Oslo

The oldest of the Scandinavian capital cities, Oslo (the name is made up from Às, a Norse word for God, and Lo, meaning field) was founded, according to the medieval Norse chronicler Snorre Sturlason, around 1048 by Harald Hardråde. Harald's son, Olav Kyrre, established a bishopric and built a cathedral here, though the kings of Norway continued to live in Bergen - an oddly inefficient division of church and state, considering the difficulty of communications between the two settlements. At the start of the fourteenth century, Håkon V rectified matters by moving to Oslo, where he built himself the Akershus fortress. The town boomed until 1349 when the bubonic plague wiped out almost half the population, initiating a period of slow decline whose pace accelerated after Norway came under Danish control in 1397. No more than a neglected backwater, Oslo's fortunes were ultimately revived by the Danish king Christian IV, who in 1624 moved Oslo lock, stock and barrel, shifting it west to its present site and re-christening it "Christiania". The new city prospered and by the nineteenth century, Christiania (indeed Norway as a whole) was clamouring for independence, which it finally achieved in 1905 - though the city didn't revert to its original name for another twenty years.

Today's city centre embodies the urban elegance of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: wide streets, dignified parks and gardens, solid buildings and long, consciously classical vistas combine to lend it a self-satisfied, respectable air. Oslo's biggest single draw is its museums, which cover a hugely varied and stimulating range of topics: the fabulous Viking Ships Museum, the Munch Museum, the park devoted to the bronze and granite sculptures of Gustav Vigeland, and the moving historical documents of the Resistance Museum are enough to keep even the most battle-weary museum-goer busy for a few days. There's also a decent outdoor life - Oslo is enlivened by a good range of parks, pavement cafés, street entertainers and festivals. In summer, when virtually the whole population lives outdoors, the city is a real delight. It's also worth visiting in winter, when its prime location amid hills and forests makes it a thriving and affordable ski centre.