Anything to do near Oslo at xmas for family and 3 kids?

TutuBelle

Hi just wondering if any of you good knowledgable folk can help me. I can get cheap (ish) flights to Oslo over the christmas break but just wondered if there are any places around there thats great ( i mean once in lifetime we'll be going away for christmas) for kids and families? I was thinking of seeing santa but i can't see anywhere near Oslo for that. We've never been skiing but would love to try it. Kids are 8,6,4 and 2 adults - dont want to pay more than £900 (not including flights) and can go for 6/7 days.

Bob_the_Saver

Kids might find this interesting

http://www.alpenregion.at/sixcms/media.php/8492/thumbnails/sauna_valblu.jpg.827703.jpg

Alan_Bowen

Oslo is the most expensive city in Europe for food and accommodation. I must admit I like it very much but couldn't afford a week there under any circumstances and certainly not at Christmas. Before deciding what to do there, just check out accommodation and decide if there was a reason the flights were so cheap

prowla

Play in the snow and pretend you are in a Christmas Card.

Saint_Chris

make sure where the airport is, my friend booked a cheap light with ryanair, it was cheap, then she realised it was miles and miles away from anywhere.

dominos

I went to Oslo over christmas a few years back and had a wonderful time. We still say that it was one of our best holidays ever.
At Torp airport there are coaches which meet every flight and take you straight to the city centre and same for the return journey.
We had fantastic weather- bright, cold and tons of snow. It's fantastic to be somewhere snowy at christmas (at any age). A lot of the things that me and my sister did would also be good for families.
Theres downhill ski-ing and cross country/nordic ski-ing which we tried for the first time there because it was cheaper than downhill skiing. Lessons are available for all ages and experience for downhill skiing but for alpine its just a case of popping on the skis and setting off. Routes are all clearly marked. From the ski centre you can also hire wooden toboggans - the sledge route takes you down through norwegian pine tree forrests. The kids would love sledging surrounded by christmas trees and snow! At the bottom you can have hot waffles and hot chocolate before getting on the train with the sledges back up to the top of the run and doing it all over. Great fun and lots of laughing.
In the city centre there were also open air ice rinks if you fancy some skating. You can visit the ski jumps from the winter olympics where you have fantastic views.
There were a number of museums we went to which all age groups would enjoy- viking museum, the folk museum and a living cultural museum. We got local buses to them and all were pretty cheap entrance fees and were really fantastic.
We stayed in a city centre hostel in a dorm. My mum and family went the following year (after we had raved about our trip so much) and stayed in a private/family room there. Breakfast was included in the price and was a fantastic help yourself buffet with cereals, hot breakfasts, cold meats and cheese, tea, coffee, juice... We made sure that we got a good feed in us at breakfast and spent a good hour or so filling up, taking a break then having some more!
Norway is expensive but we were on a budget and managed to have an absolutely fantastic holiday and on the cheap. I would really recommend Oslo at Christmas for any age group. For the kids, just having proper snow at christmas is magical.
Hope this helps some x