City guide
Fuglen defies easy categorisation. By day it operates as one of Oslo's finest specialty coffee shops. By night it transforms into a cocktail bar with a reputation that has extended to Tokyo, where a second location operates to equal acclaim. The 1950s Scandinavian design furniture is original and for sale. The cocktail list draws heavily on aquavit and Nordic spirits. Booking essential Thursday through Saturday. The Sunday afternoon crowd is the most interesting in the city.
Where to drink
Grünerløkka is Oslo's most compelling bar neighbourhood and runs with a creative energy that outlasted its gentrification by a decade. Thorvald Meyers gate concentrates bars end to end for six full blocks, ranging from c
The former shipyard on Oslo Fjord was redeveloped in the 1980s and has held its position as the city's most scenic drinking location ever since. The waterfront terrace bars fill from 4pm on Fridays through summer, catchi
Oslo's wealthy west side runs a quieter, more refined bar culture. Bogstadveien is the main shopping street but the parallel streets and side alleys hold a number of excellent wine bars and cocktail spots that draw a 30-
The fjord city development east of the opera house is Oslo's newest and most architecturally ambitious bar district. The Barcode row of tower blocks contains hotel bars with fjord views at multiple levels. The opera hous
Oslo's historical centre around Youngstorget square concentrates the city's most established bars alongside some of its most consistently underrated. The political drinking culture around the Storting parliament means so
The inner east neighbourhoods around Tøyen have developed a bar scene that mirrors Grünerløkka from five years ago. Low rents, a young creative population, and a genuine neighbourhood feeling attract bar openers who woul
Explore →Every bar in this guide was visited in person by a barsforKings editor. No bar is listed without a visit within the past 18 months, and every ranked bar is visited at least twice, on different nights, before it earns a place. This city is re-reviewed every 90 days, and each entry is approved by a named editor — never an algorithm and never a paid placement. Read our full methodology and editorial standards, or meet the editors behind the reviews.