is also known as Our Savior’s Church, this is the main church for the church of Norway Diocese in Oslo. This is used by the Norwegian Government and the Norwegian Royal Family for public events like weddings and funerals.

Oslo Central Station


Of course the Oslo Central Station, is the busiest main railway station and largest railway station within the Norwegian Railway system. Outside the train station, you will see statues of tiger and hammer.


The Tiger 

Do you know that Oslo is also known as Tigerstaden or the Tiger City? So it is not surprising if you see the famous tiger statue outside the Oslo Central Station A 4.5 meter bronze statue made by Elena Engelsen.

Den Norske Opera & Ballet or Oslo Opera House 


The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet is the largest music and stage institution in Norway. One interesting about this building is you can walk on the roof of the Opera House, it is like climbing the building so it drains our energy. Good thing that you have a beautiful panoramic view of Oslo city and fjord. We saw the DFDS Cruise Ship that we took when we went to Copenhagen Denmark.

Read: Cruise to Copenhagen


Akershus Slott or Akershus Castle and Akershus Festning or Akershus Fortress 

This is the medieval castle that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. It was used as a military base and prison. It contains banquet halls, a Royal Mausoleum, a small church, and the government’s reception rooms. It is now a popular venue for major events like ceremonies, public holiday celebrations, and concerts.



After our half-day tour in Oslo City, we went back to Cochs Pensjonat for our late lunch. It was a tiring day so we called it a day. Tomorrow is another day to explore the city.

Read: Traveling to Oslo Norway from Stockholm Sweden 
Where to Stay in Oslo Norway 
Day 1 in Oslo Norway

The year 2019 is about to end but I’m not yet finished with my Scandinavian series and the last time I posted about Sweden was October. Waah! Anyway, I will try my best to finish my series before the end of the year 2020. hehehe! Nothing special happened on Day 1 because we just traveled from Copenhagen to Stockholm so we woke up early the following day so we can visit a lot of tourist spots.

Read: Where to Stay in Stockholm Sweden: Hotel Generator Stockholm 
Day 1 in Stockholm Sweden

Day 2 in Stockholm Sweden 

As I’ve said before, I did not prepare any Stockholm itinerary so we don’t know where to go and what to do. But of course, there are tourist spots that I wanted to visit but I don’t even have an idea when and how are we going there. Toinks. It is really important to have an itinerary so we can budget our time but since we don’t have a trip plan, we just rely on Stockholm Pass Guidebook.


We just bought our Stockholm Pass at the hotel but if you want to save money, you can buy it online. Click here to buy Stockholm Pass. The rate may vary depending on the season and of course the number of days of the ticket. This was the rate when we traveled last April 2019. We bought the 3 Days Stockholm Pass, the total is 3952SEK for 3 adults and 1 child. (PHP22,497.63)

Stockholm Pass Price

1 Day Adult Pass SEK 669.00
1 Day Child Pass SEK 335.00

2 Day Adult Pass SEK 929.00
2 Day Child Pass SEK 465.00

3 Day Adult Pass SEK 1129.00
3 Day Child Pass SEK 565.00

5 Day Adult Pass SEK 1479.00
5 Day Child Pass SEK 740.00

Actually, I don’t want to stress about our itinerary so I just wanted to follow the sample itinerary but my mom doesn’t like to do a boat tour or sightseeing by boat. Well, I can’t blame her because she lives in Norway and the Ferry boat is just a normal thing for her. But of course, wala niyan sa Pinas so kelangan pa rin namin maexperience so kelangan may isang boat tour. Hehehe!

Drottningholm Palace and Boat Tour 

We just walked from the hotel to the City Hall (landmark) where the Stromma ticket booth and boat are located. We got lost but thank God, we found our way. We’re running late because we only have 7 minutes left and the boat will leave at 10AM. Fortunately, we’ve made it on the first boat trip to Drottningholm Palace. You need at least half a day for this trip because boat travel is already 2 hours (round trip).


On your way to the palace, you can see some interesting sites and when you reach the island, you will see the following places.

1. Drottningholm Palace
2. The Chinese Pavilion
3. Drottningholm Slottsteater
4. Drottningholm Slottspark

Boat to Drottningholm Palace: 230SEK - Adult and 115SEK - Child
Drottningholm Palace: 140SEK: - Adult 70SEK - Child
Chinese Pavillion at Drottningholm: 100SEK - Adult 50SEK - Child
Drottningholm Court Theatre: 110 - Adult FREE - Child


We did not pay anything because the boat and tourist spots are part of the Stockholm Pass. Drottningholm Palace is the home of the Swedish King and Queen and one of Sweden’s World Heritage sites. The palace deserves a separate post so I will share more about it next time. We had our snacks at the convenience store but there are restaurants too but since we want to ride the 1PM boat back to the City Hall, we want fast food.



Stockholm City Hall 


After one hour, the boat docked and we went straight to bus stop #23. The bus stop is near the famous Stockholm City Hall. The beautiful city hall is a tourist spot and it attracts more than 400,000 visitors. It houses offices, ceremonial hall, conference room and the luxury restaurant “Stadhuskällren”. It is also where the Nobel Prize dinner held. We are torn between, visiting the city hall or wait for the bus. But since we don’t want to miss the bus ride, we decided to skip the City Hall Tour.

Stockholm Panorama Bus Tour



For our next tour, we availed the Stockholm Panorama. The bus tour will take you to all the city districts and famous sights such as the Royal Palace, Royal Opera, Shopping Area, Gamla Stan, Museums and many more. There are FREE flyers and earphones that you can get so you can listen to the history and other information during the bus tour. Just choose your preferred language. It is a simple tour but it gives you a glimpse of Stockholm City.

Stockholm Panorama: 330SEK - Adult 156SEK - Child

The bus tour is 75 minutes long but of course, it may take a while depending on the traffic condition. During our trip, there is construction within the city. Stockholm Panorama is free with our Stockholm Pass but if you don’t have the pass and you want to experience this, you can buy the ticket here. We alighted at the bus stop #20 Ice Bar since this is the nearest stop to our hotel. We had an early dinner before we went back to Generator Stockholm.

Read: Pasalubong from Sweden