Nobel Peace Center

We went to this wonderful Nobel Peace center during July 2025 but unfortunately, could not visit it from the inside. It is located in Oslo, Norway. I believe It showcases the Nobel Peace Prize, prize laureates, and the ideals of of its resolution. It was founded in 2005, twenty years ago. My regret of being unable to visit it from the inside, stays with me.

This place is a gem 💎 I love it!!! Not only it offers several good exhibitions during the year, but it also arranges festivals and events. On 6 August 2025 the outside of the Nobel Peace Center had a free festival, with fun and enriching Japanese activities during the day and concerts in the evening. To commemorate 89 years after the nuclear bomb in Hiroshima.

This has been on list to see for a long time. It did not disappoint. A lot of information to see and absorb. I would highly recommend. We went late morning during the week late September and the crowd was easy to manage.

Cozy 2 storey museum that you can easily tackle within an hour. Make it 2 if you read everything. The guided tour with a in person guide gives a lot more context. But you can easily walk around by yourself. There are text guiding you. I love the museum added questions for us to ponder as the concept of peace is all empcompassing.

We have always been intrigued by this place and its history, a visit did not disappoint, there was so much information to absorb, easily allow a couple of hours.

Smaller inside than it looks but the space is beautiful. Our tour guide was a walking textbook about the history of the prize, the committee, and the winners. I really appreciate the way he handled questions about the current american political situation. He very nicely shut down that line of questioning and moved on to a new topic.

😐 The Nobel Peace Center did not impress me. 📖 At the beginning, you mainly read about who Nobel was, with many people standing in a small area just reading who Nobel was and what the Nobel Prize is, 🎥 as if it wasn’t possible to create a small cinema, a digital screen, or something more engaging and interactive, especially since this is more about presenting information than a classic exhibition, with a short presentation every 15 minutes. 🙈 I honestly admit that I didn’t read everything. ➡️ I continued to a less interesting section focused on a current issue and later to tablets, which were not interactive at all and were dedicated to each award recipient. 💬 At the end, you can leave a message or a thought. ⏱️ To be honest, I spent no more than 20 minutes there. 🏛️ There are truly many better museums in Oslo.

We made a big mistake. Thinking the center closed at 6pm, we arrived at 5:15, only to be shocked that it was already closed. A kind lady who was leaving informed us of the correct hours and mentioned that many tourists make the same error. I couldn't help but feel frustrated with myself. This center is essentially a museum showcasing all the noble peace prize winners and the concepts that earned them the award. Hopefully i will come next time. I read somewhere that this building was a railway station before they converted into a museum. Looking from the outside this would never cross my mind.

Note: When Gayle and I were recently in Oslo (August 2023), the Nobel Peace Center building was closed. And apparently that will be the case for the next few or more months. This was a quite a disappointment as we scheduled our stay in Oslo so that we could visit here. BUT! Nobel Peace Center Staff runs frequent walking tours related to the Peace Prize, of which we very much enjoyed participating. The well attended tour met in from the the building, complete with a pop-up souvenir shop. From there taken to the Oslo City Hall, the Parliament: Stortinget, Grand Hotel and The University Aula, finishing up in front of the Norwegian Nobel Institute. All that relates to the Nobel Peace Prize. So our trip to Oslo wasn't a total loss. :) Actually Oslo is very cool city to explore, and we hope there's a next time when the Nobel Peace Center Building is actually open again.

I'm not sure why Alfred Nobel selected Oslo as the home of the Nobel Peace Prize when all the other awards are presented In Stockholm. Nobel himself was Swedish, but he decided the Peace Prize nomination committee should be Norwegian. That's why this museum is in the tourist-centric waterfront area in Aker Brygge. Jamie W. and I decided to pay the 140 NOK admission (or about $14.50 each) even though we weren't even nominated. Hey, we're all in on peace. Gee, we felt like Lady Gaga and J Lo at last year's Oscars. We was robbed. Besides, we had visited the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm a few years back (review: https://bit.ly/3SQ2OQ3), and I just figured we needed to complete the entire Nobel Prize experience. It turned out to be a well-executed multi-floor, interactive museum that celebrates the purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize and its long line of recipients...MLK, Mandela, Walesa, Obama, Malala and on and on. The museum starts with a large exhibition space devoted to the current recipients, journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov and their ongoing fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia, respectively. There are some startling statistics presented on how many journalists have been killed for continuing the fight. The rest of the first floor explains who Nobel was, how the Peace Prize was born, and how racial injustices have been addressed in the US. The second floor focuses on the pivotal moments in history when war, famine, and disease threatened to destroy societies around the world. One darkened room showcases all the recipients in an interactive light-generated exhibit (photo: https://bit.ly/3dvU3Ks). It didn't take long to walk through the museum, and all the historical and emotional takeaways made the visit quite worthwhile. RELATED - Exploring Norway? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/3PEL4Fe

It was very interesting to learn about the two past Novel recipients and we learned a lot about the prize itself from our tour guide. You will only need about an hour here and you can go it alone or with a guide. We started with the tour and then slipped away. There is a room that has the faces of the winners on wallpaper. Another room has all the winners with a little snippet about them.

