Behind the huge steel doors of this bi-level space, you'll find subdued concrete walls, barren sandstone floors, and unembellished steel-and-smoked-wood stairways. In other words, there's nothing to detract from the art displayed. And with good reason: The museum's excellent postwar collection includes works by Francis Bacon, Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Felix Gonzales-Torres, and Jeff Koons. If you speak the native tongue, guided tours are available in Norwegian every Sunday at 1 pm; otherwise a tour in English can be booked for $165 (call at least three days in advance). Admission is free.

Open Tuesdays through Fridays 11 am to 5 pm, Thursdays 11 am to 7 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 12 to 5 pm.

In 1897, Edvard Munch bought this quaint fisherman's cottage in the seaside village of Aasgårdstrand to use as both home and studio. The restless bohemian artist inhabited many places during his life, but noted in his diary that this was "the only pleasant house that I have lived in." Today, Munch's former studio has been renovated and is used as a gallery for a number of his works, including Girls on the Jetty, The Dance of Life, Melancholy, and The Fairy Tale Forest.

Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 am to 6 pm May through September; Tuesdays through Sundays 11 am to 6 pm June through August.

Only 20 minutes from Oslo's city center, Holmenkollen is an outdoor-sports mecca with downhill skiing, snowboarding, cycling, fishing, hiking, and miles of magnificent cross-country trails in and around the Marka Forest. The main attraction, however, isn't natural: It's the 197-foot ski jump. Visitors come year-round to explore the ski museum, experience the sensation of hurtling down and off the ramp in the ski simulator, and take in the spectacular view from the jump's tower. That stunning vista, of the city and the fjord, can also be had from a table at the Holmenkollen Restaurant (119 Holmenkollenveien; 47-22-13-92-00; www.holmenkollen-restaurant.oslo.no).

Note: The Holmenkollen ski jump will be torn down in summer 2008 and replaced by a new launch in time for the World Championship tryouts in 2010.

When the weather gets hot in July and August, rent a car and escape to this Oslofjords island for sunning and swimming with the locals. Once inhabited by monks, Hovedøya is home to the ruins of a 12th-century Cistercian monastery, which burned down in 1532. In summertime, you might catch a medieval music performance beside the ruins. Be sure to take a leisurely walk inland to see the abundance of rare plants and flowers in this protected area; the flora includes mountain clover, wind flower, and blackthorn and barberry bushes.

Upon his death in 1944, Edvard Munch left his remaining artwork to the city of Oslo, and this museum was built in 1963 to house his 1,100 paintings, 4,500 drawings, and 18,000 prints. The collection includes all of Munch's most famous paintings, including The Scream, Vampire, Madonna, and The Sick Child, as well as woodcuts, lithographs, and photographs. The gift shop offers all the Munch souvenirs you could imagine—from alarm clocks and bars of soap emblazoned with The Scream to cuff links featuring the Madonna motif. In July and August, public guided tours are held in English daily at 1 pm; private tours can be arranged by calling 47-23-49-35-00 or e-mailing trine.nielsen@munch.museum.no.

Open Tuesdays through Fridays 10 am to 4 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 11 am to 5 pm, September through May; daily 10 am to 6 pm June through August.

The highlights of this streamlined museum include three Viking ships, at once graceful and fierce, that once stormed the seas but were later used as burial ships for chieftains and prominent women. Artifacts found in the burial plots—or at least those that weren't pilfered by grave robbers—are also on display. Nearby, there are a number of cafés, a cluster of beaches, and other museums, such as the the Norwegian Folk Museum (10 Museumsveien; 47-22-12-37-00; www.norskfolkemuseum.no), the Maritime Museum (37 Bygdøynesveien; 47-24-11-41-50; www.norsk-sjofartsmuseum.no), and the Fram Museum, with boats and artifacts from the polar explorers (36 Bygdøynesveien; 47-23-28-29-50; www.fram.museum.no/en).

Open daily 11 am to 4 pm October through April; 9 am to 6 pm May through September.