Norway

It has long been known that the Vikings were among the best shipbuilders in the world. But it was only... when burial mounds containing Viking lords buried in their ships were found in the 19th century at three locations in Oslo fjord (Oseberg, Gokstad and Borre) that we discovered more details about the construction of these sturdy and elegant ships. Today visitors can marvel at the three more than 1,100-year-old boats in the Viking Ship House on the Oslo museum peninsula of Bygdøy, where they are exhibited in a hall with a cross-shaped floor plan. The 79 ft (24 m) long Gokstad ship and the 72 ft (22 m) long Oseberg ship are so well preserved that they look as if they could have been built just a few years ago. The lime in which they were buried preserved the timber so well. The museum also presents the wealth of grave furnishings of the Viking lords who were buried in these ships: from richly decorated sledges and pieces of furniture to golden jewellery and a wide variety of everyday objects. more

High above the fjord on the outskirts of Oslo city center, where ocean liners and cruise ships drop anchor... is the fortress of Akershus. In the 17th century the imposing fortress, which King Håkon V. Magnusson built from 1299 onwards to protect the capital, was converted into a spacious renaissance palace. Especially after a stroll through the busy pedestrian precinct or Aker Brygge business and entertainment district the mighty, grass-covered embankments offer a panoramic view of the fjord and city as well as a welcome opportunity to relax and perhaps have a picnic. In summer open-air concerts and other events are staged in the parklands between the walls. Inside the building is a chapel with mausoleum used by the royal family for official business, the study of poet Henrik Wergeland, the Norwegian Military Museum (Forsvarsmuseet) as well as Norway's Resistance Museum (Hjemmefront Museet), where you can find out all about Norway's resistance to the Nazi occupation of the country in World War II. more

Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) is generally considered to be Norway's greatest dramatist. He was born in Skien,... lived many years abroad and died in Oslo, which was still called Christiania at the time. The Ibsen Museum consists of two sections: the museum itself and the house in which the playwright spent the last eleven years of his life up until his death. The new exhibition in the museum is entitled "Henrik Ibsen - On The Contrary" and deals with the life and work of the dramatist. On his 100th anniversary of his death, the house in which Henrik Ibsen lived with his wife Susannah was completely restored. Visitors to this bourgeois residence with its original furniture have the impression that its inhabitants could return any minute. Ibsen wrote his last two plays here: "When We Dead Awake" and "John Gabriel Borkman". The museum can be visited any time during opening hours, Ibsen's house only on the hourly conducted tours. more