Oslo, Norway

Oslo, Norway's capital at the head of a long blue fjord and ringed by forested hills, has transformed in recent years into one of Europe's most rewarding small capitals — a place where striking contemporary architecture meets deep history, and where nature is never more than minutes away. The waterfront leads the way: the white marble Oslo Opera House rises from the harbour like an iceberg, its sloping roof a public plaza you can walk to the top of, and beside it stand the new home of the Munch Museum — twelve storeys devoted to Edvard Munch, including versions of The Scream — and the Deichman library. A short walk west, the vast new National Museum gathers Norway's art treasures (another, earlier The Scream among them) under one roof. The city's other unmissable art is outdoors and free: Vigeland Sculpture Park, where more than 200 bronze and granite figures by Gustav Vigeland fill the green expanse of Frognerparken. Across the harbour on the leafy Bygdøy peninsula, a cluster of museums tells Norway's seafaring story — the Viking ships (in their renovated new museum), the polar exploration ship Fram, and Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki raft. The medieval Akershus Fortress guards the harbour, the main street Karl Johans gate leads up to the Royal Palace, and the modern waterfront quarters of Aker Brygge and Tjuvholmen (with the Astrup Fearnley contemporary-art museum) supply the dining and the harbour bathing. Above the city, the Holmenkollen ski jump and museum and the vast Nordmarka forest put hiking, swimming and cross-country skiing within a metro ride of downtown — and the fjord's islands are a short public ferry away. Oslo is a gateway to Norway's fjords and a worthy destination in itself, best enjoyed in the long, light summer (May to August) for harbour and island life, or in winter for skiing and a cosy, snowy city.