Frozen bay at Gressholmen

Gressholmen was the second island we visited on our recent island hop around Oslo fjord. The Northern area is a nature reserve and we later discovered this island was home to an airport from 1926 to 1938. There are some old photos here if you are interested.

The cafe is closed during the Winter but I can’t imagine a better place to sit and eat ice cream in the sun! But we probably wouldn’t have had the place to ourselves in warmer weather so there are bonuses to visiting in the Winter.

We started walking along tree lined trails and Scott spotted a frozen bay. Our plan was to catch the next boat and since we only had an hour there, we decided to explore the shoreline because it was unlike anything we had already seen.

Ice covered the whole bay, even the seaweed was frozen!

The ferry took us back to the mainland, where we fell into our favourite coffee shop for a well earned hot chocolate and kanelbullar (cinnamon bun).

Transport notes

• Ferry line B1 from Aker brygge (near Oslo City Hall)
• Tickets: Ruter app, paper ticket or Oslo pass
• We bought a 24 hour ticket (more info here)
• Ferries depart once an hour during the Winter
• Take food and drink in the Winter because the cafe is closed