3 Best Sights in Oslo, Norway

This area was the site of a disused shipbuilding yard until redevelopment saw the addition of residential town houses and a commercial sector. Postmodern steel and glass buildings dominate the skyline now. The area has more than 60 shops and 35 restaurants, including upmarket fashion boutiques, pubs, cinemas, a theater, a comedy club, a shopping mall, galleries, and art installations. There is an open boulevard for strolling. Service facilities include banks, drugstores, and a large (and expensive) parking garage.

This atmospheric art deco–style movie house (built in 1907) has been converted into a funky bar, café, and restaurant. Live music gigs, literary evenings, films, and theater are held in the converted cinema room inside, which has seating for 250. To get a sense of the laid-back Grünerløkka lifestyle, chill out here with a cocktail. Free jazz is sometimes held on weekends in the front bar.

The French coffee, homemade pastries, and ice cream are the big draws at Pascal, a trendy, Parisian-style patisserie inside an old-fashioned Norwegian konditori (café). It's also a place to see and be seen. There are three other locations in Oslo, but the store in Tollbugata 11 is the original.