Oslo or Tromsoe?

[kwiteaboy]

I've pretty much decided to attend graduate school in psychology in Norway, and am trying to decide between the University of Oslo and the University of Tromsoe. Tromsoe has more in the way of research that I'm interested in, but it also has more in the way of being several hundred km north of the Arctic Circle. Oslo is a more widely known university outside of Europe, so there would be slightly more prestige attached to a degree from there, and it's also in a larger city. I have a year to decide, but also won't be able to visit these unis for another few months, so I figured I'd get some advice on life in those cities from this board.

Any advice/info/stories would be greatly appreciated.

[poly800rock]

i know oslo is expensive, thats all i remember

[123ok]

Tromsø has alot less oppurtinites when it comes to shopping and all else known as urban life compared to the city Oslo. In Norway, I'd say Oslo is quite unique to Norway as it is the only city that has some sense of being a "big city". The next thing I guess is Bergen but Bergen is nothing compared to Oslo, fashion/shopping wise.

Tromsø is basically a typical big town of Norway, which means absolutley nothing special when it comes to fashion or shopping. This is maybe something you already know or don't care about since you are going either places to study so I won't go on rambling about shopping anymore.

I'd say if you go to tromsø you will get a spectacular year if you're into outdoor stuff. The outdoor life is pretty insane in tromsø and smaller places around tromsø. If you're into skiing, snowscooters, camping and whatnot cold crazy shit, the northern parts would probably be awesome..but as I guess you are there to study I bet you won't have the time to travel great distances as the distances up north can be quite far.

You will get 22 hours of complete darkness in the wintermonths though and 22 hours of light in the summermonths so be prepared haha.

The Norwegian army has alot of their camps around the tromsø area as well.

Be aware that flying from Tromsø will be MAD expensive!! Due to the far distance between Tromsø airport and Gardermoen (oslos airport, which basically is the center of all flight traffic in Norway) flying will be extremely pricey if you are thinking of flying around rest of Norway to check out other cities.

Many years since I was there last time now but I think Tromsø has a pretty decent nightlife though I am guessing alot of the various clientele might be armyboys and students.

And yes, it really IS cold up there.

If you have any questions, please ask and I'll try to answer them as well as I can. I can write a couple of words on Oslo if you want as well though I don't live there myself.

I'll try to remember more of tromsø until I get back though. Peace

[Kasper]

how long are you going to stay there?

i studied in Bergen for a semester and really liked it. the city is really pretty, outdoor activities are just crazy (i use to go jog in the mountain 4-5 times a week, was like 5 min to where i lived). however, after like 5 months, i kind of had the feeling i had seen every thing there was to be seen and i don't think i would have wanted to stay longer. i guess you will have the same feeling in Tronsoe, cause the city is smaller (i felt much smaller when i visited). also, i guess it would somewhat be hard to be without a car on the long term there. however, living in Tromsoe will be a unique experience that you are unlikely to repeat again.

Oslo is a really pretty city, so much green spaces, but it's a fairly small city overall (only like 1.5 millions or something). public transport is insanely good, especially for a city of this size (it really puts north american cities to shame really). shopping is not really good and SO OVERPRICED. when they were having sales, stuff at 50% off was often more expensive than Canada...cost of living in general is totally crazy (but i guess you already know that since you decided to go to Norway). 15$ for a meal at McDonald, 65$ for a bottle of vodka, 10$ for a beer, 18$ for a drink in a restaurant or bar, 14$ for a pack of cigarette. Rent is Oslo is also really expensive (although i wouldn't be able to compare to Tromsoe, but i guess there is a big difference). it's also much easier from Oslo to travel around (with low-fare carrier nowadays, you're often only like 60$ away from the beaches of southern europe when you get tired of the cold and want to restock on duty-free alcool/cigarettes).

for me the deal breaker would be how long i would stay there. for less than a year, i would probably choose Tromsoe, but for longuer, i'd go to Oslo. hope you have a good stay.

[kwiteaboy]

Thanks, guys. That's a lot of information that I really appreciate.

I'll be there at least two years, plus 3-5 if I decide to get my PhD there instead of in the States. I've heard great things about Tromsoe's bars/clubs, but it's also like 250km from the nearest train station if I needed to go to Oslo or anything. Like you said, living in Tromsoe is an experience I'd never be able to have again, probably, but I guess I'm trying to decide if I want that experience for 2+ years.

[123ok]

Oslo can't even be compared to Bergen when it comes to prettiness. I'd say Bergen is the most beautiful city of the big ones of Norway bar none. Tromsø is a very pretty city as well. Alot nicer than Oslo atleast..

Actually, nearest train station from tromsø would probably be in Rovaniemi, Finland...

I am just going to point out to you that the tromsø experiences doesn't neccessarily need to be all positive. I believe that you will get problem trying to adapt to the 22 hours of complete darkness and later on 22 hours of light. The cold weather will eventually loose it's "freshness" and so on..

But, yes, like the other poster said, Tromsø is alot cheaper than Oslo when it comes to rent. You will save a couple of thousand NOK's every month on houserent compared to living in Oslo.

Oslo on the other hand will give you many more options when it comes to nightlife and other activities as shopping and sports etc. though i'd say Oslo is a much more "grey city" than Tromsø.. It's kinda metropol city vs. small town city..

if you're not too keen on the big city thing but still not ready for the artic challenge, then bergen actually might be a good option for you as it's norways second largest city but it's still quite small. And the city itself is actually very beautiful and bergen has the best music scene when it comes to elektro if you're into that.. Rock is pretty solid too I think. The scenes are quite small in bergen though so maybe you bump into røyksopp in the beer queue.

[poly800rock]

i'd completely agree that bergen is more beautiful than oslo....