Norway

Travel Tuesday photo: A Reconstructed Cannon Atop Akershus Fortress

Posted on September 2, 2025 by 2btravel

A reconstructed cannon atop Akershus Fortress in Oslo, Norway

Categories: Europe, Norway, Picture of the Week | Tags: Akershus Fortress, Norway, Oslo, Picture of the Week | Leave a comment

Travel Tuesday photo: The Wheel of Life, Frogner Park, Oslo

Posted on June 3, 2025 by 2btravel

The Wheel of Life, a bronze sculpture symbolizing eternity and comprised of figurines of men, women and children. Found in the Vigeland Sculpture Park within Frogner Park, in Oslo, Norway

The Wheel of Life

Categories: Europe, Norway, Picture of the Week | Tags: Frogner Park, Norway, Oslo, Picture of the Week, Vigeland Sculpture Park | Leave a comment

Travel Tuesday photo: Kon-Tiki Raft

Posted on January 7, 2025 by 2btravel

The Kon-Tiki raft that Thor Heyerdahl and others sailed from Peru to Polynesia to prove that South Sea islands were settled by explorers from South America. It’s now in a museum in Oslo, Norway.

The reconstructed Kon-Tiki Raft at the museum in Oslo, Norway

Categories: Norway, Picture of the Week | Tags: Kon-Tiki, Norway, Oslo, Picture of the Week | Leave a comment

2024: The Year in Travel

Posted on December 31, 2024 by 2btravel

As each year draws to a close I like to take a look back at my trips over the past twelve months. I did not have any work travel this year (and am not sure I ever will again thanks to Zoom & WebEx!) so my travel patterns were very normal for me.

Here’s how my travel looked on the map:

My 2024 Flights – made with gcmap.com

Continue reading →

Categories: Award Travel, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Denmark, Europe, Norway, Park City, Sweden, Trip Report, Year in Review | Tags: Award Travel, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Denmark, Europe, Flight Review, Lodging Review, Norway, Park City, Sweden, Trip Report, Year In Review | Leave a comment

Lounge Review: SAS Lounge, Oslo airport

Posted on December 8, 2024 by 2btravel

Introduction: Late Summer in Scandinavia
Flight Review: American Airlines B737-800 First Class, MEM-DFW
Flight Review: Finnair A350-900 Business Class, DFW-HEL
Flight Review: Finnair E190 Business Class, HEL-CPH
Lodging Review: Fairfield by Marriott Copenhagen Nordhavn
Our Time in Copenhagen
Lodging Review: Best Western Hotel Hebron, Copenhagen
Lodging Review: Next House, Copenhagen
Lodging Review: Story Hotel Studio Malmö
Our Time in Malmö and Ystad, Sweden
Lodging Review: IKEA Hotell, Älmhult, Sweden
Our Time in Älmhult, Sweden and High-Speed Train to Stockholm
Lodging Review: Motel L Älvsjö, Stockholm
Our Time in Stockholm
Flight Review: SAS A320neo Economy Class, ARN-OSL
Lodging Review: Comfort Hotel Grand Central, Oslo
Our Time in Oslo
Lounge Review: SAS Lounge, Oslo airport
Flight Review: Lufthansa A320-200 Business Class, OSL-FRA
Flight Review: Lufthansa 787-9 Business Class, FRA-MSP
Flight Review: Delta B737-800 First Class, MSP-MEM

Location and Hours

The lounge is located one level up from Gate E2. It opens one hour before the first SAS flight of the day and closes a half-hour before the last SAS flight of the day. Fortunately for me there were SAS flights leaving at 6 AM (and possibly earlier) and my flight didn’t leave until 6:30 AM, so it was open early enough for me. Still, I arrived before it opened at 5 AM and had to wait for a bit.

Entry Requirements

The following groups of people may access the lounge free of charge:

Those traveling on a SAS Plus or SAS Business ticket
Those holding SAS’s EuroBonus Diamond or Gold status
Star Alliance Gold members

SAS Gold (and above) members had their own section of the lounge. All that was needed for entry was a scan of a boarding pass.

