Vigeland Park

View to the statue bridge

Baby waiting for birth

The Angry Boy

Monolith

Vigeland Park is the world’s largest sculpture park made by a single artist, and is one of Norway’s most popular tourist attractions. The park is open to visitors all year round. There is a large parking lot beside the park. Allow at least an hour to enjoy the various elements in the park. We suggest that you first go to the beginning of life circle of eight bronze sculptures down below the bridge – with the little baby waiting to be born in the centre. Then make your way through the park, finally arriving at the amazing monolith.

The unique sculpture park is Gustav Vigeland’s lifework with more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite and wrought iron. Vigeland was also in charge of the design and architectural layout of the park. The Vigeland Park was mainly completed between 1939 and 1949.

Most of the sculptures are placed in five units along an 850 meter long axis: The Main gate, the Bridge with the Children’s playground, the Fountain, the Monolith plateau and the Wheel of Life.

Oslo citizens use the park for lots of recreational and sporting activities – skiing, jogging, walking, meeting friends, picnicking on the grass – and it is equally popular at all seasons.

You will enjoy finding your favourite statue – mine is the first on the left below!

From the Monolith, walk to the Circle of Life. After enjoying this, look over at the hills to see the iconic Holmenkollen ski jump.

Do find this first picture on the frieze of the Fountain of Life. Then walk to the left to see the entire circle of life evolve.

There are several cafes in the park. This one is close to the Monolith. They sell small copies of the “Angry Boy” as well as postcards.

Drøbak Christmas Shop – all year round!!

If you come to Norway in November and December, you will find Norwegian julenisser (Christmas elves and Father Christmas) everywhere – and lots and lots of seasonal decorations on sale in the shops. But these might be more difficult to find at other times of the year. So a visit to the Christmas Shop and Father Christmas post office in Drøbak town is the answer. See opening times on the website. Drøbak is a very pleasant small town on the east side of the Oslo fjord. If driving there, be aware that there is a genuine (and Norway’s only) traffic sign telling motorists to take care as Santa may be crossing the road!!

You might like to visit the Akvarium beside the harbour while you are there: open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. year round with extended opening till 6:30 from 1st April – 31st August.

The Christmas Shop, Havnebakken 6, 1440 Drøbak

GPS Coordinates:
59° 39′ 46.746” N
10° 37′ 42.7476” E

From Vollen it is easiest to get to the town of Drøbak by driving south to Sætre and taking the Oslo fjord tunnel. There is no longer any toll levied on this tunnel but take care not to exceed the speed limit. An alternative even more scenic route to the tunnel is to turn left at Slemmestad and drive through the small villages of Nærsnes, Båtstø and Sætre, to where you join route 23 for Drøbak.

In late June and July there is a weekend ferry service between Vollen and Drøbak.

Hadeland Glassworks Village

Hadeland Glassworks enjoys an idyllic setting on the southern shore of the lake Randsfjorden, just 80 minutes’ drive from Vollen. The Glassworks was founded in 1762 and is Norway’s oldest handicraft manufacturer in continuous operation. In summer and at weekends throughout the year, it is possible to blow your own glass. You must wait for about 90 minutes after blowing until the glass is sufficiently hardened to be taken home, but meanwhile there are lots of cafés, boutiques and gift shops to visit. And you might want to try colouring a candle or two while waiting – a great gift for grandparents?

Hadeland Glassverk,
Glassverksveien 9,
3520 Jevnaker

GPS Coordinates
60° 14′ 15.8604” N
10° 23′ 49.0164” E

We suggest that you take the direct route (in blue) to Hadeland Glass Works. When returning you might like to pause at Hønefoss (direct translation Hen in the Waterfall) admiring the famous waterfall in the town centre.

The lakes, Steinfjorden and Tyrifjorden are very beautiful – named fjords because of the steep hills rising on all sides.

Museums on the Bygdøy peninsula in Oslo

The Fram Polar ship is in one of Oslo’s most visited museums, located on Bygdøy peninsula right beside the landing stage for ferries from Oslo Harbour. To get there from Vollen, you can take the bus or ferry to Oslo and then change to the Bygdøy ferry boat at Pier 3. This ferry operates between March and October and departure is every 20/30 minutes. It is also possible to take a bus from Oslo centre. Visitors with Oslo pass go free on the ferry and bus.

If you have a car, you drive towards Oslo and take off for Bygdøy. At the height of the tourist season, it can be difficult to find a park.

If you have time and inclination, The Fram museum offers a double ticket which also gives entry to the Norwegian Maritime Museum in the building just opposite. The Kon Tiki museum is also in this area. The Viking Ship Museum and the Norwegian Folk Museum are within 15 minutes walk. When arriving on Bygdøy peninsula by road, you pass the King’s summer residence, Kongsgården.

