Moving onto Oslo, Norway.

Image by Reinhard-Karl Üblacker from Pixabay

A unique destination with strong ties to the surrounding landscape, Oslo is an interesting place and will easily keep you occupied for a short-term stay (especially if you enjoy cross-country skiing!).

My favourite cafe is Supreme Roastworks, a small place with limited seating on a lively ‘hipster’ street in the city centre. The staff are super friendly and knowledgable. The coffee is excellent, as is the internet speed (if you can get a seat). Tim Wendelboe is equally good, but is very well-known in both the local region and internationally so it generally suffers from the same problem of being very busy. A trip to Oslo wouldn’t be complete without a shout-out to Fuglen, by far the best place in the city for a late coffee (or even a drink as they have an alcohol licence). It has a dark, comfortable and relaxing vibe, almost like a jazz bar. The coffee is great and you can normally find a seat (despite it being popular, it has plenty of tables).

Food-wise, I found Nordvegan (one of the most famous plant-based places) a real let-down. The service lacked a smile and the food was overpriced and quite average. It was essentially buffet food (mostly from a glass cabinet) that tasted like it had been sitting there all day (i.e. dry almost cold) which they were selling with ‘A La Carte’ pricing. Much better options are Funky Fresh Foods, and Tunco. Funky Fresh occupies a stunningly unique location as part of an art gallery next to the river. It really is worth seeing! The food is fresh and vibrant, with plenty of raw options too. Tunco, in the Gamle Aker area of the city, serves excellent noodle stir-fry bowls in a super calming, modern and positive space with lovely staff.

For a major city, Oslo is slightly lacking in good places to work from later in the day (aside from Fuglen) so most people use the various branches of Espresso House dotted across the city. These are generally popular and comfortable but being part of a chain are a bit less appealing. Internet can be quite variable depending on how busy each location gets.

An excellent destination if you’re keen to explore the outdoors which are easily within reach of the city, Oslo isn’t yet a favourite amongst the plant-based community or freelance workers despite having some co-working spaces, the best of which is arguably Mesh Coworking. It’s an expensive place to be based (especially if you aren’t earning in Krone) and likely partly as a consequence of this the locals seem to go out less (for coffee, dinner & drinks) than other European cities. This doesn’t go hand-in-hand with developing a digital nomad scene, but nevertheless Oslo is still a city worthy of a visit which will no doubt be enjoyable particularly if you appreciate the outdoors!