A visit to Akershus Castle is a journey through Norway’s history from the 12th Century until the present. You may admire the beautiful historically restored halls or marvel at the gloomy dungeons and dark hallways. Our guide will awaken the historical presence of Håkon V Queen Margrethe, Christian IV, ghosts and murderers, the Norwegian poet Henrik Wergeland and other exciting persons.

photo credit: bjaglin

Akershus Castle is under the custody of the Norwegian Armed Forces through Akershus Commandery. The Commandery of Akershus Fortress wishes to develop the castle as a destination for visitors to Oslo and welcomes you to the castle and the fortress.

GUIDED TOURS AT AKERSHUS FORTRESS

At Akershus Fortress we offer guided tours of the fortress’ outdoor area, of the old prison area and of the casemate; an underground vaulted room for canons. Schools, military and private groups, concerns and societies are all welcome to book guided tours. Daily, during the summer season, we offer guided tours for tourists and visitors at the outdoors area, the former prison and the fortification. These tours are free of charge.

Contact information Phone: +47 2309 3212

photo credit: C.Bry@nt

AKERSHUS CASTLE

Opening hours Akershus Castle
2nd of May – 31st of August
Monday-Saturday: 10am-4pm
Sunday: 12.30pm-4pm 1st of September – 31st of December
During these months you may only enter the castle by joining guided tours on Thursdays at 12pm (Norwegian), 13pm (English) and 14pm (Norwegian).
The tour is approximately 50 min. Please note that the castle or parts of it may be closed occasionally due to official functions.

Entrance fees

More information: Official Website

The Øya Festival is held in August every year, in the Medieval Park on Oslo’s east side – on historical ground, where Oslo was originally built. In beautiful green surroundings, but still in the centre of Oslo, you can hear concerts from three main stages inside the festival area. If you need a break, you can taste delicious ecological food, or buy records, clothes and cartoons from the stalls and tents in the festival’s “shopping street”.

The Club Day on Tuesday, with concerts at many small clubs, works as a warm-up for the four days (Wednesday-Saturday) in the Medieval Park festival area. Wednesday-Saturday after the festival area is closed, there are Øya Night events in some of Oslo night clubs.

More info: Øya Festival

Inferno Metal Festival takes place in Oslo every Easter, and draws metal lovers from all over the world. Norwegian bands have always been important in this genre, and the Inferno festival always has big Norwegian and international names on the programme.

Wednesday is the club day, with concerts at many of the small rock clubs in the centre. Thursday to Saturday Rockefeller and John DEE is where it all happens. A total of about 40 bands in te course of these four Easter days, which makes Inferno the biggest metal festival in Norway.

More info: Inferno Metal Festival

Oslo Jazz Festival has always had the ability to present a wide-ranging festival line-up. The program represents the whole spectrum of jazz and related music, from gospel and blues to latin jazz and electronica. The festival has concerts especially for children, and every year a separate showcase stage presents young, unknown talents. Oslo Jazz Festival puts its mark on the streetlife with jazz parades through the centre.

More info: Oslo Jazz Festival

The Festival strives to keep a continuing high quality with interesting events and performers. We want to offer music of premium quality to the public and be an attractive meeting place for some of the world’s greatest musicians.

Recruitment to chamber music is important to Oslo Chamber Music Festival, and we emphasize having children and adolescents among performers and visitors.

More info: Oslo Chamber Music Festival

The fact that the festival takes place in an open-air public bath creates a unique atmosphere, and if the hot summer weather kicks in, you can combine a refreshing dip in the pool with an unforgettable concert experience!

Norwegian Wood draws a broad audience – you find a dense crowd of people of all ages in the grass hill in front of the stage. There is no age limit to get in!

Through the years, the main stage has hosted artists like Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Sting, Bryan Ferry, Tori Amos and Lou Reed. While the Underwood stage gives up-and-coming Norwegian bands a chance to present themselves to the festival crowd.

More info: www.norwegianwood.no

Since the first independent Ultima Festival in 1991, over 1500 works by 560 composers from over 40 countries have been performed, and 260 works have had their world premiere at the Festival. One of the main objectives of the Ultima Festival is to promote public interest in innovative art in Norway, and the festival seeks thereby to contri bute to the struggle against conformity, challenging the consciousness of the time, like all contemporary art through the ages. The festival is therefore naturally open to new international impulses. Ultima is also an important source of commissions and engagements for composers and performers. Ultima takes place over 10-14 days in September/October each year.

The performances are held in 15-20 separate venues all over Oslo, ranging from the Oslo Concert Hall and the University Aula with its murals by Edvard Munch, to intimate jazz and club venues such as Blå and the Parkteatret theatre. Ultima’s audiences have increased from an initial 10 000 to 18 000 in 2002. This increase refl ects a growing interest in new, innovative music and related art forms, particularly among the younger audience members.

For more info visit: Ultima

Oslo is the oldest of the Scandinavian capitals, and its history goes back to 1000 years ago, when the first settlements were built at the inlet of the Oslo fjord.
After the Great Fire that destroyed the city in 1624, the Danish King Christian IV, decided to rebuild the city in brick and stone, and named it Christiania. Three hundred years later, in 1925, the citizens decided to rename their city Oslo.

Oslo is a pleasant city with over 500 000 inhabitants. The city is characterized by a mix of old and new architecture, parks, hills, museums, monuments, lakes, forests and the fjord. It is a vibrant city, excellent for shopping, cultural and sports activities. Oslo has a wide range of good restaurants and a lively nightlife.

The city has become an attractive tourist- and conference city, with a large selection of excellent hotels and congress venues.

Geography:

The geographical area of Oslo is 450 km2, and only 1/3 of the area is developed. The city centre is surrounded by woods, lakes and 40 islands in the fjord.

Climate

Average mean temperatures in:
November-March: -3 C
April-May: 8 C
Jun-Jul-Aug: 16 C
Sep-Oct: 8 C
Hours of sunshine per month in Jun-Jul-Aug-Sep: 240 hrs

Population

510 000 inhabitants

Employment

360 000 people have Oslo as their place of work. The City of Oslo employs approximately 43  000 people.

Business and Industry

Shipping industry
Information technology, telecommunications and multimedia
Offshore and engineering activities
Biotechnology and pharmaceuticals

To find out more about Oslo, please check out some of the following web-sites:

• VisitOSLO A/S (tourism and congress information) : www.visitoslo.com

• Norwegian Tourism Board: www.visitnorway.com

• Information about Norway: www.norway.org

• Oslo Teknopol: www.oslo.technopole.no

• Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry: www.nho.no