The openness itself
You come within metres of the king's residence with no barrier and no search.
Geir Hval (www.MacWhale.eu) โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Geir Hval (www.MacWhale.eu) โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Leonhard Lenz โ CC0 ยท Leonhard Lenz โ CC0
In summer only, on guided tours with tickets booked ahead that sell out quickly. Out of season the interior cannot be visited at all, but the park stays open year-round and free.
If it fits your timing, yes: it is short, free and watched from very close with no barriers, which is unusual compared with London. But it does not warrant rearranging your day around it.
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The park surrounding the Royal Palace in Oslo, an open public space with no walls and no gates, at the upper end of Karl Johans gate, the city's main street. What strikes a foreign visitor is the openness itself: the palace is the king's residence, and yet you walk across its grounds and come within a few metres of its facade with no search and no barrier. That says more about Norway than the building does. The park itself is plain rather than formal: old trees, lawns, a small pond and paths, and people in Oslo use it as an everyday park for sitting, lunching and walking. In summer it fills with residents more than tourists. A changing of the guard takes place in front of the palace daily at a set time, short and free, watched from very close up. Entry to the palace itself is limited to ticketed summer tours, while the park is always open.
You come within metres of the king's residence with no barrier and no search.
People in Oslo use it for sitting and lunching, and in summer they outnumber the tourists.
It sits at the end of the main street, the natural close to a walk along it.
Around the Royal Palace, top of Karl Johans gate, Oslo