Sights in Ålesund
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
Atlantic Ocean Park
At the peninsula’s western extreme, sitting 3km from the centre, the Atlantic Ocean Park can merit a whole day of your life. It introduces visitors to the North Atlantic’s undersea world with glimpses of the astonishing richness of coastal and fjord submarine life. Children will wow at the ‘snails, seashells and weird marine animals’ section, and can dangle a line for crabs or feed the fish in the touch pool while the whole family will gasp at the enormous four-million-litre aquarium. Be there at 1pm (also 3.30pm, June to August) when the largest ocean fish thrash and swirl as they’re fed by human divers.
There’s also a sanctuary for orphaned seals and the groun…
reviewed
-
A
Jugendstil Art Nouveau Centre
Everyone from serious aesthetes to kids out for fun will get pleasure from this art centre. The introductory Time Machine capsule presents ‘From Ashes to Art Nouveau’, a high-tech, very visual story of the rebuilding of Ålesund after the great fire, while the displays offer carefully selected textiles, ceramics and furniture of the genre. It’s in and above a renovated chemist’s shop that has retained its magnificent corkscrew staircase and 1st-floor dining room.
reviewed
-
B
Aksla
The 418 steps up Aksla lead to the splendid Kniven viewpoint over Ålesund and the surrounding mountains and islands. Follow Lihauggata from the pedestrian shopping street Kongensgata to the start of the 20-minute puff to the top of the hill. There's also a road to the top; take Røysegata east from the centre, then follow the Fjellstua signposts up the hill.
At the top of Aksla, the Fjellstua Kafé is a good place to recover your breath while enjoying a drink with a view.
reviewed
-
C
Sunnmøre Museum
Ålesund’s celebrated Sunnmøre Museum is 4km east of the centre. Here, at the site of the old Borgundkaupangen trading centre, active from the 11th to 16th centuries, over 50 traditional buildings have been relocated. Ship-lovers will savour the collection of around 40 historic boats, including replicas of Viking-era ships and a commercial trading vessel from around AD 1000. Take bus 618 or 624.
reviewed
-
D
Aalesunds Museum
The town museum illustrates the history of sealing, fishing, shipping and industry in the Sunnmøre region, the fire of 1904, the Nazi WWII occupation and the town’s distinctive Art Nouveau architecture. There’s also a collection of boats and ships, including the Uræd lifeboat (piloted across the Atlantic in 1904 by an intrepid Ole Brude), and an 1812 barn, converted into an old-time grocery.
reviewed
-
Medieval Age Museum
Should you coincide with its restricted opening hours, don't overlook - as many visitors do - its Medieval Age Museum. Displayed around excavations of the old trading centre are well documented artefacts discovered on-site and reproductions of medieval illustrations depicting the way of life of the west Norwegian coastal folk who inhabited this thriving community. A pity that entry hours are so reduced…
reviewed
-
E
Kniven viewpoint
The 418 steps up Aksla lead to the splendid Kniven viewpoint over Ålesund and the surrounding mountains and islands. Follow Lihauggata from the pedestrian shopping street Kongensgata to the start of the 20-minute puff to the top of the hill. There's also a road to the top; take Røysegata east from the centre, then follow the Fjellstua signposts up the hill.
reviewed
-
F
Fisheries Museum
The Fisheries Museum, in the 1861 Holmbua warehouse (one of the few to survive the 1904 fire), contains exhibits on fishing through the ages and a special section on drying stockfish and the processing of cod liver oil.
reviewed
