Things to do in Grimstad
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Bryggerhuset
This engaging little café-cum-crafts shop serves terrific coffee, bakes its own bread and offers home-made food like crepes and waffles.
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Ibsenhuset Museum
Norway’s favourite playwright, Henrik Ibsen, arrived here in January 1844. The house where he worked as a pharmacist’s apprentice, and where he lived and first cultivated his interest in writing, has been converted into the Ibsenhuset Museum. It contains a re-created pharmacy and many of the writer’s belongings and is one of southern Norway’s more interesting museums, with everything you needed to know from Ibsen’s life and work. There’s also a library with the writer’s complete works. His 1861 poem Terje Vigen and his 1877 drama Pillars of Society take place in the Skerries offshore from Grimstad.
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Agder Theater
One of the more unusual cultural experiences in Grimstad is run by Kristiansand-based Agder Theater, which performs in an old quarry up to six days a week in summer. After a hiatus in 2007 the troupe was due to return to performing in 2008; the tourist office has a programme of upcoming performances. The quarry, 4km north of town, became infamous during WWII when red granite blocks for Hitler’s ‘Victory Monument’ were taken from here; the monument was, of course, never built.
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Grimstad Maritime Museum
This important museum, in the office of the 1842 Hasseldalen shipyard, provides a glimpse into Grimstad’s history during ‘the days of the white sails’. While you’re there it’s worth climbing the short track from the end of Batteriveien up the Binabben hill for a view over Grimstad. Make sure you visit the Ibsenhuset Museum first or the combined ticket won’t work.
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Platebaren
This highly recommended coffee bar spills out into the street in summer and is a terrific place to tuck into decent-sized snacks (baguettes, bacon and eggs etc). Even better are the milk shakes (Nkr30), while coffee lovers swear by the iced coffee with ice cream (Nkr35).
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Apotekergården
The highly recommended Apotekergården is an excellent gourmet restaurant with a breezy outdoor terrace and a cast of regulars who wouldn’t eat anywhere else. It can be difficult to get a table here in summer.
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Haven Brasserie
One of the few restaurants in town that allows you to sit at a table by the water, this appealing place serves Italian-inspired dishes as well as seafood like tiger prawns, monkfish and grilled salmon.
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Viet Thai
If you’re craving something a little more international, Viet Thai is cheap, extremely popular and servings are large. It also does cheaper lunch specials.
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Café Galleri
The centre of Grimstad’s nightlife has DJs, jam sessions and a crowd that seems to spring from Grimstad’s woodwork on the most unlikely of nights.
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Café Ibsen
Come here for delicious pastries. It’s opposite the Ibsenhuset Museum.
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