Looking Back on Our Time in Oslo (May-June 2024)
We had a big surprise getting there
In an effort to catch up on some of the backlog I still have from our nomadic travels, I’m going to work on documenting our time in Oslo a year ago.
Mid-May 2024
We flew to Oslo directly from Tirana. Well, we thought we were flying to Oslo. We boarded the plane for our three-hour flight and got to watch the sunset twice due to the distinctly different latitudes.
We landed and were expecting to catch a train based on instructions from our AirBNB host. But as we walked around the airport (which seemed small), we didn’t see a train…
That’s when I opened Google maps.
Turns out, Oslo has two airports, only one isn’t actually in (or even near) Oslo. It’s called Torp and it’s the “off” airport used by discount carriers like Wizzair; it’s located ~110km south of Oslo. This was our first experience flying such carriers and we learned the hard way that they don’t necessarily fly into the main airports. The Wizzair site lists the airport as Oslo Torp Sandefjord. Having never been to Oslo, I didn’t even think to see if there were two Oslo airports. I mean, in the US if I’m flying to San Francisco I can choose to go into Oakland instead, but it’s called Oakland, not San Francisco Oakland.
Anyway, there we were at 10pm with no train to take and no idea how to get to our AirBNB. We walked toward a sign for busses and decided to see if any options existed. Fortunately, there was an express bus set to depart soon-ish that would take us right to the rail stop near the AirBNB (on the west side of Oslo). I can’t tell you what a relief that was! It was still about $100 for all of us, but that’s surely a bargain compared to the alternative.
We got dropped at the train station around midnight. Now we needed to find a way to the house. It was within walking distance, but we had our baggage and it was up a steep hill, plus it was dark out, so we opted for an Uber. I can’t remember the details now, but it took an age for the car to find us, so it was quite late by the time we made it to the accommodation. It was a massive relief to finally arrive.
The most important lesson we learned is that it’s critical to check the airport you’re flying into (ideally before you buy tickets), especially if it’s with a discount airline! There’s a decent chance in Europe that it may not be the main airport and you’ll have to take a train, bus, or car to get to where you want to be. So do your research!
Have you ever landed at one airport thinking you were at another? Or experienced something similar?