Just spent 3 days in Oslo, had a great time so I thought I'd put down a few observations for anyone else thinking of going .... or has booked to go.

Airport to town, quite a distance, as we were arriving after midnight I'd booked a taxi with NorgesTaxi (googled the number along with a few others) At 990 Norwegian Kroner (about £99, nearly 200 dollars !!) it was considerably cheaper than the rest. (Hint : this is an expensive town) but there are cheaper options if there's only one or two of you, bus = 130 NOK, local train = 140 NOK or express train = 160 NOK. (We're talking one way here)

The Oslo Pass = an absolute must. We had 48 hours = 320 NOK. (£32, about 60 dollars) There are so many benefits to having one that you'd be a mug not to. Apparently Oslo were the first city to experiment with this concept and it's gone down really well with 70 other cities since. You get to use all the buses, trams, metro and commuter ferries/boats PLUS the ticket can be used as far as Lillestrom on local trains. This means you can get back part of the way to the main airport and just pay the balance from Lillestrom - airport. We paid 62 NOK. (£6, $12)

The other main advantage is you get to visit all the main attractions free, here's nine we did : (the first 3 are reachable by the harbour ferry to Bygdor, for no. 2 and 3 you take a bus from the Fram boat)

1. Fram boat = Admusen's boat from the first trek to the South Pole, still intact, you can walk all over it and underneath deck, very good.

2. Viking boats = they were found buried with their owners, great photos.

3. Folk village = medieval log cabins found at various points in Norway and re-assembled here plus more recent buildings, guides in national costumes, etc.

4. Ski museum and ski jump = up in the hills, about to be re-built in time for the 2011 World Championships. You get a lift part of the way to the top of the tower then walk the rest, breathtaking views of city.

5. National soccer stadium = the guide who showed us around seemed to know more about English soccer than us, he says Norwegians have an obsession with the game played in England ! Dressing rooms, the King's chair where he hands over the cup on cup final day. Soccer museum here on a par with the Liverpool and Man. United ones I've visited.

6. Munch museum = the colours on 'The Scream' look a bit faded comaped to the posters / photos of it, perhaps the time it was stolen has not done it any favours - they allow you to be photographed with it but without flash. A well set out museum with the right atmosphere.

The last 3 we zoomed through at breakneck speed on our final morning

7. Nobel Peace Centre = you need an hour.

8. Resistance Museum = inside the castle grounds, they seem to really appreciate the role of their UK / American allies in the war.

9. The castle itself, imposing.

You need to be OK with reading transport maps but locals are friendly, polite and all speak English. When you leave your bus/tram/train there are not always great signposts to the various attractions so you might need to do a bit of asking. If you drink beer this is perhaps not the place for you ! 0.4 litre glass of beer ranged from about 40 - 60 NOK. Call it £5 for a glass of beer which is not even a pint ! However the sights and generally positive atmosphere easily make up for that. With your Oslo Pass you get 10 % off TGI Friday's food which we went to as , at least you know what you're getting but generally food seemed to be slightly more expensive than London, Paris, Amsterdam, etc. but not THAT much more.

Two tips other posters gave previously which I did not really agree with were the area known as Grünerløkka and Fyret Mat & Drikke (translates : The Lighthouse Food & Drink) at Youngstorget. We visited both these places on the advice of fellow - posters but couldn't really see the benfits at all. The first is supposedly an up-and-coming area , trendy, bohemian, that sort of thing but it's in a kind of run-down part of town and other than lots of young(ish) sitting outside bars + one or two restaurants I couldn't see the point of tempting tourists a couple of miles away from the 'centre' for no good reason. (just a personal opinion of course) Aker Brigge (by the harbour) is a far more interesting, cordial, lively location to spend evenings. The second place mentioned, Fyret Mat & Drikke, was quite difficult to locate and was merely somewhere to have a snack really. OK if you're on a budget (maybe students, backpackers etc.) but once you are of a certain age and dressed OK then it wouldn't be for you !!!

We stayed at the Best Western West hotel which, as you can imagine, is on the West side of town in quite an affluent suburb but if you can get a room for half of the advertised 1500 NOK per night (like we did on a booking agency site) then do so because it was exceptionally good value. If you're young at heart, we came across a bit of a 'happening' bar round the corner from this hotel, near to the American Embassy and right by Winston Churchill's statue, Podium bar has a DJ weekends playing retro soul / dance music mainly 60's / 70's / 80's and at about 10 p.m. the local well-dressed set go there to dance. Free to get in.

So there you have it, Oslo in a nutshell, not everyone will agree with my tips but it's well worth a visit, try and take a fat wallet with you though !!