Children under age 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Continue reading →

Categories: Airline Clubs, Europe, Norway, SAS | Tags: Europe, Lounge Review, Norway, Oslo, SAS | Leave a comment

Our Time in Oslo

Posted on December 7, 2024 by 2btravel

I really enjoyed Oslo. The weather was ever so slightly cooler than at our other stops but it was still warm enough that locals were enjoying dips in the fjord – though they were happy to have the huts to pop into once they got out of the water! I would enjoy going back some time with a car so we could get out from the city center a bit.

How we got around the city

While the city does have good public transportation, we bought a 48-hour ticket for the hop-on/hop-off bus to use as our primary transport. That’s because some of the places we wanted to see were either not very close to public transport or would have taken a combination of trams and buses to get there and the tourist bus basically hit all the things we wanted to see.

The train station from Karl Johan’s Gate.

Oslo City Street

There was a major tram and city bus stop just outside our hotel, which itself was attached to the train station. While there is a hop-on/hop-off bus stop near the opera house, which we could see from the hotel, it was one of the later stops in the loop, so it was nearly lunch time before the bus made it to that stop. Continue reading →

Categories: Europe, Norway, Tours, Trip Report | Tags: City Tour, Europe, Norway, Oslo, Trip Report | Leave a comment

Lodging Review: Comfort Hotel Grand Central, Oslo

Posted on December 6, 2024 by 2btravel

Location

It’s hard to beat the location of this hotel. It’s literally connected to the train station, something we did not realize when we arrived on the train from the airport. So we walked outside and over the cobblestones when it would have been much easier to just wind our way through the terminal to reach our hotel!

Comfort Hotel Grand Central, Oslo, Norway

How This Stay Was Booked

We booked two rooms, each with twin beds, for 16K points per night via the Choice Hotels website. That’s about a $96 value vs. paying $275 as a refundable rate or $247 with my corporate discount. Definitely a good deal! One annoying thing about using Choice points is that you can only book 100 days in advance. The good news is that in 2025 that will change and you’ll be able to book 50 weeks out when using points.

When we checked out (at 2 AM!) the desk clerk at first thought we owed money but I explained we paid on points. He assured me it would be all right and had me forward my confirmation email, which showed how many points I paid, to a Strawberry Hotels email address. I assume that’s the company that owns this particular hotel as it is a regional hotel brand. At any rate I never heard anything else so I assume they got paid by Choice.

Check-in

We arrived before noon, knowing that it was likely that our rooms would not be ready. We were welcomed by the young woman at the front desk who was super-friendly. Fortunately one of our rooms was ready so we were able to store all our luggage there while we went out for lunch. Continue reading →

Categories: Choice Hotels, Comfort Hotel, Europe, Hotel, Lodging Review, Norway, Trip Report | Tags: Choice Hotels, Comfort Hotels, Europe, Hotel, Lodging Review, Norway, Trip Report | Leave a comment

Flight Review: SAS A320neo Economy Class, ARN-OSL

Posted on December 5, 2024 by 2btravel

Why I Booked This Flight

We needed to get from Stockholm to Oslo and while we could have taken the train, it’s just a one-hour flight and was quite cheap in economy.

How I Booked This Flight

We each bought our own tickets for just $77.70 via the SAS website. After we booked our tickets SAS left the Star Alliance and joined SkyTeam so we added our Delta or Flying Blue numbers later. I tried to add my Flying Blue number at the kiosk but it would not accept it. When I returned home I submitted the request via the Flying Blue website. I had to wait until the trip had been complete for 7 days before my flight could get credited. Continue reading →

Categories: Europe, Flight Review, Ground Transportation, Norway, SAS, SkyTeam, Sweden, Trip Report | Tags: Arlanda Express, Europe, Flight Review, Ground Transportation, Norway, SAS, SkyTeam, Sweden, Trip Report | Leave a comment

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