Affordable Europe: Oslo

Though Oslo has the dubious honor of being called one of the world's most expensive cities, it's possible to minimize the damage to your pocketbook while making the most of what the "Tiger City" (as it calls itself) has to offer.

Where to Eat Cheaply

The most reasonably priced places tend to be the Indian, Thai, and Vietnamese restaurants near Youngstorget, a downtown square, and in the immigrant neighborhoods of Gronland and Toyen. Perhaps the best and most conveniently located of these places (all of which are more or less shabby) is Saigon Lille Cafe, Mollergata 32C, (47-22-11-48-13, a family-run spot with excellent fare and generous portions, a rarity in Norway (chicken in sweet and sour sauce costs 69 kroner, about $10.50 at 6.6 kroner to the dollar. Want a good deal (by Oslo standards) on something rather more glamorous? Take in the Sunday prix-fixe jazz brunch at the Grand Hotel's Grand Cafe (Karl Johans Gate, 47-23-21-20-00), whose high windows face the Parliament. Served between noon and 4 p.m., the brunch will set you back 225 kroner a head — not bad for a splendid meal and a couple of hours of terrific live jazz at a great historic cafe.

Lodging for Under 100 Euros

Tucked away in a quiet corner of town that feels out of the way but that's only a five-minute stroll from Karl Johans Gate, the Thon Hotel Munch (Munchs ate 5, 47-23-21-96-00; www.thonhotels.no/munch), is comfortable and pleasant. Budget double rooms run from 750 kroner (about 97 euros or $114) a night.

Best Deal on a Cultural Event

The small candlelit multilevel Underwater Pub (Dalsbergstein 4; 47-22-46-05-26) offers a remarkable free bonus: live opera music performed by students from the Norwegian Academy of Music. There's no cover or minimum, and a glass of wine or a half-liter of beer goes for 46 kroner. The caliber of the performances, which begin at around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and 9:15 p.m. on Thursdays, is surprisingly high, the atmosphere at once serious and fun.

Best Things to Do Free

Spend the morning taking in the entire sweep of Norwegian art history at the National Gallery (Universitetsgata 13, 47-22-20-04-04; www.nasjonalmuseet.no), then amble through the charming upscale neighborhood of Frogner to Frogner Park. There, you can wander amid the extraordinary statues of nudes by Gustav Vigeland, who lived from 1869 to 1943 (www.museumsnett.no/vigelandmuseet). Walk back downtown along Hegdehausveien-Bogstadveien, the main drag of the Majorstuen district (the premier window-shopping street), and then through the Royal Palace Park. You'll get back to Karl Johans Gate just in time to pay seven bucks for a beer.

Best Money-Saving Tip

Skip restaurants altogether. Instead, grab a fresh calzone at Bit (Universitetsgata 20, facing the National Gallery) or a sandwich at Deli DeLuca (Karl Johans Gate 33) and scarf it down in Eidsvoll Plass, the strip of park between the Parliament and National Theater. Or pick up a single-use grill at a grocery store and barbecue burgers on the beach at Huk (a 13-minute ride on the No. 30 bus from the National Theater), on one of the islands in the Oslo Fjord (a 10-minute ferry ride from Vippetangen), or beside the picturesque brook in St. Hanshaugen Park.

(πηγή: www.iht.com, 23/4/2007)