Best of Oslo walking tour review
My verdict: the most bundled walk of the six, and the lowest rated, and those two facts are probably the same fact. 4.6 from 523 reviews is the second-largest sample in Oslo and the weakest score on this site — by four tenths of a point, which is not much. It runs in English or German, and the two languages meet in different places. Get that wrong and you miss the walk entirely.
Two meeting points, one listing
This is the thing to read twice. If you booked the English walk, you meet at the University Aula on Karl Johans gate 47, by the P.A. Munch statue. If you booked the German walk, you meet at the Nobel Peace Center on Brynjulf Bulls plass 1. Those are two different parts of the centre, about as far apart as this route gets, and standing at the wrong one means the walk leaves without you.
It is not a trick and it is not hidden — the listing says so. It is simply the kind of detail that gets skimmed when you are booking three things in an evening. The two tours whose meeting point depends on your language have their own section on the meeting-points page, because this one is not the only one.
4.6 from 523, and what I think it is measuring
This is the lowest score on the site and I am not going to bury it. I am also not going to treat it as a warning. A 4.6 that has absorbed 523 opinions is a considered verdict on a real product, and it sits four tenths of a point below a 5.0 that has absorbed 101. Put those two side by side honestly and the gap shrinks a good deal.
The likeliest reason this walk scores lowest is that it promises most. A guide, a sightseeing app, public transport tickets and entry to attractions is four things that can each disappoint somebody. A walk that promises only a guide and two hours has one. More moving parts, more ways for a review to come back at 4 rather than 5.
That is a structural read rather than a complaint about the guiding. The reviewer file here is warm and it names guides, the same as every other file in Oslo.
- “exactly what I wanted” Gwen, United States
Gwen was writing about a guide named Mingi. Dmitry, from the United States, wrote about a guide named Minji and called them very knowledgeable about the landmarks. Shampa, from Australia, also on Minji: knowledgeable about Norwegian history and culture, and gave tips on what to see. Jakub, from Germany, took the walk with a guide named Csilla and called it informative, a good overview. That is four people praising the same thing the other five walks get praised for.
The slug says self-guided. It is not.
The web address of this listing contains the words “self-guided”. The walk is not self-guided. There is a live guide, and every reviewer quoted above names theirs. I mention it only because the question comes up and because a URL is the sort of thing people half-notice and then half-remember. If you want a walk with no guide at all, that is a different and perfectly good plan, and the sightseeing app this listing includes is closer to it than the walk is.
The most included of the six
A guide, a sightseeing mobile app, public transport tickets and entry to attractions. No other walk on this site bundles anything like that. Whether it is worth it depends entirely on whether you would otherwise have bought those things, which is a question only you can answer and which this site deliberately will not put a figure on. The app question is worth reading if that part is what attracted you, because free and paid self-guided options exist too.
What works
- The most included walk of the six by a distance
- 523 reviews — the second-largest sample in Oslo
- Runs in English or German, which only two other walks do
- Two hours, the standard length for this route
- Public transport tickets and attraction entry are genuinely bundled
- A live guide, despite what the listing’s web address says
Worth knowing
- 4.6 is the lowest rating of the six, and I say so rather than hiding it
- English and German groups meet in different places — check yours
- More promised means more that can disappoint, which is the likeliest read
- No published group size
- The route is the same central kilometre four other walks cover
- Its web address says self-guided, which it is not, and that confuses people
What the listing commits to
- A live guide for two hours
- A sightseeing mobile app
- Public transport tickets
- Entry to attractions
- A choice of English or German guiding
What it does not
- A single meeting point — English and German start in different places
- Any published cap on how many people walk with you
- Anything after dark; this is a daytime walk
- A self-guided experience, despite the wording in the web address
The University Aula sits on Karl Johans gate between the National Theatre and the Parliament, and the P.A. Munch statue is in front of it. It is a busy stretch of pavement with several plausible-looking groups standing on it at any given hour. Say the name of your walk to whoever is holding a sign rather than assuming. I have watched people walk off with the wrong group and only work it out at Akershus.
Who should book it, and who should not
Book it if the bundle is the point — if you were going to buy transport tickets and attraction entry anyway, this puts them in one place with a guide attached. Book it if you want the walk in German and would rather not take the City Highlights walk, which is guided in German only, or the independent guide.
Do not book it if you only want the walk. You are paying for four things and using one, and the 4.7 from 1,710 is a cleaner purchase. Do not book it if you cannot be certain which language version you have, because the meeting points differ. Do not book it expecting a small group, since none is published. And do not book it thinking the rating is a red flag; 4.6 from 523 is a perfectly respectable number that happens to sit at the bottom of a very tight range. The six compared properly.
The alternatives
The German walk below is guided in German only.
Most reviewed by farOslo: Guided Walking Tour of Central Oslo with Local Guide
German language onlyOslo: City Highlights Walking Tour
Shortest walkOslo: City Center Walking Tour
Frequently asked questions
Where does the Best of Oslo walking tour meet?
It depends on your language. The English walk meets at the University Aula, Karl Johans gate 47, by the P.A. Munch statue. The German walk meets at the Nobel Peace Center, Brynjulf Bulls plass 1. Those are different parts of the centre. All five starting points.
Is the Best of Oslo tour self-guided?
No. Its web address contains the word self-guided, but the walk has a live guide and the reviewers name theirs. If you genuinely want no guide, walking Oslo on your own is a reasonable plan and the route is short and signposted.
Why is this the lowest-rated walk of the six?
It is also the most bundled: a guide, a sightseeing app, public transport tickets and attraction entry. Four promises are four things that can each disappoint somebody, where a plain guided walk has one. And 4.6 from 523 reviews sits only four tenths below the top of a very tight range. Why the spread is inside the noise.
What does this walk include that the others do not?
Public transport tickets, entry to attractions and a sightseeing mobile app, on top of the guide. No other walk on this site bundles any of that. Whether it is worth it depends on whether you would have bought those things anyway. What each of the six includes.