By: Chris ⎜ Last updated
MUNCH is worth a visit if you care about Edvard Munch as an artist, not just The Scream as a postcard. The museum holds almost 27,000 of his works, and the permanent collection covers the full range: anxiety, desire, jealousy, death, self-portraits, printmaking, and huge public commissions you won't have seen reproduced anywhere. The building is 13 storeys tall and leans visibly towards the Oslofjord, which means you keep catching the water and the city through the windows as you move between floors.
One thing to settle before you visit: if the specific 1893 painted version of The Scream is what you came to Oslo for, that painting is at the National Museum, not here. MUNCH has three other versions on rotation, and they're worth seeing, but you won't find the fierce orange-sky original in this building. More on the difference between the two museums below.
The Scream at MUNCH
The Scream room is on floor 4, inside the permanent exhibition called Edvard Munch Infinite. Three versions hang in a darkened space, but only one is visible at any time. The other two sit behind shutters. Munch made all of them on cardboard or paper, and the museum rotates them throughout the day to limit light exposure and slow deterioration.
The three versions are:
- A painting in tempera and oil on cardboard, probably from approximately 1910
- A crayon drawing on cardboard from 1893
- A lithograph from 1895
Each version gets shown for roughly an hour before the shutters change. The timing isn't always exact, so don't build a rigid schedule around it. The practical approach: go to the Scream room when you arrive, see whichever version is up, then return between other floors if you want to catch a second or third. Leave yourself at least two hours if seeing all three matters to you.
How to move through the building
Start on floor 4: Edvard Munch Infinite. This floor does the most work for a first visit. The Scream versions, Madonna, The Dance of Life, Vampire, recurring motifs across decades, and enough range to make clear that Munch was not just the anxiety painter. If you have any preconception, this is the floor that changes how you might think about him.
Then go to floor 6: Edvard Munch Monumental. The large-format works are here. The Sun and The Researchers had canvases so huge they had to be lowered into the building by crane before the roof was put on. Seeing a two-metre Munch canvas in person feels nothing like seeing a postcard reproduction, and this floor is where the building's scale earns its keep.
Floors 7 and 11 are worth a stop if you have the time. Floor 7 focuses on printmaking and process, floor 11 places Munch among his artistic contemporaries. Neither is essential for a first visit, but floor 7 is the better pick if you're choosing one. The prints are a side of Munch that most visitors don't know exists.
Finish on floor 12 or 13 for the view. The restaurant (Bistro Tolvte, floor 12) and bar (Kranen, floor 13) both face the Oslofjord, the Opera House, and the Bjørvika waterfront. Even if you skip the food, go up.
How long to spend
60 to 90 minutes gets you floor 4, one Scream viewing, floor 6, and a quick look at the view. This is tight but workable if Munch isn't the centrepiece of your Oslo trip.
2 to 3 hours is the right window for most visitors. Enough time to see the main Munch exhibitions, return for a second Scream rotation, check a temporary exhibition, and still leave before museum fatigue kicks in.
MUNCH or the National Museum
This is the real planning question for most visitors, and the answer depends on what you want from your museum time.
MUNCH is a single-artist deep dive. You get the world's largest Munch collection, three Scream versions in rotation, the full career from early paintings through printmaking to monumental public works, and a modern waterfront building with fjord views. The downside is that it's a lot of one artist. If you're only mildly interested in Munch, the building can feel larger than your attention span. Be disciplined: floor 4, floor 6, view, leave.
The National Museum is the broader choice. Norwegian and international art across centuries, design, architecture, and the 1893 Scream painting that most people picture when they hear the name. One museum that covers far more ground, including a solid collection of other Munch works in context alongside his peers.
If Munch art is a major reason you're visiting Oslo, do both. They're a 25-minute walk apart, or one tram ride, and together they give you the full picture: the career at MUNCH, the most famous single painting at the National Museum. For everyone else, pick whichever matches your goal and don't feel guilty about skipping the other.
What to pair it with in Bjørvika
Everything worth doing in Bjørvika is flat and walkable within a few minutes from MUNCH, which makes it easy to build half a day here.
The most natural sequence is the Opera House roof first (free, open, 15 minutes to walk up and across), then MUNCH, then Deichman Bjørvika (Oslo's main public library, architecturally worth seeing even if you don't read anything). This works well on rainy days too, since only the Opera House roof really depends on weather.
In summer, walk south from MUNCH to Sørenga for the public saltwater pool, the floating saunas, or a drink on the waterfront.
A full art day, MUNCH in the morning and the National Museum after lunch, is possible but heavy. Do it only if art is the point of the day and you're comfortable with 4+ hours of gallery time.
What to do nearby
Hotels nearby
