You have just landed at Gardermoen, your brain is still running on airplane coffee, and you want the short version. Here it is: this is one of the easiest airport arrivals in Europe. The train station sits directly under the terminal, the signs are clear, and even late arrivals have a workable way into town.
The real question isn’t whether it’s easy. It’s which of the four options fits your budget, your luggage and your patience.
your patience.
| Option | Time | Price (adult) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
Flytoget – airport train |
19 min |
268 NOK |
Speed, tight connections, families |
Vy regional (L12) – local train |
23–30 min |
~124–129 NOK |
Best value — most travellers |
Flybussen |
45–60 min |
279–319 NOK |
Only if it stops close to your address |
Taxi / transfer |
35–45 min |
~800–1,200 NOK |
Late arrivals, groups, lots of luggage |
Price: 268 NOK one way for an adult. Children under 16 travel free with an adult, and youth aged 16–20, students, over-67s and military pay half price at 134 NOK. If you’re a family of four, that free-child rule closes most of the gap with the cheaper train.
You can tap a payment card at the gate, use the app, or buy in advance. Ticket machines are in the baggage hall, so you can sort it out while waiting for your bags. Luggage racks, Wi-Fi and power sockets come
standard.
Worth it if you’re arriving at rush hour, travelling with kids, or heading back to catch a flight — Flytoget
offers a travel guarantee if a serious delay makes you miss your departure.
Most guides file the airport bus under “budget choice.” In Oslo, that’s not true, and it’s worth being blunt about it.
Price: 279 NOK booked online, 289 NOK from the machine at the airport, 319 NOK from the driver. Journey time is 45–60 minutes depending on traffic.
Read those numbers next to Flytoget’s 268 NOK and 19 minutes. The bus costs more and takes three times as long to reach city center. It is not a saving.
So when does it make sense? Only one situation: when it stops closer to where you’re sleeping than any train does. If Flybussen drops you two streets from your hotel and the train would mean a transfer plus a walk with luggage, the bus wins on effort even though it loses on price and time. Check the route map before you decide — that’s the whole calculation.
One useful detail: Flybussen has a ticket arrangement with Ruter (Oslo’s public transportation network), so certain Ruter period tickets can be used as full or partial payment, and single tickets include onward transfer to parts of the local network.
Use the official taxi rank, and ask for a fixed price before you get in — many companies quote one for the airport run. Pre-booking a transfer is the only way to know the cost in advance. Toll roads on the way in are normally built into the fare; confirm when booking.
It’s still the right call sometimes: very late arrivals, four people splitting the cost, a lot of luggage, or a destination that’s awkward by rail.
The Oslo Pass includes public transport to and from Gardermoen, so the Vy train journey is already covered if your pass is active when you travel. It does not cover Flytoget, which is a separate company.
If you were planning to buy a pass anyway, activating it on arrival rather than the next morning can pay for a chunk of it immediately.
Gardermoen sits about 47 km north of the city, but the connection is good enough that this doesn’t need much planning.
If you want speed, take Flytoget and be in town in 19 minutes. If you want value, take the L12 and arrive a few minutes later for half the price. If your hotel is well off the rail corridor, check whether Flybussen stops nearby — but go in knowing it costs more, not less. And if you’re landing at midnight with a family and four bags, take the taxi and stop thinking about it.
It’s tips-based: free to join, and you decide at the end what it was worth.