For information about places to visit on Bygdøy peninsula, visit the web sites:
Fram Museum
Maritime Museum
Kon.Tiki Museum
Folk Museum
Viking Ship Museum
Oscarshall Summer Palace

Cafés and restaurants in Vollen

Kafé Oscar

Oscar café is famous throughout the greater Oslo region – for wonderful views of the fjord right into Oslo. You will find cakes, breads & sandwiches in the traditional building from 1870. So if you don’t want to sail away for a picnic as our local baker is doing in Jordfald’s humorous sign outside, then this is a place for breakfast, lunch or afternoon snack.

Opening times: Mon – Sat: 09:00 – 17.00 hrs, Sunday: 10:00 – 17.00 hrs.

And you might like to save some crumbs for the birds visiting the Piano Bird-table outside! Or take a look round the cafe, to find the statue of a boy throwing a stone towards the fjord…

Little England Tea Rooms

English/ American/Indian/Pakistani food, sandwiches, cream teas and lots more in an old skipper’s house from the beginning of the 19th century.
Opening times: Saturdays: 11:00 – 17:00 hrs & Sundays: 12:00 – 18:00hrs

Oslofjord museum café

Whether or not you want to look round the boat exhibition in the museum, the café is a great place for a snack, coffee or an ice-cream when you are going to walk along the coastal path, look at the boats in the harbour or even have a swim.
Opening times: Monday – Sunday in summer from 11:00 – 15:00 In winter, only Sundays

Eléa Greek grocery store, take-aways and café

This is where we find wonderful products from Greece – figs in brandy and honey, ginger preserves which are delicious with cheeses. Newly baked cake (my favourite is the gorgeous lemon cake) just to name a very few. You can enjoy a good cup of coffee and piece of pie or cake inside or out, according to the weather and season. And just recently Eléa has been granted a licence to sell wine with a meal at the café.
Opening times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 11:00 – 17:00; Saturday 11:00 – 16:00 and Sunday 12:00 – 16:00

Vito’s Italian Restaurant

I took this photo on a mid-December day as I was walking down Vollen skog road to the village. Vito’s Restaurant is the large yellow sunlit building lying in the marina. This is our favourite eating-out place in Vollen village. However the Italian family who run the restaurant, take their holidays in winter, so it is open for the spring to autumn season from April.

You will find a translation of Vito’s menu in Sheeps Inn apartment. Some of the dishes, such as lasagne and pizza are available as take-aways.

Oslo fjord boat museum in Vollen (Oslofjordmuseet)

For most Norwegians, boat life means having your own boat – be it a little sailboat for a youngster of 9, an 8 foot rubber dingy with a small outboard, a competition yacht, a day cruiser and many many more. To learn more about these, visit Vollen’s Oslo Fjord Museum. There are special events on Sundays for children depending on the season – most associated with the sea. You will find a brochure about these events in the apartment.

When visiting the museum, children can construct their own wooden boat and try it out for seaworthiness in the special basin. As grandmother, I can enthusiastically recommend this, especially on a rainy afternoon. The children buy a ticket for kr. 40,- and are presented with a hammer. They then go down to the workshop where they can (with a little help for the youngest) study the construction diagram, choose their materials and set to work at the real carpenters’ tables. Once completed, they can check seaworthiness in the big tank and practice loading up the propeller to see how far their boats can travel. Pride in personal achievement is at an absolute premium! And best of all, they take their boats home to bring out to the real sea on a later occasion.

There are also lots of exhibits to look at and various skills to practice – such as trying the rowing simulator or (for strong children and adults) attempting to pull up loads of bricks.

Beside the cafeteria, there is a fascinating museum shop where, apart from gifts and souvenirs,visitors can browse an extensive selection of books on marine subjects.

Visitors to Vollen who are interested in Polar History, will be fascinated to learn that Vollen is preparing for the return of a very famous ship. The Maud Returns Home expedition left Norway in June 2014 with tug and barge to cross to Canada and there bring the Maud up to the surface, load her on the barge and then begin the long, slow voyage back to Vollen where she was build for Roald Amundsen in 1918 after his successful race to the South Pole. The expedition successfully brought Maud to the surface in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada. In 2016/17 she overwintered there before being slowly tugged towards Greenland. In summer 2018, Maud was proudly sailed into Maud Bay outside the museum in Vollen where she was feted and greeted by thousands of people both in accompanying boats and along the shore. At present, in 2019 and 2010, she is being treated and worked on further south on the peninsular in a marina at Tofte. It is planned that a special building will be constructed to house Maud at Vollen in the coming years.

Of course big boats, cruise ships, oil platforms, cargo boats are always interesting – and you’ll find them all in the Maritime Museum in Oslo.