HOME > Featured City > Norway/oslo-Drobak-City Plofile

Drive 30 minutes southward from Norway’s capital Oslo, and you will reach Drobak. This town, located to the east of the Fjord Coastline, has been officially recognized by the national government as the hometown of Santa Claus. In this beautiful town, with a population of some 3,000, the streets are lined with well-preserved old wooden houses. Drobak, “a Christmas town,” is renowned as a place celebrating Christmas year-round, even in summer. The entire town is beautifully lit up on Christmas day. Julehus (Christmas House) sells Christmas and Santa goods at all times of the year. The Santa Claus Post Office is a large establishment in the town, handling annually as many as 300,000 letters from around the world, all of which are addressed to Santa Claus. Santa Claus replies to letters sent to him in care of this post office. Drobak is the only town in Norway that has a traffic sign indicating “Danger / Beware of Nisses.” Nisse, who resides in houses, is the guardian god of fertility and prosperity. This mischievous nymph appears in North European folklore, and lives in the attic and barn to protect the house and family. On the Christmas Eve, Norwegian children have a special rice porridge called joulpuuro, waiting for Nisses to come on a horse’s or pig’s back with presents for them. When Nisse grows old over a long period of time, he becomes a bearded old man dressed in a gray suit, black clogs, a red hood, and stockings. This old Nisse has come to be called Julnisse (Christmas Nisse). His appearance significantly resembles that of Santa Claus. Watch carefully if you find a Nisse warning sign. You may find Nisses delivering presents to children. During the Christmas season, a world-famous Christmas tree (The World Linking Tree), that symbolizes love, peace, and friendship, is delivered annually from Norway to major cities worldwide. The World-Linking Tree originated as a fir tree sent by the citizens of Oslo to London in 1947 as a token of their gratitude to the British people for their help during World War II. Annually, the tree sent from Norway is lit up in Trafalgar Square, London. Queen Elizabeth also attends this internationally recognized ceremony Of Norway’s international airports, Oslo Airport has the largest number of routes as well as departing and arriving flights. No direct flight is available between Japan and Oslo, but it is convenient to go there by way of Copenhagen or Helsinki in Northern Europe. Another possibility is changing planes in other cities in Europe. It is about12 hours from Japan to Oslo by way of Helsinki or Copenhagen. International trains are in operation between Oslo and Copenhagen, Stockholm and Gothenburg. A long train journey by way of European cities is also worth experiencing. It is convenient to travel within Oslo by tram and subway. With Oslo Card, you can ride buses, trams, and subways, and use other means of public transportation free of charge. Convenient day tickets (180Nkr) and 48-hour tickets (270KNr) are available. In Oslo, traffic flows smoothly and rarely gets heavy. The taxi fares are relatively high but promise a comfortable ride. Extra charges are added to taxi fares on Saturdays (after 5:00 p.m.) and Sundays (all day).