Christmas in Oslo: Jul i Vinterland, the Folk Museum’s market and a Norwegian Christmas table

The Christmas markets

Jul i Vinterland, in Spikersuppa in the city centre, is by far the largest market and the only one in central Oslo open all week: from 7 November 2026 every day until 3 January, except Christmas Eve, VisitOSLO records. Its little streets sell gifts, food and clothes, the stalls serve everything from Norwegian doughnuts and roasted almonds to churros, and its Ferris wheel looks out over the decorated city.

The traditional market at the Norsk Folkemuseum on Bygdøy, among the old wooden buildings of the open-air museum, is beloved for its old-fashioned feel and runs on the first two weekends of December. Most other markets are held at weekends in November and December.

Norsk Folkemuseum →

Glass, Father Christmas and the fjord

Hadeland Glassverk, a historic glassworks an hour north of Oslo, begins its Christmas celebrations at the end of October, with a market and seasonal activities. Drøbak, half an hour south on the fjord, is Father Christmas’s postal address in Norway: on its square, Tregaarden’s Christmas House has Norway’s biggest permanent Christmas exhibition and Santa’s Post Office its own stamp, VisitOSLO records.

Drøbak and Oscarsborg →

Advent, julebord and the big night

Through Advent, companies and groups of friends hold their julebord, the pre-Christmas party, and fill the restaurants and clubs at weekends. On 23 December, Little Christmas Eve, many families decorate the tree, build a gingerbread house or eat rice porridge with a hidden almond. Christmas Eve, 24 December, is the main event: at five o’clock the church bells ring in Christmas, and most families sit down to the great meal and open their presents, as VisitOSLO describes.

Between Christmas and New Year many museums open again from 27 to 30 December, among them MUNCH, the National Museum and the museums of Bygdøy; check each one’s own hours.

Julaften: ribbe or pinnekjøtt

In Norway the great meal is on Christmas Eve, julaften, and the country divides over the main course. Ribbe, roasted pork belly with crisp crackling, is served with Christmas sausages, meatballs, sauerkraut, boiled potatoes and gravy, as Visit Norway describes it; Store norske leksikon says it is most firmly rooted where grain is grown, and that about half of Norwegians eat it on Christmas Eve.

Pinnekjøtt, salted, dried and sometimes smoked lamb ribs, is steamed over birch sticks, the pinner that give it its name, and comes with potatoes and mashed rutabaga. It began on the west coast and spread north to Trøndelag; about four in ten Norwegians choose it, Store norske leksikon records.

Lutefisk: the oldest tradition

Lutefisk is stockfish, dried cod, soaked in water and lye and then baked: a jelly-like dish that not everyone loves, but which Visit Norway calls Norway’s longest-standing Christmas tradition, going back to the 15th century. It is usually served with bacon and potatoes, and its side dishes change from region to region.

Rice porridge, riskrem and cloudberries

On 23 December, Little Christmas Eve, many families eat risengrynsgrøt, hot rice porridge with sugar, cinnamon and butter. An almond is hidden in the pot, and whoever finds it wins a marzipan pig, as VisitOSLO and Matprat describe. What is left of the porridge becomes riskrem, rice cream folded with whipped cream and served with a red berry sauce, one of the most widespread Christmas desserts. Multekrem, cloudberries in whipped cream, is the most prized of all, in the words of Store norske leksikon.

Tradition also asks for seven kinds of homemade Christmas biscuits, among them krumkaker, goro and berlinerkranser.

Juleøl and aquavit

Juleøl, Christmas beer, has deep historical roots, says Store norske leksikon, and every brewery makes one for the season. With the rich food comes aquavit, a potato-based spirit flavoured with caraway, anise, dill, fennel and coriander, in Visit Norway’s words. Linie Aquavit is matured in Oloroso sherry casks on a long sea voyage that crosses the equator, the Line, twice, as its maker describes.

Our advice: wine and spirits are sold in shops only at Vinmonopolet, so check its Christmas opening hours and buy your aquavit in good time.

Many restaurants serve Christmas menus in November and December, VisitOSLO notes: book early, as the julebord parties fill the city.

New Year’s Eve

The City of Oslo no longer puts on a fireworks display on New Year’s Eve, and private fireworks are banned in the city centre. Fireworks are let off beyond it, and VisitOSLO suggests Aker Brygge and Tjuvholmen, Ekebergsletta, Grefsenkollen or Holmenkollen to watch them. Wear crampons on the icy ground: pharmacies sell them.

Further north: Christmas in Lapland

For reindeer, huskies and Father Christmas himself, our Helsinki guide covers Lapland at Christmas across Finland, Sweden and Norway.

Christmas in Lapland (ULTIMATE Helsinki) →

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