This was one "things to see". What a creative and fascinating museum. Loved it. I was on a tour, which I thought helped build up the 5 stars. The history behind the medals..and they even have one at the museum is pretty cool to see.

A certain in-law of mine is a die hard, dumb-ass, non-science believing, anti-equality, illogical Republican...so I thought it would be real funny to buy him/her a souvenir with Barack Obama or Al Gore, whom are both Nobel Peace winners. (I got him/her some chocolate instead.) The hardest part for me, personally, is that I work in financial services, and this place reminded me that I am doing absolutely nothing to contribute any good to society. I'm just a regular selfish consuming Earthling while these Nobel Peace winners are trying or tried to make the world a better place... Included with Oslo Pass, otherwise I don't think its worth 90kr entry fee. Its a center for the Nobel Peace Prize...its a lot of serious educational reading and pictures...not all that exciting and you could find all this information on the internet very easily. Or even these things called "books" on each winner. We breezed through this center...its also the place open until 6:00p when most places close at 5:00p, so save this for last if you're using the Oslo Card. (Save the worst for last?) The best part of this is Alfred's, the cafe that serves beer and wine on their outdoor patio with beautiful views. If you have to get a drink, drink here! Your money goes to good a cause(I think)and have a beer while you contemplate how you can do some good for the world...

'Ello chaps! Of all the world renowned Nobel prizes, one is given in Oslo. The Nobel Peace Price. The Nobel Museum, located in the heart of downtown Oslo near the waterfront, is more than an event venue, it is also a museum, putting the efforts of past peace prize recipients on full display. There is a small cafe and gift shop also located at the museum.

Unfortunately my sister and I only had 1.5 days in Oslo on our multi-country European trip, and the Nobel Peace Center was on the top of our to-do list. I agree with the other reviewers that the Nobel Peace Center isn't anything to write home about, but it was still interesting to learn about the Nobel Peace Prize and laureates. When we went in April the main exhibit was Malala and children's rights. There were a few annoying things about the Nobel Peace Center. First, when we entered, there was no one at the front desk and we couldn't find any staff. Confused about where to pay (we should have just walked in for free!), we wandered into the gift shop and paid for our admission there. I'm not sure if they usually have someone at the front desk (it wasn't a particularly busy place), but there should at least be a sign at the front desk letting people know to pay at the gift shop! Second, when we paid for our admission, the woman insisted that we lock up our purses in lockers. I have no problem with museums asking you to lock up your large bags (in fact, I would rather not carry around a lot of stuff so I prefer leaving my jacket, extra bags, etc in a locker/secured area), but to ask you to leave a purse is ridiculous. Not only for security reasons, but I need my purse to carry around my stuff! I'm not a guy who just shoves everything in my pants pocket! Not only do I need to carry essentials like my phone and wallet, but I have other items I don't feel comfortable being without for long periods of time, thus the necessity of a purse. (What if I were menstruating and needed a tampon? Am I supposed to carry around a freakin' tampon in my hand while I am walking through the Nobel Peace Center?!) In addition I was mildly sick and needed to have tissues with me, amongst other things. I don't know if the Nobel Peace Center doesn't allow small purses or if the woman was mistaken (my money is on the latter, as a total ban on all bags/small personal items is absolutely ludicrous), but we snuck our purses in. So just a warning: you may be told to leave ALL your belongings in a locker. Third, one of the permanent exhibits, "The Nobel Field", while quite interesting and informative, was flawed from a user's point of view. The exhibit consisted of tablet-sized screens displaying information about each laureate, and in order to activate the motion detecting screens, you had to stand right in front of it, making it difficult for two people to read it. If you stood even just a little to the side the screen would not activate, or if you shifted over while reading the screen, it would go dark. It was frustrating to try and stand in just the right spot to activate the screen. Also, there was absolutely no control over the information displayed. The Nobel laureates' stories were displayed in both Norwegian and English. The Norwegian version was presented first, then the English. But you could not skip the Norwegian version or select which language you preferred; instead you would have to wait for the Norwegian information to play through until you came to the English version. Also, the information presented was not static; after a set amount of time it would continue onto the next screen, and if you hadn't finished reading it, tough. Great idea, poor execution. On an unrelated note that has nothing to do with my review, it was quite the ordeal getting to the Nobel Peace Center. While we could have easily taken transit or walked, we didn't want to fuck around trying to find the place as we only had one full day in Oslo, and in previous cities we had wasted precious time walking around trying to find our destinations, so we wanted to pay for the convenience of quickly and effortlessly getting to the center. We told the cab driver to take us to the Nobel Peace Center and he said he knew where it was and didn't ask for an address. He was friendly and didn't try and scam us [see my review of Christiania Taxi]. However, it turns out that he was a bit of an idiot. He dropped us off, but it wasn't the Nobel Peace Center! I can see the confusion as there was a bust of Alfred Nobel out front and it said "Alfred Nobel" on the building, but it wasn't the correct place, and we had paid for a ride that didn't get us to our destination. So in the end we did waste time walking to the Nobel Peace Center, as well as money on a cab. That experience, combined with the Christiania Taxi experience, is a warning to never use a taxi in Oslo. Awesome city, but terrible taxi service. [I would have written a separate review of the taxi ride, but I didn't catch the name of the company.]

