Private Charter vs the Electric Sightseeing Cruise on the Oslofjord

Oslo has two kinds of boat trip on offer, and they answer different questions. The electric sightseeing cruise — Brim Explorer and the silent hybrid boats out of Aker Brygge, the "Premium Silent Boat" running MS Brisen — is a shared, scheduled, per-seat trip: you board with strangers, follow a fixed route for two to two and a half hours, and pay from around 690 kr a head. A private charter with us is the whole boat for your group: up to seven guests, three to nine hours, the route set on the day, from 16,688 for the boat. Here is how to tell which one fits your trip.

The electric sightseeing cruise

The electric and hybrid sightseeing boats are a good product for what they are. They run quiet, carry a guide or an audio track, and the larger ones have a café and a heated cabin. You book a seat, turn up, and see the inner harbour and the nearest islands. Prices run from roughly 690 to 1,490 kr per person depending on the boat and season; the cheapest electric audio-guide cruise sits nearer 550 kr. For a solo traveller or a couple who want a low-cost hour or two on the water, it is the obvious choice.

What it doesn't give you is the boat to yourselves. The route is fixed, the timetable is fixed, and you share the deck with everyone else who booked. There is no stopping for a swim, and the outer fjord stays out of reach.

The private charter

A private charter is the other trade. You take the whole Cormate T28 — up to seven guests, no strangers — and the captain plans the day around you and the weather. Three hours covers the inner fjord, the islands, the Opera from the water, and a swim stop; a full day reaches Drøbak, the narrows around Håøya, and the outer islands. Pricing is per boat: 16,688 to 33,488 for the boat, VAT included, whatever the group size up to seven.

Split across a family or a group of friends, the per-person figure lands closer to the shared cruise than people expect, and you get the route, the timing, and the deck to yourselves.

Which one fits which trip

Take the shared electric cruise if you are one or two people, you want the lowest price, and an hour or two seeing the inner harbour is enough.

Take a private charter if you are a group of three or more, you want to choose where you go and when, or you want the parts of the fjord the scheduled boats don't reach: the swim spots, the outer islands, a sunset with no one else aboard.

We lay the numbers out in full, with the per-person-per-hour maths, on the tours-compared page. If you already know you want the boat to yourselves, the private cruises are here.