Oslo is famous for its cleanliness, Viking heritage and being hella expensive.

Goooooooood.

But there are ways to see Norway’s capital without selling your kidneys. Here’s how far £20 will get you in Oslo…

Help!

You’ve booked your flights to Oslo, but you’ve just realised that the average price of a pint is £6.

Don’t worry boo, the government’s got you. After Oslo won ‘world’s most expensive city’ two years in a row, the Norwegian government made a handy budget guidebook that you can download for free. It’s called the StreetWise Guide, which sounds like a lame anti-bullying brochure but is actually some v useful advice for cheap eats and insider tips.

Nature

Two thirds of Oslo is green, wild space and fjords - you can see a lot of it just by using public transport. Get a £5 ticket for a round trip on the number 93 commuter ferry from Vippentangen port. It’s sexier than it sounds.

There’s almost too much nature to choose from, but make sure you hit Sognsvann lake, Ingierstrand beach and Langøyene island where you can camp for free (if you don’t mind waking up on a nudist beach).

While exploring Oslo’s forests, bear in mind that within the city’s boundaries you can find elk, lynx and even wolves...

Buildings from the outside

Opera? HAHAHAHHAHA.

Yeah, you’re not going to the opera in Oslo. But you can look at the James-Bond-villain’s-lair-style opera house from the outside, dreaming about the day you’re watching Fellini inside it with a plate of caviar.

A lot of Oslo’s buildings seem space-age new, but Akershus Fortress is a good old-fashioned medieval castle. Don’t waste your krona going in, just look at it from the outside for free.

Museum

Entry to any of these museums is going to set you back half your budget (£9-£13), so you’re going to have to pick your favourite OR invest £36 in an Oslo Pass which gets you free entrance to all of them for one day. It’ll be like a fun, cultural version of 24 trying to smush them all in. (Fiiiine, it's over-budget, but buy the pass before you get there and you'll save all the money #cheatday).

By Odin, vikings are cool. They just are. The Viking Ship Museum is also cool, with giant ships and artifacts, and badass Viking films projected on the walls.

The Outdoor Folk Museum has 155 traditional houses, a church from 1200, Sami culture exhibits AND you can feed the animals 🐮

The Holmenkollen Ski-jump Museum has got loads on the history of snowsports, panoramic views of Oslo and a ski-jump simulator. Yep, done.

Art

‘Oh yeah, Picasso, think yer all that? Call me when there’s an emoji cat of your work!’ 🙀 The Edvard Munch Museum has all you need to know about this troubled expressionist artist - £11 but free with the Oslo Pass.

Keeping on the weird end of the art scale is the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art. Cows cut in half, gold statues of Michael Jackson and Bubbles, a ‘Grope’ sculpture made out of men’s trouser pockets. Embrace it. £12 but free with the Oslo Pass.

Thought things couldn’t get any stranger? Welcome to Vigeland Sculpture Park, the largest sculpture park dedicated to one (weird) artist. Naked yoga, aggressive babies and human centipedes, all of life is here. £7 (and worth every penny) or free with the Oslo Pass.

Food

Pølser (hot dogs) are going to save you in this town where pasta costs £50. Get your hot dogs with fresh mushrooms, mustard and a potato pancake (trust) for about £2.

East-end Grønland has all kinds of international foods and the largely immigrant population keeps things tasty and cheap.

Really really poor? Mekaniske Verksted is a restaurant with no food. Mind = blown. No really, it’s a bar and meeting point where people are encouraged to bring their own food and mingle 😍

Dranks

Follow the stampede to Duty-Free when you get off the plane. They know what’s up.

Drinking in Oslo is wildly expensive. From 5pm, supermarkets stop selling alcohol and you can’t buy a bottle ANYWHERE after 8pm. Killjoys.

Luckily there’s a thing called ‘vorspiel’ (German for foreplay) which involves sinking as many beers as poss before you head to the bars. Join an al fresco vorspiel party in any park in summer.

Once you’re suitably unsteady on your pins, head to East Oslo Street and Grønland (Oslo’s Brick Lane) for the cheapest beer in town.

If you like heavy metal and dankness, the Rock Inn will see you right. Or vintage bar Blå turns into a live jazz, funk and hip hop club when the sun goes down.

Sum Up:

Alright, it’s not quite in budget, but fork out for an Oslo Pass and duty-free before you get there and you’ll be laughing. Once that’s done, you can totally see all of Oslo’s beautiful weirdness on £20.