Oslo Day Trips: 4 Day Plan
Four days adds Fredrikstad, an hour by train and a free ferry crossing into the best-preserved fortress town in Northern Europe, to the ferry, forest, and Drammen route above. Still no rental car by day four. This builds on the 3 day plan ; see the 5 day version if you can push on to Lillehammer.
| Day | Day trip | Travel time from Oslo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oslofjord islands (Hovedoya, Lindoya) | 7-15 min by ferry |
| 2 | Nordmarka forest (Frognerseteren, Sognsvann) | 30-35 min by T-bane |
| 3 | Drammen and Spiralen | 30-40 min by train |
| 4 | Fredrikstad and Gamlebyen | About 1 hour by train |
Book these before you go
- Compare hotel rates near Oslo S , the base for every train in this plan
- Book a narrated Oslofjord cruise as a weather backup for day one
- Book a Fredrikstad day trip tour if you’d rather have Gamlebyen’s history explained than self-guide it
Day 1: the ferry hack to a ruined monastery
Walk to Radhusbrygge for the Ruter B1 ferry to Hovedoya, a 7-minute ride on the standard NOK 44-46 Zone 1 ticket that also covers the T-bane. Cistercian monks from Kirkstead Abbey in England founded an abbey here on 18 May 1147; it burned in 1532 and its stone later went into Akershus Fortress. Walk the ruins (background on visitoslo.com ), swim if it’s warm, and continue on the same ticket to Lindoya before heading back for dinner.
Day 2: the forest loop by T-bane
T-bane line 1 ends at Frognerseteren, where a marked trail runs down through Nordmarka to Sognsvann, a genuine local swimming lake in summer. Loop back on lines 4 or 5 from Sognsvann rather than retracing the walk in, all on the same Zone 1 fare. Winter turns this into ski country, with roughly 2,600km of groomed cross-country trail and floodlit sections after dark.
Day 3: Drammen and the spiral tunnel
Vy trains run every 15 minutes, about 30-40 minutes each way, to a working city rather than a curated stop. The reason to go is Spiralen, a 1,650-metre helical tunnel through Bragernesasen opened in 1961, walkable via its own zigzag path to Spiraltoppen for a cafe and a real view over Drammensdalen.
Day 4: Fredrikstad’s free ferry to Gamlebyen
Vy trains run roughly hourly from Oslo S to Fredrikstad, about an hour each way for around NOK 215. Skip the modern station and walk to the river instead: Byfergen, a small free electric ferry, crosses every 15 minutes to Gamlebyen, the walled old town built in 1567. No ticket, just walk on. Around 350 people still live inside the ramparts among the cafes and galleries, and the short crossing itself gives a proper view of the fortifications.
Do you need to book Fredrikstad’s ferry across to Gamlebyen?
No. Byfergen is a free public ferry, not a tour product, running continuously through the day with no ticket and no schedule to plan around. Just walk to the crossing point on the Cicignon side and board when it arrives. Check current train times from Oslo S on visitfredrikstadhvaler.com before you go.
Should you buy the Oslo Pass for this itinerary?
Probably not. The pass bundles Zone 1 Ruter transit (current fares on ruter.no ) with museum entry, which covers day one’s ferry but nothing else here; Drammen and Fredrikstad both run on separate Vy train tickets outside Ruter’s zones. Save the pass for a city-sightseeing trip instead, and buy each day’s transport separately here.
Buy the Fredrikstad train ticket on Vy’s app before you leave Oslo S; the hourly departures mean a missed train costs a real hour, not a few minutes.