The 11 Best Places to Drink and Stay in Oslo

The name translates as moonshine, which tells you where this cocktail bar's priorities lie. Himkok distills its own aquavit, gin, and vodka on the premises, grows its herbs in a purpose-built greenhouse out back, and delivers much of it via tap. The whole operation is tucked into an old Oslo brick building that sprawls into a warren of bars and cozy corners. It holds a spot on the World's 50 Best Bars list.

A neo-baroque building near Oslo's main station that started life as headquarters for a shipping line carrying Norwegian emigrants to New York, now a hotel that leans into that Atlantic connection hard. Expect jazz-age glamour, old Hollywood details, and a basement jazz club that takes its cues from Manhattan. It sits between the opera house and Youngstorget, which covers a lot of ground without much walking.

An old electric company headquarters turned luxury hotel, Sommerro kept the Art Deco bones and added enough modern comfort that you forget the building once kept Oslo's lights on. Rooms are full of character without being fussy, the spa restores a 1930s public bath to proper use, and the bars and restaurants include a Thai-Norwegian kitchen worth the detour. The Michelin Guide awarded it one Key.

The lobby art collection alone could anchor a museum wing, which sets the tone for this grand, family-owned hotel steps from the National Theatre on Karl Johans gate. Rooms come individually wallpapered and tile-bathed, and Theatercaféen downstairs is a Viennese-style institution that Oslo has claimed as its own. Business travelers fill most of the halls, but the place has too much personality to feel corporate. The Michelin Guide awarded it one Key.

The building opened as a theater in 1917, and the auditorium still hosts shows, so you're technically sleeping inside an active venue. This luxury hotel in central Oslo leans into its theatrical past with ornate interiors that cheerfully ignore the minimalist-Scandinavian script. Rooms start compact but scale up generously toward the suites. A pizza restaurant and a well-stocked wine bar are on-site, though the neighborhood puts most of Oslo within easy walking distance.

A Berlin Baroque facade on Oslo's main ceremonial street is a strong opening argument for a hotel. Karl Johan spreads across three historic buildings, which means no two rooms are quite alike in layout, view, or general personality, and that variety is either charming or mildly inconvenient depending on your mood. The breakfast is a serious affair. The Michelin Guide has it among its selected hotels.

A boutique hotel on what used to be Oslo's smugglers' island, which explains the name if not the wool slippers and fjord-view rooftop. The Thief sits in Tjuvholmen, now an arts district with a Renzo Piano museum next door, and leans into that setting with rooms that are warmer and richer than the spare-Scandinavian cliché would suggest. The spa runs to heated pools and multiple saunas, which feels appropriate for somewhere this far north.