The Oslo Nobel Peace Center is definitely worth a stop. So that you know, Stockholm is where all Nobel prizes are awarded except for the very prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. That is why this museum is all about peace. Exhibits on the first floor seem like traveling exhibits which may well be different each time you come. Here I saw photography on the subjects of lost freedom, prisoner abuse and neglect, sexual abuse, discrimination and others of humanity's evils. But fear not, when one travels upstairs, after some more depressing nuclear weapon/land mine exhibits, you do eventually see the best of humanity. The main exhibit is a stellar presentation of each peace prize recipient on tablets. The tablets are surrounded by lights in a dark room. Each tablet senses your presence and activates when you look at it. Pics below. The curator told me that most people take 45 minutes. It took me double that but this is still a very doable excursion that will not take up your entire day. Please be aware that the museum is not where the actual ceremony takes place. That is across the street at City Hall and has different hours.

What a great reminder for all of us. Freedom isn't free and too many people have given their very own lives for our right to speak our minds. This was one of the most moving museums I've ever been to. A must see in Oslo, venue of the Nobel Peace prize ceremonies.

A powerful museum. Very simple and easy to navigate. When I visited the lobby had a photography exhibition that I really liked. Following this I walked upstairs to smaller rooms with a variety of items. There was an interesting room with all the previous winners of Nobel Peace prizes. The gift shop houses a locker room that you can leave your bag in with a key. A great place to visit. Very accessible (multiple bus routes converge out front along with trams)

I find it mildly interesting that Norway, as a non-EU nation, has a museum with a major exhibit celebrating how awesome the EU is (as the recipient of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize). Without being too overtly political, let's just say that I agree whole heartedly with (and have more respect for the Fredssenter for posting) the quote by Benedict Brogan: "I suppose [it] could have been even sillier: they could have awarded EU the Nobel for economics". Brilliantly stated. I also find mildly amusing a large exhibit in the entry shall showing a "then and now" of conflict resolution. "Then" is the WWII bombing of Dresden. "Now" is the floor of the EU's parliament. Now, putting aside a pretty commonly held belief that Dresen's destruction at the hands of the Allies was uncalled for and unnecessary (and finding the image of Dresden to be an interesting and politically loaded selection over, say, the London V-Weapon bombings), it's the larger "message" that I take issue with. It's like, as soon as the EU was convened, everyone did that forehead palm slap thing and went "Oh! Man! If only we had just asked nicely for Hitler not to do all the stuff he did - why didn't we think of that!" This is like when someone is bullying you at school, and your mom tells you to "ask them to stop." Right. Let me get back to you on how well that works. ANYWAY. There seems to be a rotating exhibit on this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, as well as a permanent exhibit on Alfred Nobel (well presented with some cool technology), a sort of odd multimedia gallery of Nobel winner information, and finally, a great technology presentation of everything you want to know about the Nobel Peace Prize and its winners. The gallery is...confusing. Primarily consisting of small video screens suspended from the floor on the end of rather flimsy sticks, they are surrounded by pulsing LEDs. The problem is that the screens are just scattered, and they scroll content at their own, uncontrollable pace. I don't want to stand and wait while they rotate through, especially if I walk up to one halfway through its little narrative. But the saving grace here is the final item in the museum - a series of video screens, controlled by means of a single, super intuitive slider mechanism, that allows you to learn about every winner, every organization, how it's awarded, how it's selected, etc. It's actually pretty impressive how exhausting the information is, in such a small presentation. And thoughtfully, there are I think 4 identical terminals, so multiple people can be enjoying the presentation at their own pace, not waiting in line for the next person to be done. Admission is free with the Oslo Pass. It's worth visiting for the information on past winners, and in depth rotating information on the most recent winner. However, you should check your politics (and pick up some extra naive idealism) at the door.

It was kind of dissapponting and tiny, although I did like the very up-to-date and modern displays in the entrance. We only went because it was free with the Oslo pass, otherwise I wouldn't pay for it

Located in the old Oslo Railroad Station, this little museum is greater than the sum of its parts. It has interesting and sometimes interactive exhibits and you learn a lot about what motivated past laureates and the current ones. It's well worth a visit and if you have Oslo Pass, it's included.

This small museum about nobel peace prize was pretty bland to me (because I have no interest in it lol) except for the end with lu xiaobo (can't help it, i like anything with chinese since I'm chinese lol). But they have quiet a lot going on in this small space if your into nobel peace prize stuff like learning history, kids have a lot of hands on activities from the arts and crafts room at the beginning, to the fun chair to sit in at the end. I would say this isn't a necessary place to visit in norway but if you have time its def educational and interesting. I can't remember if this place is free for sure but I'm pretty sure it was free with the oslo pass (which you should get if you are in oslo btw). Oh, and find Andrew T. review for this place. I thought the same thing and was going to write about the political humor but since he mentioned it I don't have to :P (lazy writer problems lol).

My friends and I enjoyed the interesting free exhibitions in this museum located by the superb Oslo harbor.