Damstredet

Damstredet and its neighbour Telthusbakken are the surviving fragments of the wooden Oslo that fire regulations and rebuilding erased almost everywhere else: narrow cobbled lanes running steeply downhill, lined with small timber houses in ochre, red and white built mostly in the first half of the nineteenth century for artisans and workers. They were slated for demolition in the twentieth century and saved by protest, and are now protected and privately occupied. The writer Henrik Wergeland lived nearby, and Telthusbakken runs up past allotment gardens to Gamle Aker church, Oslo's oldest building. The whole walk takes twenty minutes and functions as a residential street rather than an attraction.

What you actually see

• The wooden houses - small painted timber homes from the early 1800s.
• The cobbled slope - a steep crooked lane closed to through traffic.
• Telthusbakken - the adjoining lane with allotment gardens.
• The route to Gamle Aker - a walk up to Oslo's oldest building.

When to go

Year-round; the lanes are pretty in snow and in summer when the gardens are full. Any time of day works, though these are homes, so evenings deserve some quiet.

Honest expectations

This is a short street where people live, not a museum quarter: there are no shops, cafes or facilities, and photographing into windows is unwelcome. The whole visit takes twenty minutes. The cobbles are steep and slippery in ice.

Nearby

Gamle Aker church is up the hill; Grunerlokka and the Akerselva river lie east.