Eastern Oslo Park Combo: Birkelunden, Sofienberg, Botanical Garden, Tøyenparken

This is a nearly all off-road route in eastern Oslo that combines several lovely parks: Birkelunden, Sofienberg Park, the Botanical Garden, Tøyenparken, and, just east of there, the Valhall athletic complex. We’ve mapped a one-way route of up to 6.4 km connecting the four parks to be used as a guideline.

A good place to start is Birkelunden, whose gardens opened in 1860. Head briefly south into Sofienberg Park, a pretty urban park. Cross the Sar’s Gate major road into the combination indoor-outdoor Botanical Garden, and features some lovely paths. Use the connector path at the east end to connect to Tøyenparken, another nice urban park with grassy lawns, athletic fields, and more botanical gardens. From its eastern end, there’s a pedestrian path that leads for 1 km east to Valhall, in Hovin, where there are numerous athletic facilities and pedestrian paths,

Shorter Option or Good Out and Back: Eliminate the section to Hovin.

Note: Tøyenparken is home to Parkrun, a free group 5k held every Saturday morning.