Top 3 Scenic Spots You’ll See on Our Island Hopping Tours
Our Oslo Nature Walk: Island Hopping, is an Oslo tour of the islands of the inner fjord. No matter what time of year we do this tour, there’s something beautiful to see, whether it’s the fascinating ruins of Hovedøya, or the quaint cabin community of Lindøya. Our Norway bike tours have great lookout spots as well, but the Island Hopping tour is the one for scenic views!
First on our Island Hopping tour, the ferry ride. We make our way upstairs and outside the ferry and the whole of the Pipervika bay lies in our view. From here, we can see the City Hall, the Akershus Fortress, the Aker Brygge pier and several museums. There are strict rules on how tall the buildings in Oslo can be, so only a few highrises can be seen. We can see far into the hills behind the city, the Holmenkollen ski jump pokes up into the clouds. Before we take our Oslo tour to the islands, we can also see Bygdøy peninsula and some of the best museums in Oslo, like the Fram museum, the Folkemuseum can also be found there. We weave between the islands with marinas and forest until our Oslo tour finally arrives at the next island.
Our Oslo walking reaches the island of Lindøya. We walk between the red, yellow and green painted cabins of the island and talk about the cultural and historical significance they hold, as well as fun anecdotes about the place. Soon we start walking uphill, then hike up the side of a little crag. From the top, we see dozens of cabins below us, the fjord and Bygdøy in the distance, and the little event space at the foot of the hill where the oldies on the island play petanque right next to the pond. This is perhaps my favorite view from any of our Oslo tours, walking tour or otherwise and we always spend a good few minutes taking pictures here.
After a nice snack break on our Oslo walking tour we get back onto the ferry and enjoy the view on the way towards the last island: Hovedøya. This island is always an Oslo tour guide favorite, as there are tons of things to talk about from World War II history to the ruins of an old English Monastery to the old public baths. In the middle of our Oslo tour, however, we get to a lookout point with bronze cannon replicas, remnants of fortifications installed here by the Swedes when they ruled Norway. From here we can see all the way past Bygdøy to Fornebu, where the huge Telenor Arena can be seen. In the early spring, we can even see snow still covering the ski slopes in the distance. And if we’re lucky, we might even be able to spot the local fox on the way back to the ferry as the Oslo walking tour finishes up.