Public Ferry or Sightseeing Cruise?
Said plainly, because it usually is not
If your reason for booking a fjord cruise is that you want to be out on the water, you do not need to book anything. Walk to Rådhusbrygge 4, get on the B1, and you are on the Oslofjord on the same ticket that gets you a tram. VisitOslo puts it as being able to get on and off any of the ferries with a regular public transport ticket or an Oslo Pass. The boats are ordinary public transport and they are not trying to sell you anything.
What a sightseeing cruise gives you that the ferry does not
This is the honest other half, and it is a real list rather than a consolation.
- A route chosen for what you see. The B1 goes where people need to be dropped off. A cruise runs a line past Akershus, the Opera House, Aker brygge and Tjuvholmen, the Bygdøy shore and Dyna lighthouse, because those are the things worth passing. The sightseeing route.
- Commentary. Recorded on most boats, and live on exactly one city cruise — the silent boat from Rådhusbrygge 2, in English only, 4.7 from about 2,079 reviews. The ferry tells you nothing at all.
- A heated saloon, a window seat and a bar. In March that is not a trivial difference.
- A guaranteed return to where you started. A cruise brings you back to the quay. A ferry leaves you on an island with a timetable to read.
- An hour where nobody is carrying shopping. The B1 in the late afternoon is commuting, and it feels like it.
Which one is actually right for you
Take the ferry if you want to land somewhere, if you have an afternoon rather than an hour, or if being on the fjord is itself the point. Take a cruise if you want the city explained while you look at it, if you want to sit somewhere warm with a window, or if you have ninety minutes and want them to be organised for you. Both are good afternoons. They are not the same afternoon. Hovedøya is the easiest ferry day; the ninety-minute cruise is the easiest cruise.
The two things leave from adjacent concrete. If you cannot decide, walk down to Rådhusbrygge 4 and look at both timetables before you spend anything.
We make nothing when you take the B1, and this is the page we would delete if this site were run for its commission. It stays because a guide that hides the option on your transit ticket is not a guide, it is an advert. If you do want to book a cruise afterwards, all six are here and the comparison table puts the quay in a column.
Frequently asked questions
Can you take a public ferry on the Oslofjord?
Yes. Ruter’s line B1, “Øyene”, runs from Rådhusbrygge 4 to Hovedøya, Lindøya, Gressholmen, Bleikøya and Nakholmen on an ordinary Ruter ticket, and line B2 adds Langøyene in summer. The islands.
Is the public ferry as good as a sightseeing cruise?
It is a different thing. The ferry puts you on the fjord and lands you on an island, with no commentary and a timetable built for residents. A cruise runs a route chosen for what you see, with a heated saloon, a bar and a guaranteed return to the quay you left. What a cruise route covers.