Vigeland Sculpture Park is Oslo’s top most tourist attraction receiving more than one million visitors annually. Easily accessible for Oslo city centre, it is the largest sculpture park in the world by a single artist Gustav Vigeland. With more than 200 statues to look at, the entrance to Vigeland Sculpture Park is free, and it is open all year round, making it a must-visit attraction in Oslo.
Oslo is a gleaming Scandinavian city full of beautiful museums, palace and fortress. The city is also filled with myriad outdoor sculptures all over. But if you have time for visiting only one attraction, choose Vigeland Sculpture Park (Vigelandsparken) without a doubt.
Vigeland Sculpture Park is world’s largest sculpture park made by a single artist. It is also one of the top most tourist attraction in Oslo, with as many as one million people visiting this attraction annually. That’s enough of a testimony to how beautiful the entire park is. Entrance to the park is free, and it is open all through the year.
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How to get to Vigeland Sculpture Park
Vigeland is located within Frogner Park, a public park located in the west end borough of Frogner in Oslo. It is the largest park in Oslo covering over 45 hectares. Best way to reach Vigeland Sculpture Park is by taking Line 3 subway from Oslo Central Station. Alternatively, Blue Tram No 12 also stops near Vigeland Park. Oslo city centre to Vigeland Park is 2 miles, and you can also choose to walk or bike, if the weather is good.
What’s inside Gustav’s Vigeland Sculpture Park
Vigeland Sculpture Park is an open exhibition that showcases the amazing work of Gustav Vigeland, a Norwegian sculptor in a 80 acre area within the Frogner Park. There are about 212 granite and bronze statues he created over 2 decades. He also designed the architectural setting and landscape of the entire park. The sculptures are placed on a 850 metre long axis which is then divided into 5 main units: Main Entrance, The Bridge (with children’s playground), The Fountain, The Monolith Plateau and The Wheel of Life.
The statues are raw and naked figures. As bizarre as they may look, the statues of Vigeland sculpture park depict human condition from birth to death. The statues has men, women and children (baby, toddler, adult) portrayed in different ages with varied emotions. If you notice closely on each of these statues, there’s a lot of emotions – fear, joy, anguish, anger, revenge; and each of these statues tell a story about life.
Main Entrance
The main gate is made of granite and wrought iron marks the beginning of 850 metre long axis that leads to rest of the units (as mentioned above). The main gate consists of five large gates and two pedestrian gates were designed in 1926.
The Bridge
The bridge is 100 metres long and 15 metres wide and was originally built on 1914. Gustav later re-designed the bridge between 1925-1933 and added his signature of 58 sculptures that are made of bronze. These sculptures include a variety of emotions rendered by children, men and women and their relationships. The most famous among these statues is Sinnataggen – the little angry boy statue. There is a children’s plahground below the bridge with a granite column of unborn child statue in the centre and many other children statues surrounding it.
The Fountain
It was in 1924 the location for the fountain was finalised. Surrounded with 20 tree groups on the sides, the centre of the fountain depicts six people carrying a large vessel. If you notice closely, the tree groups contains figure of a man depicting his life from cradle to grave.
The Monolith
The most captivating part of the park is the Monolith, a 46 ft high imposing column located at the highest point of the park. The Monolith contains 121 colossal human figures braided together carved out of a single piece of stone. The Monolith is surrounded by various 36 granite statues that depict cycle of life. It took 10 months for Gustav to do the design, 3 stone carvers and 14 years to finish this masterpiece.
Wheel Of Life
Wheel of life, located west from Monolith is actually a sundial. The wheel is said to be the symbol of eternity and it depicts garland of women, children and men holding on to each other.
The Vigeland Museum
With one that one million visitors visiting the Vigeland Sculpture Park, there’s only a few percent of these visitors who make it to Vigeland Museum. Located south of the park, the museum houses Gustav’s early work.
Attractions Around Vigeland Sculpture Park
While you are visiting Vigeland Sculpture Park, you may want to look at these other attractions that are around, and nearby (within the walking distance).
EXPLORE FROGNER PARK
This is a convenient choice for those who visit Vigeland Park. Frogner Park itself is so huge with nice walking path and beautiful lake in the centre.
THE SKATING MUSEUM
This is the only skating museum in Norway and houses historic photos, equipments, medals and prizes of some of the famous Norwegian speed skaters like Axel Poulsen, Oscar Mathisen, Ivar Ballangrud.
OSLO CITY MUSEUM
Located in Frogner Manor inside Frogner Park, Oslo City Museum houses interesting facts about the history of Oslo in the form of paintings, photographs and models. The art collections include as many as 1000 paintings and 6000 random art stuff. Free entry on First Saturday of the month, or with Oslo pass.
SKOYENPARKEN
This lovely park is located in Skoyen neighbourhood lying adjacent to Skøyen Manor. Although this is a private park, a large outer part of the land is open for public access. The park is surrounded with elm and oak trees with lovely walking path. Great for walks and picnics.
