Norwegian Folk Museum, Oslo

Officially it is known as Norsk Folkemuseum (the world’s oldest open air museum)… but to me it’s the Norwegian Folk Museum, a wonderful open air museum which brings traditional life in Norway “to life” for the visitor.

The Old Town section is a living museum complete with residents, dressed in traditional Norwegian costumes. You become part of the story as they go about their daily routines. It is as if you have stepped into the past as you mingle , chatting with the residents (in English or Norwegian) about anything you wish to chat about. Farm animals gaze at you from around the sides of wooden barns, or if you are lucky, come to greet you next to the unique wooden fences that one finds throughout rural Norway.

While exploring we heard an old school bell ringing. Following the sound (and a group of costumed school children) we came to the old school house with the teacher standing on the steps ringing a hand held bell. All of us trod inside to watch a lesson in progress.

Some buildings in Old Town host demonstrations of traditional ways related to that building. My favourite?  The Bake House won hands down as they were making lefsa. So impressed we were that a separate blog is devoted to Baking Lefsa at the Norwegian Folk Museum.

In another section of this open air museum one can wander in and around old buildings that have been moved from different regions of Norway. At first glance they might all look the same (after all they all are wooden as Norway has a lot of forests) but the styles vary considerably when you really look close. With the help of signs posted by most of them I began to recognize each region’s distinctive architectural details.

The museum is located in Bygdoy, a peninsula that juts out into the Oslo Fjord. Several museums are here within easy walking distance of each other: the Kon-Tiki Museum, The Polar Ship Fram, The Norwegian Maritime Museum, Viking Ship Museum, as well as the Norsk Folkemuseum. Admission to all these museums was included in our Oslo Pass.

How to Get to the Norwegian Folk Museum

• – we took the hop-on, hop-off city tour bus
• -by ferry (catch in front of City Hall, get off at stop #1 Dronningen) (about a 10 minute crossing)

For more information

www.norskfolkemuseum.no

How to Get to Oslo, Norway

• Book a flight to Oslo

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Happy travels!