# Is Gamle Oslo a Good Area to Stay in Oslo? Map & Verdict

Verdict: Mixed. Fine for some travellers, wrong for others.

Interactive map: https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-oslo/gamle-oslo
Every Oslo district: https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-oslo.md

The cheapest central beds in Oslo, and the one district Norwegian police name. The Opera, the Munch and Grønland's food streets are all in it, and so is the drug market.

Facts: 12 min walk to Karl Johans gate; 25 min to the airport; 10 min to the beach; price €€; best for budget, food, sights, solo travellers; lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 13, 19.
Safety: Poor after dark. The Grønland and Tøyen blocks and the Akerselva path have an open drug market after dark, and Norwegian police name them. Violent crime against visitors is rare; being approached repeatedly is not.

Gamle Oslo is the whole eastern side of the centre: Bjørvika with the Opera House, the Munch Museum and the Barcode towers; Grønland and Tøyen behind the Central Station; then Gamlebyen, Kampen and Vålerenga up the hill towards Ekeberg. Nowhere else in the city puts this much within a ten-minute walk of Karl Johans gate for this money.

The case for it is strong and specific. Grønland is five minutes from the Central Station on foot, every metro line stops there, and it is where Oslo eats cheaply - Pakistani, Somali, Vietnamese, Turkish, with the market halls at Grønlands Torg. Rooms run well below the west side. Bjørvika, three hundred metres south, is new-build waterfront with the Opera roof you can walk up and the Sørenga sea bath at the end of it.

The case against is equally specific and it is why this is not a green district. Grønlandsleiret and the Akerselva path carry an open drug market, and the police name this area and Tøyen among the parts of Oslo locals avoid at night. Bjørvika has the opposite problem: it is a finance district of glass towers where nothing is open at 21:00 and the wind off the fjord is relentless. Book the western strip near the Opera or the streets uphill towards Kampen, not the blocks between Grønland station and the river.

What works:
- Cheapest central rooms in Oslo, well under the west side
- Every metro line stops at Grønland and Tøyen
- Opera House, Munch Museum, Botanical Garden and Sørenga sea bath
- Grønland is where you eat for a third of Aker Brygge prices

What does not:
- Open drug dealing on Grønlandsleiret and the Akerselva path
- Police and locals name Grønland and Tøyen as areas to avoid at night
- Bjørvika is offices and glass: nothing open after about 21:00
- The borough is huge, and Vålerenga or Ensjø are nowhere near the centre

Hotels in Gamle Oslo: https://www.stay22.com/allez/booking?aid=stayzones&link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fdest_id%3D4905%26dest_type%3Ddistrict%26group_adults%3D2%26no_rooms%3D1

## Other districts in Oslo

- [Sentrum](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-oslo/sentrum): Recommended. The whole of Karl Johans gate, the Palace, the fortress and the Central Station in one small borough. About a thousand people live here, and you will feel it after 22:00.
- [St. Hanshaugen](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-oslo/st-hanshaugen): Recommended. Central Oslo with people living in it. Twelve minutes downhill to Karl Johans gate, and the shops on your street are open when you come back.
- [Frogner](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-oslo/frogner): Recommended. The wealthy west: Vigeland park, Majorstuen, Aker Brygge and the Bygdøy museums. Wide, quiet streets and the most expensive food in Norway.
- [Grünerløkka](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-oslo/grunerlokka): Recommended. Oslo's drinking and eating district, in a grid of 1890s tenements twenty minutes north of the centre. Cheaper than the west, and loud until 03:00 at weekends.
- [Sagene](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-oslo/sagene): Mixed. Torshov and Bjølsen, one ring road north of Grünerløkka. The same 1890s tenements for less money, and half an hour on foot from Karl Johans gate.
- [Ullern](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-oslo/ullern): Avoid. Skøyen's office towers and the villa hills above them. Four minutes from the airport train and 55 minutes on foot from anything you came to see.
- [Nordre Aker](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-oslo/nordre-aker): Avoid. Ullevål, Nydalen and the student halls up towards Sognsvann. Cheap beds on the metro, a football stadium, and no city around them.
- [Vestre Aker](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-oslo/vestre-aker): Avoid. Holmenkollen, Vinderen and the forest above them. Two famous hotels with a view of Oslo, 20 to 30 minutes on one metro line from anything you can do in it.