Scandinavia: Accommodations Listings
Included in this section:
66. Norway in a Nutshell: Oslo and the Fjords
67. Ærø: Denmark's Ship-in-a-Bottle Island
66. Norway in a Nutshell: Oslo and the Fjords
Sleeping in Oslo
(6 kr = about $1, country code: 47)
In Oslo, the season and type of hotel dictate the best deals. The basic formula: In midsummer and on weekends, discounted business-class hotels offer the best value; otherwise, consider a cheap hotel, a room in a private home, or a hostel.
Like those in its sister Scandinavian capitals, Oslo's hotels are mostly designed for business travelers; they're expensive during the tourists' off-season (autumn through spring), full in May and June for conventions, and wide open otherwise. From July through mid-August, and weekends (Fri–Sat but not Sun) year-round — fancy business-class hotels deeply discount their rooms. At half-price (about 800–900 kr for a double) — you get a huge breakfast and a lot of extra comfort for little more than the cost of a cheap hotel or hostel.
During business days (Sun–Thu) outside of summer, business hotels hold out for their inflated "rack rates," and budget travelers opt for Oslo's dumpy-for-Scandinavia (but still nice by European standards) cheapie options: doubles for about 800 kr in central "cheap" hotels, or 350 kr in private homes on the outskirts of the city. For experience and economy — but not convenience — go for a private home. For convenience and modern comfort, I like the Thon Budget Hotels.
Hotels near the Oslo Train Station
These accommodations are within a 15-minute walk of the station. While evidence of an earlier shady time survives in some places, the hotels feel secure and comfortable. Parking in a central garage will run you about 170 kr per day.
Oslo Budget Hotel has clean, basic, and well-worn but homey rooms (many with bunks), in a somewhat seedy fourth-floor location handy to the train station. The hotel originated 100 years ago as a cheap place for Norwegians to sleep while they waited to sail to their new homes in America. It now serves the opposite purpose. With prices the same throughout the year, this hotel is a good value on off-season weekdays (Sun–Thu), when other hotels are at their most expensive (S-490 kr, Sb-590 kr, D-590 kr, Db-790 kr, T-690 kr, Tb-890 kr, Q-790 kr, Qb-990 kr, 10 percent discount with current edition of Rick Steves' Scandinavia book — mention when you reserve, breakfast-65 kr, free waffles in afternoon, non-smoking rooms, Prinsens Gate 6, tel. 22 41 36 10, fax 22 42 24 29, www.budgethotel.no, oslo@budgethotel.no).
Thon Hotels are a chain of business-class hotels (found in big cities throughout Norway) knows which comforts are worth paying for and which are not. They offer little character, but provide maximum comfort per krone in big, modern, conveniently located buildings. Each hotel has a cheery staff and lobby, tight but well-designed rooms, non-smoking floors, free Internet access, and a big buffet breakfast.
Thon Hotels come in categories: Their "City Hotels" are a cut above their "Budget Hotels." While City Hotels are much more expensive during business times (weekdays outside of summer), Budget Hotels have nearly the same rack rates all year. That means City Hotels can be a better value in low season. City Hotels generally offer free juice and coffee all day. In Budget Hotels (which have no phones or mini-fridges in the rooms), rooms with double beds are a bit bigger than twin-bedded rooms for the same price.
Thon Hotels share a similar price structure: Thon City Hotels — Sb-1,525, Db-1,825 kr; discounted rates: Fri–Sat year around and daily mid-June–mid-Aug Sb-900 kr, Db-1,100; Thon Budget Hotels — Sb-750 kr, Db-1,075 kr, no weekend deals; summer rates: Sb-650 kr, Db-875 kr. These rates include breakfast (you have the option of saving 50 kr per day per person by not taking breakfast). Extra beds are 300 kr for an adult and 150 kr for a child under 17 (kids under 6 stow away for free). Book by phone or online (central booking tel. 23 08 02 00, www.thonhotels.no).
Thon City Hotel Stefan, in a classy and central location two blocks off Karl Johans Gate, is a cut above its sisters in comfort and charm (Rosenkrantz Gate 1, entrance on Kristian Augusts Gate side, tel. 23 31 55 00, fax 23 31 55 55, www.thonhotels.no/stefan, stefan@thonhotels.no).
Thon City Hotel Terminus is similar but closer to the station (Steners Gate 10, tel. 22 05 60 00, fax 22 17 08 98, www.thonhotels.no/terminus, terminus@thonhotels.no).
Thon Budget Hotel Spectrum is four blocks from the station near the Grønland Torg shopping street. A quarter of its rooms are plagued by disco noise on weekends (leave station out north entrance toward bus terminal, go across footbridge toward tall glass Radisson/SAS Plaza Hotel, and pass through Grønland Torg, Brugata 7; tel. 23 36 27 00, fax 23 36 27 50, www.thonhotels.no/spectrum, spectrum@thonhotels.no).
Thon Budget Hotel Astoria has the least charm of my recommended Thon Hotels, but it's well-located and perfectly serviceable (3 blocks in front of station, 50 yards off Karl Johans Gate, Dronningens Gate 21, tel. 24 14 55 50, fax 22 42 57 65, www.thonhotels.no/astoria, astoria@thonhotels.no).
