Shopping
Opening hours
Shopping centres and large supermarkets often close at 8 or 9 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturdays. Other shops in Oslo open at 10 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. On Saturdays opening hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Sundays most shops are closed, but some souvenir shops, petrol stations and convenience stores are open. On Thursdays many shops have extended opening hours.
The first Saturday of every month is "Super Saturday". Shops in the city centre are open until 07.00 p.m. or later, often with special bargains.
Most shops and restaurants accept most common credit cards such as VISA, MASTERCARD and EUROCARD.
Prices
To give you an idea of living expenses in Norway, we have made a list of some of the most common groceries and a few other price-examples:
- Milk: NOK 10 per litre
- Bread: NOK 6-15
- Butter: NOK 10 per 250 gram
- Cheese: NOK 70-120 per kilo
- Lamb: NOK 60-80 per kilo
- Pork: NOK 60-100 per kilo
- Grilled chicken: NOK 40-50
- Egg (dozen): NOK 20
- Rice: NOK 15-25 per kilo
- Cigarettes: NOK 55-60 for a packet of 20
- Beer NOK 14 per bottle
- Newspapers: NOK 15
- Cinema: NOK 80-
Groceries
Best prices on fruit, vegetables, meet, rice and pasta are found in immigrant shops in Torggata, Grønland and Grunerløkka. Dairy-products, canned and frozen food, and a range of fish products are relatively cheap in supermarkets.
Alcohol
Wine and spirits can only be bought in special state-owned shops, Vinmonopolet, (a speciality of Norway, Sweden and Finland) and the prices can be frightening. The cheapest wine costs about NOK 70, and the cheapest brandies, whiskies, vodkas etc. start at about NOK 200 a bottle.
Eating out
It is rather expensive to dine in restaurants, but there are a number of small cafeterias, including the Oslo College cafeterias, offering meals at reasonable prices. A main course in a restaurant will start at around NOK 100. A bottle of wine will cost from NOK 180. A beer (1/2 litre) will normally cost from NOK 50, although there are pubs where a glass of beer can be bought for about NOK 35.