From the moment we started channel flicking on Saturday morning, it was pretty clear that Norwegians love to ski. Even when we went down for breakfast, kit bags had been left by the doors and people were dressed in ski suits ready to go, so we knew the first thing we had to do that day was visit the ski museum and see what all the fuss was about.
We had the car, so it only took us about thirty minutes to get from the Radisson to Holmenkollen, a drive that took us higher and higher above the city on a lovely scenic route where we gushed at all the lovely houses and forest views.
We thought we would try and park as close as possible to the ski museum itself, but soon encountered some skidding issues on the snow. After holding up traffic, two of us getting out the car and plenty of shouting, we eventually managed to turn the car round. We sheepishly headed straight back down to where most sensible people were parking! For those newbies also driving in, we basically parked in the first car park on the left as you drive past the sign. Luckily, the attendant informed us the parking was free for tourists (bonus!) and it’s only a 15minute walk from here to the ski museum.
Holmenkollen ski jump itself is just huge! I believe it can hold 30,000 spectators and has hosted events as part of the Olympics, World Cup and other ski-jumping events. The Ski museum is near the bottom of the hill and considering we all knew not a lot about skiing, we found it super interesting.
We had all purchased the Oslo Pass from our hotel, so entry into the ski museum was free. Prices for people without the pass are 120NOK for an adult. If you are planning on visiting a number of attractions, this soon adds up so the pass may be something to think about.
The museum is not very big and the exhibits take you all the way back to how skis were used in the stone ages right up to modern day. There were lots of things to keep us entertained as we strolled through…
I’m pretty sure most of the play and interactive areas were actually aimed at kids, so we had HEAPS of fun embracing our inner child.
Unfortunately for us, it was snowing and quite misty that day, so even though we took the lift right to the top of the ski jump, we couldn’t see a thing; we could just about see each other! So sadly, we didn’t get to enjoy what is rumoured to be the most fantastic view of the city.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed our visit and would highly recommend it. Only downside is it made us sad we weren’t staying in town long enough to actually try skiing, ourselves! We’ll just have to come back next year…
