Hotspots

Food

Oslo and Norway in general are not reputed for their food. But we found some nice places that could be good to try. But be careful, in general all restaurants or coffee shops are expensive in Norway : 

• Oslo Street Food $$ : A food court with international dishes from Korea to Mexico with cheap beer and located in the center of Oslo. All the shops are selling their dishes for around 150 nok, which means more than 10€. 

• Koi Ramen (Munch) $$ : There are a couple of different locations for this one. If you like Ramen this will be your favorite place. Moreover, the ramen are not so expensive (around 120 nok). 

• Digg pizza $: Want a chill night ? Probably the favorite pizza for the norwegian. Cheaper than ALL the others. 

• Hot Dogs : Cheap, delicious after a night out and open all the night in the service stations or in the 7eleven. 

• The Salmon $$$: As the name sounds, they are specialised in salmon. This restaurant can be a bit expensive but the meals are amazing. 

• Mathallen Food Hall $$: You can eat a mouse burger, find french cheese and saucisson or eat sushi while drinking a beer next the the river and near Grünerløkka. 

☕️ Coffee 

• Kaffebrenneriet : Different store around Oslo, they probably have the best hot chocolate of the town 

• Espresso House : A must do, classic but always good. Be careful it could be full during the weekend. 

• Stockfleths : If you like coffee this will be a good tip for you. 

• Haralds Vaffels : Very famous place to eat waffles in the city center, but it can be expensive for just one. 

• Pust : Next to Majorstuen station, they have a good place to sit, good sandwiches (especially the one with pumpkin). They are doing good coffee as well. 

🍾 Going out

BI Oslo organised some events for the buddy week or during Halloween and parties only for exchange students. But if you want to go out during the semester (and highly recommended to do it before November thanks to the cold) there are different places that you need to try at least one. It’s important to notice that Norwegians are clubbing mostly on Friday and Saturday, and they are doing it seriously. And they are clubbing earlier than in other countries. Pre-party at 7pm and finish the night at 3 am. Last but important, you need to be 21 to be in certain clubs. 

• Kulturhuset : Really good club with 3 different floors where you can dance, drink and play a couple of games. But there are no lockers, which means keep your jacket with you or find a table to put it on. (Commercial, house music) 

• Storgata 26 : (House, Electro, Techno) Highly recommended to go there on a saturday night. The entrance is free before 11pm (120 nok after) and before midnight the beers are at 25nok. There are two rooms : upstairs is techno, downstairs the other type. But be careful the DJs are changing every day.  

• Ingensteds : Really popular club with the Norwegians when the DJ is good. Located near to the River that crosses Oslo, the club changes between Techno, House, Jazz or commercial. You need to check instagram to know which kind of music is it.

• Lawo and Lawo Terrasse : LT for the summer and the good day. What’s more enjoyable than parting outdoors when it’s hot. There is not that much space and people are coming ealy, so you better be. 

• Youngs : International club, where they play Commercial music. You can sit at the first floor if you get lucky to find a table, then downstairs there is a big dancefloor. 2 floors, 2 DJs ! 

• Louise : The fancy club of Oslo, on the port. Expensive for a drink but there are lockers for once ! They are playing house and commercial music. 

• Javel : Do you like karaoke bars ? If yes, then this one’s for you. You will probably be surrounded by people that like Rock, beer and darts. 

• Angst bar : Chill and Outdoors  bar for a good day where singers could be.

• Café sor : Latino music. 

Activities

Oslo is a young city, but has a lot of green areas, parks and walks. Moreover, the activities as you should expected will change with the seasons :

• Munch : The famous Munch museum of Oslo next the the Opera. 

• Opera : The must popular monument -, and of like it the representations can be cheap for student

• Korketrekkeren sledge : 2km of unlimited ride during winter for 15€. The norwegian just go straight so do it as well. You can go with line 1.

• Sauna : Find one next to the Opera (KOK) to experience a traditional activity that could be difficult in winter regarding the temperature of the water. 

• Fjord : Oslo as a couple of Fjord that you can go to by boat. If you have the Ruter subscription it will be free for you. Be careful, there is a boat only every 30 minutes to 1 hour. 

• Frognerparken : The biggest park were you can see some statues fighting

• Holmenkollen : The famous ski jump where you can experiment the zip-line above.  

🥾 Hikes

• Bygdoy : Like an island, you will find a little village and beaches that can have a lot of people during summer 

• Sognsvann : A lake directly available by metro, during summer you need to try to swim in it. During other seasons, the hikes around the lake are really beautiful and you can even see Oslo. In November, they organised the Oslo night run there, it’s a 10km trail around. 

• Maridalsvannet : A really big lake like, much more than Sognsvann, that get good hikes for those that are more experienced. 

Cost of living

Private accommodation: Renting an apartment in Oslo can be quite costly. The average price for a one-bedroom apartment in the city center is 1500-2000 EUR a month.

Student accommodation: Many student residences are offered throughout the city. BI Oslo is providing a residency only for the school student which is situated 5 minutes by foot at Nydalen. The rent can change during summer and winter because the chargers like electricity vary according to your own consumption (5800 nok to 6500 nok). The rooms are for 2 or 4. You have your own bedroom but share the rest (kitchen and bathroom), and guys paired with guys and girls with girls. The residency offers a free gym to people, a little one, and laundry which costs 1€ for each machine you will do. Moreover, you will be with one person from the same country. 

For those who want to be in the city center the SIO accommodation could be good. There are different locations around the city so choose wisely if you don’t want to be far from everythings. They are proposing to you 1 person room and 6 persons apartment with a shared kitchen but your own bathroom. A lot of foreign students are going there, and if you want to live with different nationalities it could be the best choice. The price of the rooms are:  

Groceries: As we discussed on the Norway page, groceries are generally more expensive than in France. They have a lot of protein products that are cheaper than in France for those who like sports. The meat in general is really expensive compared to Europe, but you can find some deep-freeze products that are cheap. 

We highly recommend going to REMA1000 or Kiwi, they are the cheapest. Going to COOP and COOP MEGA will be much more expensive, but you can find some good discounts. 

Transport: The bus and metro in Oslo are working a bit differently from what you can know. You need the Ruter application to buy a ticket or the subscription. The price of one ticket will be 42 nok but the  student subscription is around 530 nok which. You don’t need to check you up in the bus, there is no machine for that, and same thing for the metro, everyone can take it (with a ticket because the contravention will be around 100€). 

To go to the airport or from the airport, take the FlytoGet train at Oslo Central Station. The ticket for a student is about 120 nok. The trip takes 20-30 minutes both ways. 

To travel by airplane, Norwegian airlines will be the cheapest if you can find flights with the code UNDER26.