Here’s our recommended tours if you are spending more time in Oslo.
Practical Information
Vigeland Sculpture Park is free to enter and is open all through the yer, all day long. However, Vigeland Museum is open only from Tuesday – Sunday (Closed on Mondays). Do note, there is an entrance fee for this museum.
There are no toilet facilities inside the park and in the museum.
Vigeland Park is accessible for wheelchair and buggy users.
Allow minimum of one hour and a maximum of two hours to explore the Vigeland Sculpture park and museum.
Where To Stay
Frogner is a great choice if you are looking for accommodation, and there are many apartments around here. If you are looking for hotel chains, they are located in and around Oslo City Centre, and could be 1.5 miles away from here. Browse through our recommended best hotels in Oslo.
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This article is now available as a mobile app. Go to GPSmyCity to download the app for GPS-assisted travel directions to the attractions featured in this article.
Renuka
Nice pictures! The sculptures look a bit funny, but the park looks pretty.
Country Hopping Couple
Thanks Renu. Yes, the sculptures may look a bit bizarre for few of them 🙂
Krishna/കൃഷ്ണ
Nice photos…
thanks
Country Hopping Couple
Thanks Krishna!
Agness Walewinder
I was there 2 years ago in December and I loved this park. I was taken there by a fellow travel blogger. Never heard of it before, but I absolutely loved it. I can just imagine how stunning it is to stay there for an hour or two in summer!
Country Hopping Couple
Exactly Agness. I wanted to visit the park in summer too. That must be crowded, people will be barbequing and relaxing there 🙂
R Niranjan Das
Quirky sculptures.
Country Hopping Couple
ha 🙂
Avada Kedavra
the statues are bizarre actually. Pretty weird they are.
Country Hopping Couple
🙂 ha ha Ash!
Indrani
OMG! These are mind blowing captures!
Country Hopping Couple
Thanks Indrani!
Cathy
I am dying to go here! But glad I read this first! Hopefully I get to go soon! And I love your photos! So beautiful!! 🙂
Erin
I’ve never been to Oslo, or even Norway! But I hope to visit one day soon. I love that this park is free to visit, and the statues are so interesting. I love the monolith one. Definitely adding this to my Oslo bucket list. Thanks for this great guide!
Florin Suciu
oh my God, those statues seem so surreal. I’m in love with Norway and Oslo and I’m actually searching for a job there, it’s such a magical place to be. Thank you for this awesome article! 🙂
Francesca
I loved visiting the Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo. It was so weird but also super interesting sculptures. The one with 121 bodies intertwined is so fascinating.
Carol Colborn
We were so happy to have had the chance to visit Vigeland when we went to Odlo in 2914. Truly amazing as exemplified by the Monolith.
Kelly
I am not a fan of museums, simply because I would rather be outdoors, so this “museum” would be perfect for me. It is so beautiful and I love how each of the figures depict life from birth to death, as well as the different emotions. So creative and very talented!
Patti
Wow! I’ve always seen photos of individual sculptures from here but I never knew it was an entire park just full of them!!! That is incredible!
Sarah
What a unique place to visit! I love the outdoor setting and I don’t think these sculptures (in general) get enough appreciation! The monolith is quite impressive – I believe it took 14 years to carve, my goodness! Very impressive!
Kelly
This seems like such a unique spot to visit! I can’t believe how many sculptures there are and it seems like such a pretty spot to wander around. Will add this to my list whenever I can visit Oslo 🙂
Nicole
Great free thing to do. I’ve only been to Oslo once for a day and it was lovely. I was very tired when I visited so didn’t fully explore as much as I’d like. Will have to head here on my next visit.
Angelynntey
I didn’t go Oslo before! Hopefully I can visit next time! It’s really beautiful! I’m a person that loves to go park, I want to visit the park there next time! This gonna be my bucket list when I visit Oslo! Thank you for your article!
Georgina
Quite a history of Gustav’s sculptures and will definitely visit as it is Free. I haven’t visited Oslo but might do so this winter as the world opens up again. Thank you for sharing this info and other Free things to do in Oslo. Very helpful.
Katherine
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many sculptures in one place before! What an interesting garden to visit, I’ll have to put it on my bucket list for when we finally get to Oslo.
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Krista
I loved visiting this sculpture park on my trip to Oslo. Great photos you’ve captured of the various sculptures!
Ophelie
I have never seen all those sculptures before! They look really amazing and original! I will make sure to visit this place the day I will be able to go to Oslo!
Ophelie recently posted…An Indispensable Travel Guide to the Amalfi Coast
Stuart Forster
I’ve never been to Oslo though I was on my way to Norway when things locked down. The pillar of naked bodies on that pillar remind me of Spencer Tunick photos in a 3-D form.