Norway is one of the world’s most beautiful countries, but it’s also one of the most expensive countries in the world to visit. Lucky for visitors to Oslo, the Oslo Pass helps visit Norway on a budget, while actually improving your experience.
This post contains compensated links.
We are grateful to VisitOSLO for providing us with Oslo Passes for the purpose of this review. All opinions are our own.
Admission Tickets and Passes included with the Oslo Pass
The benefits of the Oslo Card are many:
- Enjoy free admission to over 30 museums and attractions including the Munch Museum, the Museum of Oslo, the Fram Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Vigeland Museum and much more.
- Unlimited free use of public transportation in zones 1 and 2. This area covers the vast majority of things to do in Oslo.
- Discounted Oslo sightseeing tours and walks
- A 20% discount at selected top Oslo restaurants
- Discounted Oslo activities such as Oslo Summer Park, TusenFryd Amusement Park and more
- Discounted tickets to the The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet and The Oslo Philharmonic.
Options for the Oslo Pass
The Oslo Pass is sold in three durations: 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours. A great things about the Oslo Pass is this does not mean 1 day, 2 days or 3 days.
For example, if you activate your 72 hour Oslo Pass at 2PM on a Monday, it is valid until 1:59PM on Thursday. With this strategy, you can enjoy the benefits of the Oslo Card for up to four calendar days.
Example of Using the Oslo Pass
The beauty of this Oslo tourist card is that it is good for 24 hours after you activate it, which means you can use it over more than one calendar day.
To demonstrate how the Oslo Pass is worth it, here is how our family of four (2 adults along with a 1 & 4 year old) used our 24-hour Oslo Passes:
24 Hour Oslo Pass – Day 1
In the morning of Day 1 in Oslo, we took the train to Nordmarka Forest and hiked to Lake Songsvann. Aside from the cost of train transportation, this amazing, outdoor activity was free.
At 2:30PM, we activated our 24-hour Oslo Passes, which then allowed us to enjoy the following activities for free:
- Hopped on the subway for free with our Oslo Pass
- Went to the National Gallery for free to see Edward Munch’s famous “The Scream” painting.
- To reward the kids for their (reasonably) good behavior at the National Gallery, we then took them to the Oslo Reptile Park (free with Oslo Pass) to see some cool snakes, lizards, etc.
- Took the subway home
24 Hour Oslo Pass – Day 2
Given we activated our Oslo tourist cards the previous afternoon, our Oslo Pass was still valid until mid-afternoon on Day 2. We headed out to the Bygdøy Peninsula to visit their excellent museums and do a little bit of hiking.
We saved money with the Oslo Pass on our second day at these included Oslo attractions:
- We took the Oslo bus the Bygdoy Peninsula for free
- We enjoyed free admission to first stop – the awesome Viking Ship Museum
- We then went on a fun oceanfront Oslo hike to the Kon-Tiki Museum (also free with the Oslo Pass) where our kids were so excited to see “Moana’s boat”
- After a quick ice cream cone, we walked to the nearby Fram Museum (also free with the Oslo Pass) – home of the world’s strongest polar vessel. It’s way more fun than it sounds!
- We took the bus home
Once our 24-hour Oslo Pass had expired, we walked with the kids to a playground near our awesome Oslo vacation rental apartment. By using a single 24-hour Oslo Pass, we were able to have two full calendar days of diverse family fun.
Was the Oslo Pass Worth It?
Oslo Pass for Adults
During the 24-hour period our Oslo Pass was valid, we each consumed 735 NOK worth of attractions and transportation. The cost of a 24-hour Oslo Pass when we visited Oslo was 395 NOK.
With a 24-hour Oslo Pass we enjoyed savings of 340 NOK (~$42USD)! For the adults, the Oslo Pass was worth it!
Oslo Pass for Kids
Our son was only 1 at the time of our family trip to Oslo, so he was free almost everywhere without an Oslo Pass.
Our 4-year old daughter consumed 197 NOK worth of Oslo attractions and public transportation. The cost of a 24-hour Oslo Pass for children at the time was 210 NOK, which resulted in a small loss of ~$1 USD.
Note, that children get free admission to most Oslo museums, so look at your projected costs carefully before buying an Oslo Pass for your children. In our case, going to the Reptile Park helped us break even on our daughter’s Oslo Pass.
Even though we didn’t save money, we found that her having an Oslo Pass was worth it as it was nice to avoid the hassle of buying subway & Oslo admission tickets just for her.
An Unexpected Benefit of the Oslo Pass
When we travel, we love to enjoy as many experiences as possible, but we also like to get good value for the money we spend.
For example, without an Oslo Pass, I know for sure we would have only gone to the National Gallery on Day 1. We’d be like, “well, we paid for it, so let’s make sure to see it all”.
But having an Oslo Pass allowed us to leave the National Gallery without guilt after we saw “The Scream”. Instead of forcing ourselves to look at more paintings we weren’t interested in, we used our Oslo Pass to do something fun for the kids with a visit to the Reptile Park for the kids.
We’d have never have done with without an Oslp Pass. The Oslo Pass allowed us to see so much more of Oslo than we otherwise would have!
Read more about our 5 day itinerary for Oslo with kids.
Should I Buy an Oslo Pass?
To us, an Oslo Pass was totally worth it. Not only did we save 40% as a family on our Oslo admission and transportation costs, we also got to see way more Oslo attractions than we otherwise would have.
We recommend splitting the use of your Oslo Pass card over two days, so you don’t overload on Oslo museums in a single day. Just be careful with the kid’s Pass as it will be harder to break even with it.
For us, the 24-hour Oslo Pass was enough as we got to see all the Oslo museums we wanted to over this time frame. If you are more into cultural attractions than we are, you can get even better value with a 48 or 72 hour Oslo Pass.
Where Can I Buy Oslo Passes?
It’s easy to buy the Oslo Pass. You can buy the Oslo Pass at the following locations:
- The Oslo Visitor Centre
- The Oslo Pass App (iOS or Android)
- Online at VisitOSLO
The VisitOSLO store is in the Norwegian language and currency. You can buy the Oslo Pass in your own currency on Get Your Guide.
(USD costs are approximate and will fluctuate. Costs above were based on the October 5, 2017 exchange rate of 7.98 Norwegian Kroners (NOK) to 1 USD)
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