Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Olso's Downtown Beaches

Despite Oslo's northern latitude, the same as Anchorage, Alaska, swimming in the Oslo Fjord is a popular summer time activity. Until recently, there was no public swimming in downtown Oslo - one had to take a ferry to one of the nearby islands or a bus to a seaside suburb.

Now that commercial shipping and heavy traffic have been removed from Oslo's central harbor, public beaches are now to be found downtown and are packed with locals on warm days. 

The first area to open up to public bathing was Tjuvholmen, an old shipyard that has been converted to residential and recreational use.


After that came Sørenga. A wharf area since the middle ages, it has been transformed in the past 10 years to a popular residential area with a beach and a purpose built  floating quay for swimming. 



The most recent addition to Oslo's downtown beach scene is the beach by the Opera House, which opened in July, 2021. It features a beach for kids and one for adults.



In addition to beaches and docks for swimming, Oslo has seen a flotilla of sauna boats pop up along the central harbor in recent years. After working up a sweat in the sauna, one jumps into the fjord to cool off.


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