Oslo has a reputation as Europe's priciest capital, but its fjord islands ride on an ordinary transit ticket, its sculpture parks never charge admission and its seawater baths are free. Three days here run on picnics, pølse and public transport.
Hillside sculpture park above Bjørvika with 40-plus works by Rodin, Dalí, Renoir and Louise Bourgeois set through old-growth woodland. Open around the clock and never gated, with the terrace where Munch sketched The Scream looking over the fjord.
Norway's oldest botanical garden, laid out in 1814 around Tøyen manor: some 7,500 species over 15 hectares, a scented herb garden and an alpine rock garden built from Norwegian bedrock. The grounds are free; only the glasshouses charge.
The riverside path threads eight kilometres of waterfalls, red-brick mills and street art through Oslo's old industrial corridor. Signposted the whole way, lit after dark, and lined with free swimming spots at Kuba park and Myraløkka.
Free seawater pool at the tip of the Sørenga peninsula, with a 50-metre lane basin, diving tower, sandy beach and jetties looking back at the Opera House. No entry fee, no ticket, and showers and toilets sit on the boardwalk.
Immigrant-run market quarter around a 1990s bazaar built into the mosque courtyard, where grocers sell produce at half the price of central supermarkets. Pavement stalls move three-kilo fruit bags, bulk spices, olives and fresh flatbread.
Green-tiled canteen trading since the 1980s and still the best-value plate in the city: chicken tikka masala with rice and naan lands around 130 NOK, half a tandoori chicken about 110. Order at the counter, share the long tables, no bookings.
Sunday-only market under the lime trees of Birkelunden park, running roughly 12:00 to 17:00 from spring through autumn. Sixty-odd stalls of Norwegian wool sweaters, vinyl, enamelware and old ski gear, with sellers dropping prices hard after 16:00.
The last traditional pølse kiosk left in Oslo, working the same hatch on Maridalsveien since 1975. Wieners come wrapped in lompe potato flatbread with shrimp salad, crispy onion and cucumber relish for 45 to 70 NOK. No seating, no menu online.
The public B1 ferry crosses to this car-free island in ten minutes on an ordinary Ruter transit ticket. Ashore are the ruins of a 1147 Cistercian abbey, Napoleonic-era gun batteries, two free beaches and meadows of protected orchids.
Twenty minutes from Stortinget at the end of metro line 5, a forest lake with a flat 3.3-kilometre gravel loop, free swimming jetties and public grill pits where Oslo students spend the whole summer. Marka trails head north from the far shore.
Metro line 1 climbs to 469 metres at Frognerseteren, among the highest metro stations in northern Europe, for a free fjord panorama from the 1890 dragestil timber lodge terrace. The ridge path drops 25 minutes down to the ski jump.
The Carrara marble roof of the 2008 opera house is a public square you walk up from street level, angling straight out of the fjord water. Free, unstaffed and open late, with sunset views across Bjørvika and the Barcode towers.