HI Oslo Haraldsheim
HI Oslo's flagship — the no-drama Nordic hostel where breakfast, board games, and the BBQ garden seal the deal
Oslo's classic Hostelling International outpost, a 2.5 mi tram ride from the centre, set in green Grefsen with a fully equipped guest kitchen, garden BBQ, library, and breakfast included. The reliable budget pick.
HI Oslo Haraldsheim is the city's longest-running hostel and still the most reliable budget option close to the centre. It sits on Haraldsheimveien, surrounded by the green hills of Grefsen, with the tram stop a short downhill walk away. Twenty minutes door-to-door to Karl Johans gate, but the moment you step out of the tram you're in a different Oslo — quieter, leafier, and noticeably cheaper.
The building itself is classic mid-century Norwegian boarding-school architecture: timber, parquet floors, big windows, simple décor. Rooms are functional and clean rather than designed, and bathrooms are mostly down the corridor. What earns the loyal repeat custom is everything around the rooms: a vast guest kitchen with multiple stoves, a garden with BBQ pits, a library and TV lounge with shelves of board games, and a continental-Nordic breakfast that's rare in budget Oslo.
It's an HI hostel, so you can use your Hostelling International membership for a discount. The crowd is genuinely mixed — backpackers, school groups, cycling tourists, retirees doing the Oslo-Bergen rail trip — which makes the common areas more interesting than your typical 18-30 party hostel.
Grefsen itself rewards a wander: the Grefsenkollen view ridge is a 30-minute uphill hike behind the hostel, with one of the best free panoramas of Oslo and the fjord. Bring proper shoes — it's a real hill.
- 01Continental breakfast is included in the rate — properly rare in Oslo and a daily 150-NOK saving on its own.
- 02Garden BBQ in summer turns into the best free social scene in budget Oslo — buy meat at the supermarket, grill, eat under the long-day sun.
- 03Massive guest kitchen with multiple stoves means you actually cook here without queuing for a hob.
- 04Grefsenkollen viewpoint hike starts behind the hostel — 30 uphill minutes for a free panorama of Oslo and the fjord.
- 05The mixed crowd (backpackers, families, cyclists, retirees) makes the common rooms feel less monoculture and more interesting.
- Breakfast included
- Garden BBQ
- Huge guest kitchen
- Board games + library
“Location very well connected, good facilities. The included breakfast is a huge plus in expensive Oslo and the staff were genuinely warm.”
“Breakfast was really good, proper Nordic housing architecture, peaceful surroundings. Easy tram into the centre.”
“Everything was so clean and everybody so kind. Great communal areas and the kitchen has space for everyone.”
- Sinsenkrysset tram stop (line 17)10 min walk
- Grefsenkollen viewpoint trail30 min uphill walk
- Sinsen metro station12 min walk
- Storo Storsenter (mall + supermarket)5 min by tram
- Carl Berners plass (Grünerløkka)10 min by tram
- Oslo S (central station)20 min by tram
