Near the venue

City centre and Karl Johans gate

 Karl Johans gate is the main street of Oslo. It stretches through the city center, from Oslo Central station to the Royal Palace. The parliament is located about halfway between the station and the palace. The street itself is pretty standard fare as far as high streets go, but things get more interesting by simply taking a right or left turn or moving to one of the parallel streets. Many high end shops are located in Akersgata, Nedre Slottsgate, and Øvre Slottsgate. In Prinsens gate you will find smaller brands and some independent shops as well. Three major shopping centres worth visiting are located on or near Karl Johans gate: Paleet, Eger, and Oslo’s only real department store, Steen & Strøm. Other major shopping streets nearby include Grensen, Stortorvet, and Torggata.

Aker Brygge and Tjuvholmen

Formerly Oslo’s largest dockyard, Aker Brygge was converted to a residential and business area in the 1990s. Further out lies Tjuvholmen, a more recent and even fancier development. Along the boardwalk you will find mostly restaurants and cafes, but directly behind this lies a tiny mall and a network of streets with a mix of shops of the more independent variety. Wine enjoyers would do well to visit the Norwegian wine monopoly “flagship” store at Aker Brygge, which boasts a selection to rival the world’s top wine merchants. The monopoly has a cap on markups and the tax per bottle is a fixed rate, which results in expensive wines being relatively cheap (and cheap wines expensive). Bottles of top French wines can be had several thousand dollars cheaper here than on the international market, leading to queues forming weeks ahead of the yearly release of Burgundy in February.

Off the beaten path

Frogner and Majorstuen

Slightly outside the common realms of tourism, the Frogner and Majorstuen areas have a more varied selections of shops compared to the “high street” Karl Johan and the city centre in general. If you’ve decided to visit the Frogner and Vigeland park, (which you should) consider taking a detour thorugh Bygdøy Allé or Frognerveien (you can always hop on the tram if you tire of walking). If you’re out on a Saturday, the Vestkanttorvet antiques market is worth a stop. Alternatively, walk the busy shopping streets Bogstadveien and Hegdehaugsveien on your way back to the city centre. There are trams here too, should you decide you’ve had enough.

Grünerløkka

For a different flavour of shops, consider the cooler part of town and the Grünerløkka area. From the venue, tram number 18 will take you to Schous plass, at the bottom of the vibrant shopping and nightlife street Thorvald Meyers gate. Check out the parallel street Markveien as well. On Sundays, if the weather is good, you’ll find a sizeable antiques and second hand market at Birkelunden. Consider walking there too, perhaps stopping for lunch at the Vulkan food court.