Aug 25, 2026 – 5.00amWith apologies to the people of Oslo, this is a city that gets better the further away you go. Picture this. It’s summer, the sky is about as blue as it gets, and a municipal ferry has cut across the fjord and dropped you at Gressholmen, an island about 20 minutes away.It is cartoonishly lush, with trails snaking off into the woods. On one side, a few timber buildings and a pier, a resident idling away repairing a fence. On the other side of a hill covered with bloody crane’s-bill and meadowsweet, a small jetty out to the Swiss-style Heggholmen lighthouse, built a century ago and unmanned for 50 years.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Kylar LoussikianDeputy editor – businessKylar Loussikian is the Financial Review’s deputy editor – business.Fetching latest articles