Internasjonalen has been at the corner of Youngstorget since 1997, which in Oslo bar terms makes it ancient. The square itself is the symbolic heart of the Norwegian labour movement, and the bar has absorbed that heritage into its DNA without any of the museums-and-mission-statements approach that would kill it stone dead. It is big, it is loud on weekend nights, and a pint of craft beer costs around 89 NOK, which is as close to affordable as Oslo gets.
The live music programme runs across genres but leans toward indie, folk, jazz, and politically literate hip-hop. Events are announced with short notice and tickets are cheap or free. DJs take over after midnight on Thursdays through Saturdays and the building, which runs to several floors, fills up with a crowd that runs from art school students in their twenties to sixty-year-old journalists who have been coming here since the nineties. That mix is the bar's greatest achievement, and something Oslo's newer, more curated bars can't easily replicate.
We recommend Internasjonalen specifically for visitors who want to drink where Oslo actually drinks. Spend a weeknight here during a good live set, nurse a craft lager and a Somersby, and you will understand more about this city than any amount of guidebook reading. The bar doesn't care who you are. That is, in Oslo's often performance-conscious bar scene, genuinely unusual.
Rotating Norwegian craft breweries on draught. Whatever is fresh and Norwegian, that is the move. Around 89–109 NOK for a half litre. Honest drinking.
A simple gin and tonic or vodka soda made with Norwegian spirits. Generous pours, reasonable prices. Designed for a night that might go long.
The most Norwegian thing you can do in a Norwegian bar. Ask for the house aquavit, pay around 65 NOK, and do as the table next to you is doing.
Nearby in Oslo: Gamla.