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
Kristiansand
This exceptional regional art museum focuses on both fine and craft-based practices, and the collection includes some particularly strong contemporary…
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…
Kristiansand
Off the E18, 10km east of Kristiansand, Dyrepark is probably the favourite holiday destination for Norwegian kids. The former zoo is several parks rolled…
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…
Kristiansand
Strandpromenaden's hulking centrepiece is the distinctive Christiansholm Fortress. Built by royal decree between 1662 and 1672 to keep watch over the…
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…
Agder Natural History Museum & Botanic Gardens
Kristiansand
The winding paths through the established 50-hectare park at Gimle Estate lead through a botanic garden that also contains rocks, minerals, stuffed…
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…
Kristiansand
Baneheia and Ravnedalen, both north of the city centre, offer greenery and a network of lakeside hiking and skiing tracks for those keen to escape the…
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
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
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…
Kristiansand
Located 4km east of town on the E18, this open-air folk museum houses a collection of 40 farmsteads and hamlets from the Setesdalen region and…
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…
Kristiansand
This island, a rocky outcrop just by the fish market and connected by a bridge, is one of the city's wonderful green spaces. There are some delightful…
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…
