Norway’s capital, home to over a quarter of the population, Oslo is a lovely city to visit. There was so much so see that I’ll cover it in three posts, this one and two others focused on the many museums. I’d previously visited in the mid 1990s and 2010 so it was interesting to see what had changed, and what I could remember!

To start with the iconic Oslo Opera House, built in the late 2000s at the cost of €500m. It wasn’t open when I visited this time, but it is always possible to walk up onto roof. This offers great views of the waterfront, which was almost unrecognisable from my last visit. A huge number of apartments have been built, and there were many more tourists than I remember.

Also new since my last visit was the impressive MUNCH art museum, which I lacked the time to visit unfortunately, but it looked pretty striking from the waterfront.

The National Theatre was quite beautiful.

It is at the end of a lovely open space filled with colourful flowers.

The Rådhuset, Oslo’s City Hall opened in 1950, is an imposing brick fortress from the outside, but the inside is home to eye catching paintings covering most of the walls. On my last visit only the great hall was open, it was glowing in the sunshine this time.

The real treats were upstairs though, in a series of gorgeous spaces.

The Royal Palace is surprisingly large (173 rooms) for a small country, as it dates back to the days when Norway was ruled by Sweden. It took 24 years to build, and was completed in 1849. Compared to Buckingham Palace is it remarkably accessible, and is surrounded by gorgeous grounds.

There is more natural beauty at Frognerparken to the west of the city centre.

But the main attraction in Frognerparken is Vigeland Park, with its 212 granite and bronze sculptures by Gustav Vineland. The Vigelandbroen bridge is home to 58 of them.

Next is a huge fountain held up by six figures.

The mighty Monolitten has 121 figures carved into a single block of granite, surrounded by the Livshjulet (wheel of life) with many more figures.

The sizeable Oslo Cathedral dates from 1697 and has a relatively stark interior.

To the east of the city centre were some lovely colourful wooden buildings, which are rare in Oslo given the number of fires over the years.

Gamlebyen gravlund looked good in the early morning sunshine.

There are plenty of beautiful heritage buildings around Oslo.

Along with some striking more modern buildings.

The oldest Botanical Garden in Norway was a treat, even on a damp day. It has an attractive rock garden, a Viking garden, some formal gardens, and two greenhouses.

To finish with one of the more unusual places I visited, the Oslo Reptile Park, housed in a nondescript building near the city centre. I’ve never seen such variety and colour of reptiles, unfortunately in small enclosures. It was a great place for photography, though I didn’t want to get too close to most of them…