The belief in Norway that the great outdoors should be accessible to everyone is protected by the Outdoor Recreation Act.

Norway’s laws on access to nature also allow people to forage for berries, mushrooms, wild nuts, and wild herbs.

READ MORE: The rules for foraging for fruit and mushrooms in Norway

Typically, you are forbidden from picking berries on farmland or close to other people’s houses without the landowner’s permission. You can also not forage in protected areas, such as nature reserves. Luckily, the Norwegian Environment Agency has a map of all protected areas that you can view here (in Norwegian).

The right to harvest food from nature or allmennhetens høstingsrett also requires those foraging to take “due care”. This means that you shouldn’t pick an entire area clean when out foraging.

What fruit can you pick in Oslo?

Plums, apples, pears, blackcurrants, cherries, currants, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries can all be found throughout Oslo – either in the forests or across the city itself.

Most fruits are typically ready between July and August, with fruit trees offering the best fruit in mid to late August.

Some fruit trees, like cherry trees, bear fruit earlier. Meanwhile, wild strawberries are found in June and July.

In total, there are around 3,400 fruit trees planted all over Oslo. When picking from the trees make sure to be careful to not damage the fruit buds, as less fruit will grow the following year. 

 Where can fruit be found?

Anyone who has taken a walk through Oslo’s forests will know that the scenery is teeming with blueberry bushes. Blueberry season is typically between July and August.

Blueberries thrive in spruce forests that do not have lots of natural light. Lutvann, Sognsvann and Båntjern are popular areas for blueberry picking.

Meanwhile, lingonberries are found in areas with pine forests and conifer forests.

When it comes to the other fruits, these will be found on trees planted by Oslo Municipality. The good news here is that these were planted with the intention of the city’s residents being able to pluck the fruit from the trees for themselves.

 There’s more good news too as the municipality has a map of all the fruit trees planted around Oslo. The map is colour coded and gives you an overview of the type of fruit tree planted.

Where else can you pick fruit in Oslo?

Aside from the forests and the city, there are plenty of places in the capital where you can pick seasonal fruit and veg.

Self-pick farms have become more popular in recent years. Now, unlike the forests and municipal trees, this option won’t be free.

However, you can use the site Selvplukk.com to find farms that offer the opportunity to pick fruit, vegetables and pants yourself. The site also helps you filter by what you want to pick.