Sleeping on the Train or Boat
Norway's trains and ferries offer ways to travel while sleeping. The eight-hour night train between Bergen and Oslo leaves at about 23:00 in each direction (nightly except Sat). Eurail hobos sleep cheap, if not well, for the cost of a 50- kr train reservation (sleep on a train ride out, cross platform, and sleep back) — for example, Oslo–Vinstra (direction: Trondheim) 23:05–2:55, Vinstra–Oslo 3:14–6:43. There are trains almost every night in the summer to Stockholm. Overnight trains connect Oslo with Copenhagen June–August only (leaves nightly at 20:30, arrives at Malmö Central Station at 6:42 the next morning, easy transfers to Copenhagen). The overnight cruise between these Nordic capitals is a clever way to avoid a night in a hotel and to travel while you sleep, saving a day in your itinerary.
Best Budget Options in Oslo
Anker Hostel, a huge student dorm open to travelers of any age, offers 250 of Oslo's best cheap doubles. Though it comes with the ambience of a bomb shelter, each of its rooms is spacious, simple, and clean. There are kitchens, free parking, and elevators (bed in 6-bed room-210 kr, bed in quad-230 kr, Db-550 kr, sheets-50 kr, towel-20 kr, breakfast-75 kr at adjacent Best Western hotel, self-serve laundry; tram #12, #13, or #15, or bus #30, #31 or #32 from central station; Storgata 55, tel. 22 99 72 00, fax 22 99 72 20, www.ankerhostel.no, hostel@anker.oslo.no).
Haraldsheim Youth Hostel (IYHF), a huge, modern hostel open all year, comes with a grand view, laundry, self-service kitchen, 270 beds...and a long commute (2.5 miles out of town). Beds in the fancy quads with private showers and toilets are 250 kr per person (bed in simple quad with bathroom down the hall-220 kr). They also offer private rooms (S-415 kr, Sb-470 kr, bunk-bed D-540 kr, Db-625 kr; all include breakfast, members get 15 percent off, sheets-50 kr, catch bus #31 or tram #17 or T-bane lines #4 or #6 from Oslo's central train station to Sinsenkrysset, then 5-min uphill hike to Haraldsheimveien 4, tel. 22 22 29 65, fax 22 22 10 25, www.haraldsheim.oslo.no, post@haraldsheim.oslo.no). Eurailers can train to the hostel with their railpass (2/hr, to Grefsen and walk 10 min).
67. Ærø: Denmark's Ship-in-a-Bottle Island
Sleeping in Ærøskøbing
(5 kr = about $1, country code: 45)
The accommodations scene here is boom or bust. Summer weekends and all of July are packed (book long in advance). It's absolutely dead in the winter. These places come with family-run personality and each is an easy stroll from the ferry landing.
Hotel Ærøhus is big and sprawling, with 33 rooms. Although it is less personal and cozy than some of the other listings here, it's the closest thing to a grand hotel in this capital of quaint (S-600 kr, Sb-990 kr, D-800 kr, Db-1,250 kr, free Internet access and Wi-Fi, bike rentals-75 kr/day, possible noise from large dinner parties — ask for a quiet room, tel. 62 52 10 03, fax 62 52 21 23, www.aeroehus-hotel.dk, mail@aeroehus.dk, Ole Jensen and family). Their modern holiday apartments nearby are used as overflow accommodations and can be a fine value for groups and families (details on their website).
Pension Vestergade is your best home away from home in Ærøskøbing. It's lovingly run by Susanna Greve and her daughters, Henrietta and Celia. Susanna is a wealth of knowledge about the town's history and takes good care of her guests. Built in 1784 for a sea captain's daughter, this creaky, sagging, and venerable eight-room place — with each room named for its particular color scheme — is on the main street in the town center. Picnic in the back garden and get to know Hector, the live-in hound. Reserve well in advance (July: S-600 kr, D-850 kr; outside of July: S-600 kr, D-750 kr; 2-night minimum, cash only, cuddly hot-water bottles, shared bathrooms, free Internet access and Wi-Fi, Vestergade 44, tel. 62 52 22 98, www.vestergade44.com, pensionvestergade44@post.tele.dk).
Toldbodhus B&B, a toll house from 1770 to 1906, now rents four delightful rooms. Three rooms share two bathrooms in the main house, and a small garden house has a double room with a detached bathroom. Karin and John Steenberg — who, as avid travelers, understand your needs — named and decorated each room after cities they've lived in: Amsterdam, København, London, and Hong Kong (D-850 kr with current edition of Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door or Rick Steves' Scandinavia book, cash only, near harbor on corner of Smedegade at Brogade 8, tel. 62 52 18 11, www.toldbodhus.com, toldbodhus@mail.dk).
Graasten B&B, also about three miles out, is a cattle farm 300 yards from the sea run by a British/Danish couple, Julie and Aksel Hansen (D-550 kr for 1 night, D-985 kr for 2 nights, extra bed-250 kr, bike rentals, four-person apartment with kitchen, bath, and separate entrance-235 kr/person, cash only, Østermarksvej 20, short ride on bus #990 — direction Marstal, tel. 23 26 11 38, mobile 23 26 11 38, fax 62 52 13 49, www.greyfarm.dk, greyfarm@adr.dk). Julie requires a bank wire to secure a reservation.
Best Budget Option in Ærø
Ærø Campground is set on a fine beach a few minutes' walk out of town. This three-star campground offers a lodge with a fireplace, campsites, and cabins (camping-69 kr per person, 4- to 6-bed cabins-125–200 kr plus per-person fee, bedding-75 kr/person, open May–Sept, facing the water, follow waterfront to the left, tel. 62 52 18 54, www.aeroecamp.dk).
Updated for 2009. For lots more information, check out our best-selling Rick Steves' Scandinavia guidebook.