Oslo, the capital of Norway, was the second stop on my current month long journey around Europe. Going to Oslo was an obvious choice, as we were working our way through Scandinavia, it made sense to go to one of its capitals, and was also very easy to get to from Bergen, on Norway's west coast, where we'd made our first stop.

Getting to Oslo was relatively easy: we took an overnight train from Bergen, which since it was during the summer meant that it was slightly difficult to sleep as it didn't get very dark, though this did mean that we got to see the beautiful scenery of the Norwegian fjords as we wizzed across the country through the night. It really was a good way to see the countryside of Norway without actually going to stay there. If you're travelling from the UK, Oslo has a major airport so it shouldn't be too difficult to find a flight from an airport not too far from you, or you can get the ferry from Tyneside to Bergen like we did. When we tried to get a train to Stockholm, we were told that there is apparently only one each day, but I find that difficult to believe, so if you're in Sweden you could always get the train (or a bus) to Oslo.

Since we got an overnight train from Bergen, we arrived in Oslo at 6.30am very very tired, and with nothing to do since everything was still closed. We put our bags in lockers at the station (which cost about 40kroner i believe) and then went out to explore the city. Unfortunately, it was a very hot day that day, and although it was only early morning it was already heating up quite a lot. We ended up finding ourselves in the grounds of the palace, where I had a nice little sleep under a tree for a few hours. The palace itself was large and beautiful, and had important looking cars coming out of it all the time, and I was very impressed at how close we could get to the building. Imagine getting into the grounds of Buckingham Palace without having a corgi set on you! Not far from the palace was another large park where we sat in the cool next to a fountain, where there was a cafe that was too expensive for us.

Since we're students and travelling on a budget, it was important for us to find some cheap food while in Oslo. Unfortunately, Norway is notoriously expensive, and it was very difficult for us to find anything at a price that we wouldn't have to sell our belongings to afford (overexaggeration slightly, but you get the idea). My boyfriend had a Lonely Planet guidebook which recommended a volunteer run cafe which did open sandwiches for only 10 kroner (about 1.10 pounds sterling) which in such an expensive city was an offer we couldn't refuse. We eventually found it, inside what seemed to be a building site, and were told it opened at midday, so we had to find some shade for me to sit in while we waited for it to open. The cafe was called Cafe Blitz, which seems like a perfect name since it appeared as if a bomb had hit the exterior. Inside though it was very nice, if a bit studenty and basic (we loved it). We had a couple of open sandwiches each, along with some free water, and they were very nice and enough to keep us satisfied until teatime. The cafe had a bizarre atmosphere - there was music on, not a huge amount of space, and an aging rastafarian man sitting in the corner who just drank lots and lots of coffee. Needless to say we enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anyone who wants to get some food on the cheap in Norway's capital.

If you've read my Bergen review, you'll know that we found it very hard to find any restaurants or bars that did food for a reasonable price, and Oslo was the same, if not worse! If you want to go and have a night out and a meal in Oslo, you better save up for it or be well off, because at around 60 kroner for a beer, it's nowhere to go if you want a quick drink on the cheap. However, like Bergen, the town was covered in 7-Elevens, so you can always get a 29 kroner calzone or sandwich to eat on the go, if you're a bit strapped for cash like we were. For tea we went to the restaurant attached to our hostel, and shared a ham and mushroom pizza for 70 kroner, which was easily enough for both of us and worked out quite cheap between us. We still had to drink tapwater though, as the beer was still extortionate.

Our hostel itself was very nice: only a five minute walk from the station, a large guest kitchen, and even fridges in the rooms, although you have to share showers and toilets. It was called the Centrum Pensjonat, and I would recommend it if you want a cheap hostel near the station (about 30 pounds a night each for a private room), as long as you don't mind sharing facilities.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you a ridiculous amount more about the city of Oslo other than what I've already written, as we were only here for little over 24 hours, and the ridiculous heat and high costs meant that we couldn't properly enjoy the city at it's best (we spent the night watching comedy DVDs in the hostel). I will say though that it wasn't as nice as I expected: the buildings were quite dull and don't have any of the beauty that Bergen had, there was little visible scenery, and the high prices put a downer on our whole experience, as we couldn't even sample local food or beer without taking out a small loan. On passing by shops on the main streets, they were more reasonable prices, but still more than i would pay at home, so we didn't part with our money on any souveniers, entertainment or clothes. If the weather hadn't been so unbearable, I'm sure i would've enjoyed the city more, but so far after going to twelve cities in Europe this month, Oslo is the only one that I don't fancy coming back to. Yes the palace was nice, as were the parks (and the city seems to love its fountains), but it just wasn't enough to make me enjoy myself despite the heat.