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

Verdict: Recommended. Book here without thinking about it.

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

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.

Facts: 22 min walk to Karl Johans gate; 35 min to the airport; 30 min to the beach; price €€; best for nightlife, food, solo travellers, longer stays, budget; lines 4, 5, 11, 12, 17, 18.
Safety: Mixed after dark. The Akerselva river path on the western edge, from Grønland up past Kuba, is the stretch Oslo police advise against after dark. Walk back along Thorvald Meyers gate instead; it is lit and busy.

Grünerløkka is the old workers' quarter east of the Akerselva: Thorvald Meyers gate, Olaf Ryes plass, Birkelunden, the Mathallen food hall at Vulkan. It has the highest bar density in Oslo and the best value for a stay of a week, and the borough runs much further north and east than the bit visitors mean - Carl Berners plass, Løren and Hasle are all in it.

The honest reason to book here is money. A room or apartment costs noticeably less than the same thing in Frogner or Sentrum, and the food follows: this is where you eat well in Oslo without paying Aker Brygge prices. The honest reason not to is transport. There is no metro station in Grünerløkka proper. You get trams 11 and 12 down Thorvald Meyers gate, and 17 and 18 along Trondheimsveien, which take about ten minutes to the centre and stop running long before the bars do.

Pick your street. Thorvald Meyers gate and the squares are noisy from Thursday to Saturday until closing at 03:00, and these buildings are 130 years old with the glazing to match. One block east into Sofienberg or Rodeløkka and it is a residential district. The Akerselva path along the western edge is the pleasant way to walk into town by day and the one route the police tell you to avoid after dark.

What works:
- Rooms and apartments cost well under Sentrum and Frogner rates
- Best concentration of bars and restaurants in Oslo, on one street
- Trams 11 and 12 reach Karl Johans gate in about ten minutes
- Sofienberg and Rodeløkka, one block east, are quiet and cheaper again

What does not:
- No metro station: trams only, and they stop before the bars close
- Thorvald Meyers gate is loud until 03:00 Thursday to Saturday
- About 22 minutes on foot to the centre, and none of the sights are here
- Mostly apartments rather than hotels, so no reception and no breakfast

Hotels in Grünerløkka: https://www.stay22.com/allez/booking?aid=stayzones&link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fdest_id%3D2007%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.
- [Gamle Oslo](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-oslo/gamle-oslo): Mixed. 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.
- [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.