The Coast
Norway's favourite playwright, Henrik Ibsen, washed up in Grimstad in January 1844. The house where he worked as a pharmacist's apprentice, and where he…
Must-see attractions in Southern Norway
The Coast
A walkable 1.5km northeast of Egersund centre, this well-designed museum (squirrelled away in an unprepossessing shopping centre), houses the wares of…
Southern Norway
Gaustabanen runs 860m deep into the core of Gausta before a different train climbs an incredible 1040m, alongside 3500 steps at a 40-degree angle, to…
Southern Norway
This fairy-tale church is the largest and one of the most beautiful of Norway's 28 remaining stave churches. As always, it's constructed around Norwegian…
Southern Norway
The timbered houses, moats, gates and drawbridge of the Fredrikstad Gamlebyen are simply enchanting. The perimeter walls, once defended by 200 cannons,…
Norwegian Industrial Workers Museum
Southern Norway
This museum, 7km west of Rjukan, is in the Vemork power station, which was the world's largest when completed in 1911. These days it honours the Socialist…
The Coast
This highly regarded contemporary art gallery is a 15-minute walk from the town centre on the northern reaches of Arendal. One of the largest contemporary…
Fredriksten Fortress & Museums
Southern Norway
Crowning the hilltop behind Halden is the 1661 Fredriksten Fortress, which has resisted six Swedish sieges and never been captured. The fortress covers a…
The Coast
Kaupang, 5km east of Larvik, was a former Viking town built around AD 800 and occupied until 960. It is believed that up to 1000 people once lived here…
Southern Norway
The profusion of silver mines in Kongsberg's hinterland is known collectively as Sølvgruvene. The easiest way to visit is with the tours that leave from…
Southern Norway
This cultural centre is 11km northeast of Fredrikstad. The most intriguing feature is the Ode til Lyset (Ode to the Light), a 'sound sculpture' by Arnold…
Southern Norway
Don't miss the imposing Oscarsborg Fortress, which lies on an offshore island and dates back to the 1600s. It was the Oscarsborg batteries that sank the…
The Coast
The Mølen promontory, around 20 minutes' drive west of Stavern, is Norway's largest beach of rolling stones, and an austere and rather impressive sight…
Southern Norway
Author, playwright and so-called 'Father of Modern Drama' Henrik Ibsen was born in Skien on 20 March 1828. In 1835 the family fell on hard times and moved…
Southern Norway
Set in a smelter dating from 1844 (the old furnaces survive in the basement), this museum tells Kongsberg's story with relics, models and mineral displays…
Southern Norway
Norse sagas mention the 13th-century fortress of Isegran, an islet in the Glomma that became a further line of defence against Sweden in the mid-17th…
The Coast
Rising above the cape is the evocative Lindesnes Fyr, a classic lighthouse. In two of the buildings you'll pass as you climb to the cape, there are…
Southern Norway
Around 9km northwest of Valle, this farm has a unique three-storey storehouse dating to 1590, and an extraordinary collection of 15th-century painted…
Southern Norway
This excellent Østfold county museum lies in the town of Sarpsborg (14km northeast of Fredrikstad). The open-air display contains 30 period buildings from…
The Coast
You might not agree with the continuation of the practice this museum explores, but there's no denying that Sandefjord's Whaling Museum is a well…
The Coast
There has been a church in Egersund since at least 1292. The cute, current manifestation dates back to the 1620s. The carved altarpiece, a depiction of…
Southern Norway
This folk museum, a 10-minute walk southeast of the train station, houses a collection of 32 period farmhouses around which sheep, goats and pigs frolic…
Southern Norway
On what was once called 'Gallows Hill' stands the flower-festooned Kongsten Festning. Dating from 1685, it once served as a lookout and warning post for…
The Coast
Rising up behind the Gjestehavn (Guest Harbour) is the old harbourside Tyholmen district, home to beautiful 17th- to 19th-century timber buildings…
Southern Norway
The Krossobanen cable car was constructed in 1928 by Norsk Hydro to provide its employees with access to the sun. It now whisks tourists up to Gvepseborg …
The Coast
Some 20km north of Larvik is the beautiful, haunting lake of Damvann, surrounded by forests. Popular legend claims it to be the home of a witch called…
The Coast
The classic baroque timber Herregården manor house was constructed in 1677 as the home of the Norwegian Governor General, Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve, the…
The Coast
Displays of historical maritime and fishing artefacts and works by local artists are pleasant enough, but this museum is elevated above the mundane by…
The Coast
The town's impressive wave-shaped cultural centre houses a gallery that has an interesting curatorial calendar of contemporary Norwegian artists, concert…
Southern Norway
High above town on the Rv45 to Høydalsmo, the quaint, 13th-century Eidsborg Stave Church, dedicated to St Nicolas, has but a single nave and is in…
The Coast
This sublime patch of green overlooking Larvik is Norway’s largest and the world’s most northerly beech tree forest. It is criss-crossed with walking…
Southern Norway
Fredrikstad's 1880 cathedral reflects the town's 19th-century importance with its stained-glass work by Emanuel Vigeland. Norwegian practicality combines…
The Coast
This spectacularly sited, but rarely open, museum in the office of the 1842 Hasseldalen shipyard provides a glimpse into Grimstad's history during 'the…
The Coast
The 1950s whaleboat Southern Actor is moored at the harbour; entry is by your Whaling Museum ticket; while you're there, also look out for the striking…
The Coast
The old 'Dutch Town' district, with its narrow streets and old timber buildings, makes for a richly atmospheric walk.
The Coast
This multi-part museum is spread across the town and is under the auspices of the broader Vestfold Museene.
The Coast
Tønsberg Castle, spread across the hill behind the town, was the largest fortress in Norway in the 13th century. In 1503 the Swedes destroyed what they…
Southern Norway
Lying beside a deep blue lake surrounded by snow- and forest-dappled peaks, the handful of colourful wooden houses that make up the tiny mountain village…
The Coast
At the foot of Slottsfjellet (Castle Rock) at the northern end of town, a five-minute walk northwest of the train station, this museum's highlights…
Southern Norway
This charming Romanesque church was built in the 12th century in honour of St Olav; it looks as if someone built a stave church and then changed their…
