Oslo: Northern Ireland Fans' Embassy Blog

[AONISC]

Continuing the work of the Amalgamation’s Northern Ireland Fans’ Embassy, our Chairman and Honorary Treasurer made a Site Visit to Oslo towards the end of July. Here’s the information they brought back from their travels… 

We arrived in Oslo on a sunny Monday afternoon from Dublin. It didn’t take us long to get through the airport to the exit, around twenty minutes after landing and we were able to look at our options for the onward journey into the city centre. We always try to take the ‘supporter’s route’ on our Site Visits, which usually involves finding our way around without Googling before travelling. 

We decided to use the ‘Flytoget’ train, which is a very efficient train service departing every ten minutes from a platform within the airport. When you come through the Departure hall, take a right within the terminal building and go straight ahead. 

Tickets can be bought from a vending machine (it looks very much like a cash dispenser) or you can simply use your card at the barriers. The journey costs around £18 and takes you into the Central Station in Oslo. Here’s a link to a video showing with more information about this: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJwW49DmQAE 

Alternatively, you can take the regular train or a bus. The regular train costs around £10, but takes slightly longer while the bus is around £16 and takes forty minutes. The bus leaves from outside the terminal building and there’s an information office just before you exit. 

The main station is within easy walking distance of the area around the Norwegian Parliament building (Stortinget), where you’ll find lots of bars and restaurants. There’s also a Metro station by the same name and you can get to the stadium from there. 

Probably the biggest talking point ahead of the trip to Oslo is how expensive the city is for food and drink. It’s well documented and shouldn’t come as a surprise, but if you’re planning a weekend of partying then you’ll need to bring plenty of money!     

 

Prices in the bars vary. A glass of local beer will cost around £7, while imports will cost slightly more expensive at between £8 and £10. If you’re planning to visit the shops for a cheaper option, a can of lager is about £3.50 but there are laws around the sale of alcohol from which means you won’t be able to buy any from the shops or supermarkets on matchday as it’s a Sunday, or after mid-afternoon on Saturday. Soft drinks can cost up to £5 in a bar. 

Eating can be expensive, but there are always cheaper options. A burger and chips in one of the diners off Karl Johans gate, although filling, cost £23. We also visited an Italian at the port area of the city, where Carbonara was £20. 

That was probably the cheapest option in that area of the city, where prices are set for the many cruise liners which dock there and the higher end restaurants will set you back around £60 for a steak, so be warned. 

You can of course eat from McDonald’s for around £7 while a kebab from a takeaway will cost a tenner. (We didn’t eat them all, we just shopped around!). 

We’ve been advised that the PSNI aren’t travelling to Oslo and that the Norwegian police may not be as tolerant of on-street drinking as many of the other countries we’ve visited have been, so it comes with a health warning. The city is very relaxed and the people are friendly and helpful. 

Getting to the stadium is very straightforward. You can take the Metro from the Stortinget station. Tickets are just over £3 from the ticket dispenser and the stadium is four stops from here on the Green line. Get off at the Ulleval Stadion stop. We’ve posted a photo of the Metro map on our Facebook page to help, should you be using a station other than Stortinget. You can also check out oslometro.aonisc.co.uk for a link to a map. 

The stadium is a few minutes’ walk from the platform. We’ll be uploading a video tomorrow (Monday) showing you how to get to the entrance to our section of the ground. Access to our sections is via Entrance 16. 

There’ll be the usual ticket and security checks, but there are only four turnstiles so bearing in mind how long it took to pass security in San Marino, we would advise everyone to allow plenty of time to get through the cordons. 

Once you pass through the turnstiles, there are kiosks on the concourse beneath our sections (109-112) which will sell food and drinks and there are also toilets and bins available.   

Bearing in mind that it’s an expensive city, you might be interested in having a look around. The ‘hop on, hop off’ bus tour starts from 10am and departs every half hour with the last one going at 4:30pm. It has eighteen stops and costs £30. 

There’s also the Holmenkollen Olympic ski jump, which includes a museum, ski simulator or, if you’re feeling daring, you can have a go at a zip-line down the slope! 

Hopefully you’ll find this information useful. If you do happen to need assistance, you can contact our Mobile Phone Network by calling or texting +447943 542 100 or you can also contact us via: Facebook.com/TheAmalgamation  @AoNISC_Travel  aon...@yahoo.co.uk