Electric and Silent Boats on the Oslofjord
What electric actually changes
Not the route. All three of these sail the inner harbour: Akershus Fortress on the headland, the Opera House across the water in Bjørvika, Aker brygge and Tjuvholmen, the wooded shore of Bygdøy, the Dyna lighthouse out on its skerry, then Hovedøya and the low islands behind it. You can see the same things from a wooden hull.
What changes is what you can hear and smell while you look at them. A diesel harbour boat puts a low vibration through the deck and a smell across the stern whenever the wind is behind you. Take that away and the soundtrack becomes water on the hull, gulls, and the ferry traffic going about its business. Maren from Germany said it plainly of the silent boat — a very quiet electric ship, so she could enjoy the ride fully. Michelle from France described ninety minutes on an electric boat as one of the best memories of her trip. On a fjord where half the interest is a working port doing ordinary work, being quiet enough to hear it is worth something.
It also matters for photographing the fjord, because vibration is the enemy of a long lens, and for anyone who finds engine noise tiring on a two-hour trip.
The only live guideOslo: Guided Sightseeing Fjord Cruise on Premium Silent Boat
Step-free, with a liftOslo: 2-Hour Electric Oslofjord Sightseeing with Audio Guide
Leaves from LangkaiaOslo: Scenic Fjord Cruise with Audio Guide Commentary
The silent boat, Rådhusbrygge 2
4.7 from about 2,079 reviews, two hours, hybrid-electric, with three open decks and two heated saloons. It is the only live-guided city cruise on this site, and the guide works in English only. That combination is why it holds the highest score here: a quiet boat and a person who can answer a question are a better pairing than either one alone, and you cannot ask an app what the grey building on the eastern shore is.
The three-decks-plus-two-saloons layout is the practical part. On a February crossing you will want to be inside for most of two hours and outside for the ten minutes that matter, and this boat lets you do that without giving up a seat by the window. Dalila from Switzerland credited the crew; Luc from France said the guide made him appreciate the fjord’s natural beauty, and did it with humour. The full review goes into the layout.
The electric cruise, Rådhusbrygge 4, and the lowest score here
Start with the number, because hiding it would be worse. 4.4 from about 2,396 reviews is the lowest score in this catalogue. Here is what that is and is not. It is a normal score for a high-volume operation: put thousands of people through a two-hour trip and a steady trickle of them will have had a bad seat, a grey day, or a boat fuller than they hoped, and those go into the average. It is not a warning sign of the kind a 3.8 would be, and it sits on a sample ten times the size of some ratings you will see quoted more confidently elsewhere.
Now what it buys. This is the only boat in this catalogue with a lift on board. It is fully electric, heated and air-conditioned, two hours, with multilingual audio. If there is someone in your group who cannot do a companionway stair, this single fact outranks every rating on the page, and no comparison that ends “so take the higher-rated one” is being useful to you. Alexandra from the United States noticed exactly the right three things: battery-powered, warm inside, and it has a lift. Simon from the United Kingdom found the commentary genuinely interesting and the islands lovely. Lea from France had a booking mix-up that the staff fixed by waiting for her on the right day, which is the sort of detail an average score never shows you. The electric cruise review has the rest.
The scenic fjord cruise, and the quay people get wrong
4.5 from about 6,690 reviews, ninety minutes, an electric ship with a panoramic saloon, audio in seven languages through an app — and it leaves from Langkaia, by the Opera House and Central Station, not from the Rådhusbrygge quays. If you are staying near the station, that is the convenient one and the others are the walk. If you are at the City Hall, it is the opposite, and it is about a kilometre, roughly a quarter of an hour.
Ninety minutes is the honest short cruise, as against fifty, and the panoramic saloon is what makes it work in weather that would spoil an open deck. Lucinda from Canada called it a peaceful quiet cruise on a large, clean boat. It is the biggest review sample in Oslo by a distance, which makes that 4.5, on about 6,690 reviews, the most reliable number on this site. The ninety-minute question covers what fits into it.
| The only live guideOslo: Guided Sightseeing Fjord Cruise on Premium Silent Boat | Oslo: 2-Hour Electric Oslofjord Sightseeing with Audio Guide | Oslo: Scenic Fjord Cruise with Audio Guide Commentary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Departure quay | Rådhusbrygge 2 | Rådhusbrygge 4 | Langkaia, by the Opera House |
| Who is talking | A live guide, English only | Recorded, multilingual | An app, seven languages |
| Length | 2 hours | 2 hours | 90 minutes |
| Lift on board | No | Yes — the only one | No |
| Wheelchair accessible | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rating when read | 4.7 from about 2,079 reviews | 4.4 from about 2,396 reviews | 4.5 from about 6,690 reviews |
| Inside and out | Three open decks, two heated saloons | Heated and air-conditioned | Panoramic saloon |
| Book this → | Book this → | Book this → |
What works
- No engine vibration through the deck and no exhaust across the stern
- One of the three has a live guide, in English, on a two-hour cruise
- One of the three has a lift, which nothing else in this catalogue offers
- All three are wheelchair accessible
- Ninety minutes is available, as well as two hours
Worth knowing
- The scenic cruise leaves from Langkaia, a kilometre from the City Hall quays
- The live guide works in English only
- The electric cruise is the lowest-rated listing here, at 4.4 from about 2,396 reviews
- Quiet does not mean warm — the wind on the open deck is the same wind
- None of the three lands anywhere; all three return you to the quay you left
If you want the quiet boat and the live guide together, that is Rådhusbrygge 2 and you should book it rather than assume. If somebody in the group needs a lift, that is Rådhusbrygge 4, one pier along. Those two facts settle most of this page.
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Frequently asked questions
Is there an electric boat tour in Oslo?
Three of them. The silent boat from Rådhusbrygge 2 is hybrid-electric, 4.7 from about 2,079 reviews, and the only live-guided city cruise here. The electric cruise from Rådhusbrygge 4 is fully electric with a lift on board, 4.4 from about 2,396 reviews. The scenic fjord cruise is an electric ship leaving from Langkaia by the Opera House, 4.5 from about 6,690.
Which Oslofjord boat has a lift?
One: the electric cruise from Rådhusbrygge 4, two hours, fully electric, heated and air-conditioned, with multilingual audio. It is rated 4.4 from about 2,396 reviews, the lowest in this catalogue, which is a normal score for a high-volume boat and not a reason to rule it out if step-free access matters. Accessibility compares all six.
Is the silent boat cruise actually silent?
Quiet enough that reviewers keep saying so. It is a hybrid-electric hull with three open decks and two heated saloons, and Sofia from Greece wrote that the ship really was silent. It is also the only city cruise here with a live guide, in English, which is a different reason to take it. It leaves from Rådhusbrygge 2. See the silent boat review.
Is an electric boat better than the wooden sailing ship?
Different, not better. The electric boats are quieter, heated, and two of the three take wheelchairs; the wooden ship has a heated deck, blankets and a bar, and includes a Bygdøy ferry ticket — but no guaranteed seat, since boarding is open. The wooden ships make their own case.
Do the electric boats go anywhere different?
No. All three sail the same inner harbour: Akershus Fortress, the Opera House across Bjørvika, Aker brygge and Tjuvholmen, the Bygdøy shore, the Dyna lighthouse, then the near islands. Only the six-hour five-islands trip goes somewhere the others do not, and it gets off — though it is not wheelchair accessible and involves climbing. See what you see, in order.